Stuttgart!

“Tiki-taki, tiki-taki! Oi! Oi! Oi!”

That was the war cry of this past weekend at the Stuttgart Frühlingsfest.  This past Friday, I hopped on a train and headed down to Stuttgart to visit my Frauen-counterpart Josi.  I had bought the ticket nearly three weeks ago, during my super homesick phase.  I probably over paid, but I was a little distraught, and needed something to look forward to, so I booked a trip to see Josi in Stuttgart.  Homesickness is always eased by having something fun to look forward to. 

I left work after lunch on Friday, headed back to my apartment, threw some necessities in my backpack (I’m terrible at packing), and headed to the Wuppertal Hbf.  From there I took a swanky ICE train to Köln, and from Köln I took a not as swanky intra-city train to Stuttgart.  This was my first experience with a “long” train ride.  The ride from Köln to Stuttgart was about 3.5 hours, with stops about every 45 minutes or so.  Being the champion sleeper that I am, I obviously was able to fall asleep on the train.  It was a slightly paranoid sleep though since Stuttgart was not the final stop of the train.  I had to make sure I was awake in order to get off at my stop.  The train stops at each station for no longer than 5 minutes, so one could easily sleep through where they are supposed to get off the train.  I simply set an alarm on my phone to ensure I would not miss my stop, I'll do anything to get a nap.  

A side note about my train ride.  For this trip, I reserved myself an assigned seat on the train for 4€ each way.  I’m really glad that I did this, because it guaranteed that I had a place to sit (sleep) for my 3.5 hour journey.  Other people who don’t reserve themselves a seat might not be so lucky, and might have to stand for the entire journey.  Of course if a seat is empty you can sit there, but the Germans take the seat reservations very seriously and they will kick you out of their seat. 

I arrived to the Stuttgart Hbf around 7:00 and was greeted by Josi.  Die Frauen were reunited!  We rode the elevator to the top of the Hbf where we were treated to a great view of Stuttgart.  Stuttgart is the 6^th largest city in Germany, and is the home to the European headquarters of Porsche, Bosch, Hewlett-Packard and IBM.  Also, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Maybach are all produced in Stuttgart and nearby towns.  So basically, this city has A BIT more going for them than little old Wuppertal.  I don’t want to admit that I have city envy, but I do… of every city that I visit. 

The Frauen are reunited!

Josi and I left the Hbf and went on a mission to get me a Dirndl, a type of traditional dress worn in Germany (think Sound of Music, or Beerfest).  We found a store, and I fell in love with the first Dirndl that I tried on.  It was destiny.  I will not admit how much I paid, but it is the one big souvenir that I had been planning on getting, so I’m telling myself it’s justified.  I plan on getting a lot of wear out of it, and since it’s UC colored I will most definitely wear it to a football game or two.  After the Dirndl shopping, we headed back to Josi’s place.  She essentially lives in a dorm and has met a lot of international students through living there.  We had dinner with her Mexican friends; it wasn’t Chipotle, but it was still pretty darn delicious.  After dinner we were both extremely tired, so we went back to Josi’s room and chatted and got some good sleep for Frühlingsfest the next day.

On Saturday we woke up, had some Frühstück, and headed to the Hbf to pick up our other Bearcat counterpart Ian.  For those of you that know a little something about my personal life, you know that I was extremely excited to see this man.  The three of us headed back to where Josi and I bought Dirndls so Ian could get some Lederhosen.  We’re such tourists.  After Ian got a pair of Lederhosen that coordinate quite nicely with my Dirndl, we went to a little market to get our haggle on.  Then we had lunch at a traditional German restaurant.  I had Käsespätzel and Bier. Typisch Deutsch.  After lunch, we headed back to Josi’s to get dressed for Frühlingsfest. 

Me with a lion statue. These things are everywhere in Germany, and I love it.

Let me take a moment to explain Frühlingsfest.  Its basically a carnival and a beerfest mixed together to celebrate the coming of spring.  There are carnival rides, food stands, and of course, beer tents.  We were lucky enough to get tickets through an Expats group that Josi has been going to.  Our tickets got us entry into one of the tents, 3 liters of beer, and half a chicken.  Here’s the website to Stuttgart Frühlingsfest if anyone is interested http://www.stuttgarter-fruehlingsfest.de/

I could write forever about how awesome Frühlingsfest was.  It was such an amazing experience.  Everything from the atmosphere, the food, the music, the beer, and the people we met were all spectacular.  We ate, we drank, we danced on tables, we yelled, we laughed, we sang, and most importantly we shared this experience with people we love.  There was an awesome band that played everything from traditional German songs, to popular hits of today.  My favourite was when the band played a mash-up of American 80’s hits such as “Come on Eileen” and “Angel in the Centerfold”.  They even played “Hang on Sloopy”, which we couldn’t believe, and of course we filled in the ever-important “O-H-I-O”.  And of course I took embarrassing pictures and videos.  German festivals are so fantastic.  I hope to attend many more before my time here in Germany is up.

Our tent!

Our group!

My Dirndl!

On Sunday, we lounged around, found a Hamburger stand, and schemed up some more European adventures.  I haven’t really planned that far ahead… but here is what I have so far:

April 27^th – May 1^st : Amsterdam with Josi! Hosted by the lovely Barynia

May 4^th – May 6^th : Munich/Freising to visit Ian and perhaps attend another festival

May 11^th – May 13^th : Chillin’ in Wuppertal

May 16^th – May 20^th : I’m trying to get to London this weekend… but we shall see…

That’s about as far ahead as I can plan.  I really should be more diligent about planning adventures as good as this past weekend in Stuttgart.  Until next time, I leave you with this ever important song:

" Ein Prosit"

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit 
Der Gemütlichkeit 
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit 
Der Gemütlichkeit.