Stuttgart

I had googled a little about Stuttgart before we came to Germany. Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden - Wurttemberg. The city is relatively modern though there are many places of historical importance as well. P said that most of the city was destroyed during WWII and hence the city lost many of its historical buildings. Nevertheless, it is a very beautiful city. And it is twinned with Mumbai!!!

It was almost lunchtime when we reached P's place and we were extremely hungry. MC had thankfully dozed off during the 20 min drive from the airport to P's place. P served us a brunch of cheese, toast, and marmalade. After a short nap, P took me and MC, who had woken up and was cleaned and fed, to a short walk around his neighborhood. He took us to Killesbergpark which is a 5 minutes walk from his home. It is a beautiful public park situated right in the heart of the city. It has a small narrow gauge railway for joyrides, a tower for observation - Killesberg tower, many small ponds and children's play area. The park was originally a quarry which had been used for a horticultural show and subsequently became a public park. There is an observation tower called Killesberg tower, from where one can get a bird's eye view of the city of Stuttgart. I had no stamina to climb all the way to the top of the tower. However, my little MC was very excited and was keen on climbing all the way to the top of the tower. P explained that the park is actually three different parks that has been interconnected. Infact, a person can travel to one end of the city by walking through the park. And many citizens actually do that!!!

Killesberg Park

View from Killesberg Tower

Killesberg Park

The next day was our first outing to the city of Stuttgart. P wanted us to experience a typical German way of living and experience the city to its fullest. Our first day at German was blessed with a sunny weather. In fact, the entire itinerary of our trip (which P never shared :) was dependent on the weather. After our breakfast, we walked down to Killesberg metro station. The walk from P's home to the metro station was a pleasant experience. We went through a series of narrow alleys surrounded by trees and hedges. Sagi was pleasantly surprised when he saw many apple trees on the way. We took the metro from Killesberg to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof railway station. It is the main station in Stuttgart for long distance travel. P took us to the railway station tower and showed us the plans for the upgradation of the station. 

Killesberg Metro Station

View from Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof

We then proceeded towards the main city square called the Schlossplatz. We went to the "Neu Schloss" or "New Palace". It is a castle built in Baroque style. It was destroyed during the WWII and was restored. It houses certain government offices. 

We visited the Altes Schloss or the Old Castle, which is now a museum.

Old Castle

Inner Courtyard of the Old Castle

We walked through the many gardens and manicured lawns. There were ducks everywhere. MC had a wonderful time running behind and chasing ducks.

MC chasing ducks!!!

We then moved towards Schillerplatz which is the old city square. We then randomly walked around the city to get a flavor of Germany. 

MC and her Dad

Over the couple of weeks in Stuttgart, we would travel to different parts of the city - 

Mercedes Benz Museum

Did I mention before that weather played a crucial role in determining our itinerary? Well, our first Sunday in Germany was a rainy day. The efficient German weather bureau predicted it couple of days in advance. Hence, P planned the visit to the museum. 

Sagi posing in front of an apple tree, next to Killesberg station

One of the very good things I liked about Germany and the people is that they take their holidays seriously. So on a Sunday, all shops will remain closed. People do their Sunday grocery shopping etc. on Saturdays. Thankfully, a cafe close to the KIllesberg metro station was opened and we breakfasted there. We tried three kinds of breakfast - German, Bavarian and Italian. It was for the first time I tasted Bavarian sausages and pretzel and I fell in love with the former. We then took a metro to visit the Mercedes Benz museum.

It was just starting to drizzle when we left the Metro. The museum is a 15 min walk from the Metro. After paying the entrance fees, we tried feeding MC and had to give up as she was too excited to eat. 

The museum layout is top down. A elevator, shaped like a time capsule, takes you to the top most level. The museum show cases the history of motorized transportation. It houses the initial models of Mercedes cars and how Mercedes has evolved till date. It is a lovely experience for someone who is interested in history or is a car enthusiast. You are given a pre-recorded headphone which plays as you move around the exhibit. MC was clearly bored and she was becoming difficult to handle. We wrapped up the visit quickly. MC slept on the way back.

One of the many vintage cars

Cranky MC being carried around by her Dad

We went for lunch in a small restaurant and enjoyed a sumptuous meal. I had Flammkuchen, a German variant of pizza for the first time and it was delicious. Flammkuchen is a traditional dish which has a thin base (thinner than pizza) and toppings are sour cream, onion rings and bacon.

Wilhelma Zoo

The weather forecast dictated that we had to visit the Zoo. So after enjoyable breakfast, we left for Wilhelma Zoo. 

Wilhelma

The Botanical Garden

The Wilhelma zoo is zoo and botanical garden, that was once a palace. It is very beautifully maintained and MC enjoyed the visit very much. She was able to touch a penguin and tried to chase a peacock!!! The enjoyable excursion was unfortunately marred by a tragedy. My Canon digital camera slipped from my clumsy hand and fell on the concrete floor. Two days into our vacation and we had no camera!!! 

MC chasing a peacock!!

Just lazing around!!!

MC wanted to join the penguins in their enclosure!!!

Ludwigsburg

Towards the end of our stay, we drove down to Ludwigsburg, on a rainy day. It is around 12 kms from the Stuttgart city centre. The city is famous for the Ludwigsburg palace, the largest Baroque palace in Germany. 

Ludwigsburg Palace

It was drizzling when we reached the palace. The palace being very large, there are many guided tours. Only one tour was in English and we would had to wait for atleast 2 hours for the same. We decided to opt out of the tour. They have instead a truncated version of the tour wherein you can visit select rooms and an hand held audio device guides you through the same. We saw the personal rooms of the Duke and Duchess of Wurttemberg.

Interesting installation at Ludwigsburg

After the short visit, we went to the palace restaurant and enjoyed our first authentic Black Forest pastry.

Sagi enjoying his Black Forest Pastry!!!

We also visited other places such as Porsche Museum. We did not enter the museum, however just took a picture.

Spot us!!!

Sagi posing in a vineyard at Stuttgart