Stuttgart Adventure

Yesterday I went off to Stuttgart to meet a new online friend, Marvie. (She wrote about our adventure here.) We had so much fun!

Click on the extended entry to read all about it! Lots of pictures there. :)

My day started with me struggling to get up (I went to another Lesbian Disco the night before), finally managing it, catching the last possible Sbahn I could and still make the ICE train. Even then I had about 4 minutes to get from the Sbahn platform, up two flights of stairs and all the way across the hall to my ICE train platform. I was SOOO out of breath when I got on the train! BUT, I made it with a minute to spare! :)

Once I caught my breath, I started working on Janine's purple boa scarf. The scarf I've started and ripped out, and started again about three times now. Trying to find the right combination of stitches and hook size to make a decent scarf. :) I've got it right now, and did about half of it on the train ride (1.5hours).

When I got in, Marvie and I picked up a tourist guide and map from Tourist Information and set out. She had addresses for two yarn stores that she wanted to visit, but other than that our plan was open. So off we went!

We wandered around awhile down the main shopping street and then decided to stop in a cafe across from the Neu Schloss to warm up with a coffee. It's a pretty cafe, but the service was horrible. I was really surprised when the lady asked us if we wanted to pay after thirty minutes. That is really un-typical in Germany. Usually they wait for you to ask for the bill. You could sit there hours and not order anything else and they won't bother you. And this cafe was less than half full. I don't know, maybe it was because we were speaking English.

Anyway, afterwards we wandered across to the Neu Schloss and took pictures.

Across the street from the Neu Schloss is the Alte Schloss. The Alte Schloss looks like a fortress! We wandered into the inner courtyard and discovered this horse and knight statue (I didn't look to see who it was):

I love how the copper is stained with rivelts of "sweat" on the horses leg:

And then, just because I thought it would be a funny photo:

There is a clock on one of the towers that has to rams that headbutt to create the chimes of the hour. Neat, huh?

After wandering through a flea market next to the Alte Schloss, we went off in search of the first yarn store. After getting a little turned around and asking directions, we finally found it. I forget the name of the store, but it was a nice yarn store catering to mostly knitters. She had lovely yarns in there! 100% silk (20Euro a skein! ouch!), Cashmere, Angora, linen/cotton, etc. All very nice. I picked up some lovely Noro yarn from Japan - only 10Euro a skein! The long thin stuff is called "Tape" and looks almost like hemp. It was so interesting, I had to buy it. No idea what I'll make with it though. Not yet. The other one is called Silk Garden and is a wool/silk mix. I love the colors. Marvie said it should felt up nice, but I don't know if I should make my first felted project out of such expensive yarn!

We wandered around more and found the second store- Wool und Tee. Lovely store! Much more affordable yarns, but still very nice and a huge selection. She also sells tea (hence the Tee) and fiber so you can spin your own yarn. I'm not ready for that, but Marvie picked some up. I picked up some teal yarn for a shawl I'm going to make myself and a couple of other novelty yarns.

Afterwards we eat lunch at Sofie's Brauhaus. It's a kind of kitsch-y tourist-y brewery/restaurant. I introduced Marvie to Flammkuchen (a thin crust with a sour-cream sauce, bacon and cheese - very pizza-like) and I had the Kase Spaetzle. Mmmm....yummy! :)

Afterwards we started back through the shopping district (oops - found another yarn store, had to stop in!) and made our way back towards her house. Halfway there Marvie blurts out "doesn't it look like they're having sex?" Um, huh??? She was talking about a stone block in the middle of the walkway that I hadn't seen until she said that. And well.... you decide. ;)

At Marvies house we had fun winding my new teal yarns into center pull skeins with her yarn winder. That was worth some laughs! On the other hand, that is one nifty tool! I might have to pick one up sometime. :)

Her husband cooked us up some ribs, rice and beans. Yes Mom, I ate ribs! They were beef though, not pork, and no, I didn't use my hands. I used a fork and knife. I guess I'm becoming too Germanized, huh? In any case, they were good! Really good.

Oh, and finally, I bought her sons portable PS1 off them. I now have Crash Bandicoot, two Harry Porter games, a collection of old Atari games, and a Sorcerer game. Too cool!

I got home around midnight and after talking to Bill on the phone for an hour, I crashed! Getting up was soo hard this morning.

Now if you excuse me, I have some yarn that is begging to be played with. :)

Posted by Jinglelady at February 6, 2005 12:44 PM | Traveling | TrackBack