Our first Adventure: Stuttgart, Germany

Brace Yourself, this one's a long one!! 

This past weekend Jenifer and Alexis Scheidt and I took a trip to Stuttgart, Germany as our first official European adventure, and let me tell you it was quite the adventure!!

We didn’t start planning until about a week before the trip, and this should be obvious but my trip planning tip #1: start planning earlier. We waited this long because we had to wait until we got our class schedule to book our flight, luckily none of us have class on Friday so we could leave Thursday evening. Since we are in Aberystwyth and it takes a while to get anywhere we ended up leaving in the afternoon, and oops I had to skip a class, and for those of you who know me well know that I have no problem skipping class (now don’t take that the wrong way, I still have good grades and do my work, I just am able to get away with it. So, for all you youngsters out there, do as I say and not as I do, go to class). Although this time I was a little more worried because it was my first class in this subject and I’m not sure what all the rules are yet. But, I decided a weekend in Germany was more important than 1 class. So, I went with it and here is a recap of our German adventure!

Thursday, October 5:

We got on the train in Aber at 1:30 this afternoon to begin our weekend. A 3-hour scenic train ride, 2 flights, with a layover in Zürich (I got a Swiss stamp my passport😁😁) we landed in Stuttgart Germany at 11 pm. We had booked an apartment with Air BnB that was in a suburb of Stuttgart called Leonburg (travel tip #2 use air BnB to find cheap place to stay). Now, it was late and we didn’t want to figure out public transport this late so we got a taxi. The apartment was quite fancy and the view from the patio was beautiful. The trees are changing color and the hills reminded me of Nashville

**Now before I start on Friday I should tell you why we chose Stuttgart of all places for our first trip, I mean you probably have never hear of it. We heard about the Stuttgart Cannstatter (aka Volkfest, aka Oktoberfest). Cannstatter is a more local, more traditional version of Munich’s Oktoberfest. While Oktoberfest in Munich has be come very touristy, Cannstatter holds more of the true German tradition and has been happening since the 1800’s where it started as a harvest festival and has turned into a huge festival that attracts millions of people over 16 days. So, this was the main reason we traveled for hours to visits lesser known area of Germany.

Friday, October 6:

Today was our first full day in Germany and we were going to spend it at Cannstatter. We left our apartment to try our hand at public transportation (travel tip #3: figure out public transportation, its way cheaper than using a taxi every time). We got very lucky, because when we asked someone for directions, we found an extremely nice man that became our hero for the day. He was heading the same direction as us and helped us out and explained the trains and busses to us. We took 1 bus and 2 trains to get to the festival, once we got to the last train station the man told us to follow the people in the leather pants. At first that really confused us but when we got there we knew what he meant. At this festival most people dress up in traditional German Lederhosen, so we followed the crowd and found the festival. To say I was surprised is an understatement, the place was ginormous.(travel tip #4: enter every adventure with an open mind, it's fun to be surprised) 

The grounds from the top of a Ferris wheel

The grounds were at least twice the size of my county fairgrounds and was filled to the brim with rides, food stands, and ‘tents’. Now we were told to go to the tents to join the party and get food and drinks. The word tent greatly understates the size, they each hold a few thousand people (there were like 8 tents) and are decorated immaculately like huge wooden barns decked out for huge party (no joke one of the tents had a disco ball 6 feet in diameter)

We found a tent and went in to get something to eat, I got half a roast chicken and bread along with a liter of festival beer (yes you read that right they sell the beer by the liter). We sat down next to a couple German girls and befriended them, we then met a group of people from Switzerland and we all hung together for the night. It was like one big party and the tent was packed full, we stayed until about 10pm drinking, singing along and dancing on the tables alongside all the locals.(Travel Tip #5: interact with the locals, its the best way to get the real experience, blend in, don't be a tourist, be a traveler) We had so much fun and were extremely happy with our choice of Cannstatter instead of Oktoberfest. Just to get an idea of what its like, you tube it, and then add it to your bucket list.

The tent at Cannstatter, and our new friends

Saturday, October 7:

We decided to leave Cannstatter on a high note and see what else the city hard to offer. We got a late start this morning but made our way downtown and decided to try out the local Wilhelma Botanical Garden and Zoo. They gardens were beautiful and they had thousands of species of plants, they also had all the big animals like elephants and giraffes. After the zoo we went back to the city center and ate at a delicious German restaurant, and walked around the shopping center of town (guys, they had a TJ MAXX 3 stories big!!). I couldn’t leave Germany with out a new pair of Birkenstocks, I now have 2 pairs of sandals over here and the temperature won’t get above 55 again🤔, oh well. (Travel Tip #6: ALWAYS wear comfortable shoes)

I'll always find the seahorses

Sunday, October 8:

So today we were supposed to head back home (‘supposed’ being the key word but I’ll get to that later). We just explored the suburb of Leonburg today before heading to the airport.

 When I was checking in at the airport they couldn’t find my reservation so I showed them my confirmation, and the check-in lady looked at me like I’m stupid and said “you’re flight isn’t until tomorrow, Monday” I was like what, no way.  But it’s true guys, I’m the idiot that booked a flight on the wrong day… in my defense, their calendar is set up weird. So, after talking to like 10 people I realized unless I wanted to pay way too much I was stuck with my Monday evening flight. But hey, I get an extra day in Germany.( Travel Tip #7: Double Check, Triple Check and then check again)

I headed to the info for desk and they helped me book a hostel back downtown. I went back to Stuttgart, got dinner and a drink before calling it a night.

Monday, October 9:

The palace in the city center

My extra day in Stuttgart. I decided to go downtown and book a full city tour, I learned a couple interesting facts. Fact about Stuttgart: the very first automobile was invented right here in Stuttgart, and after that the whole town was built on Mercedes-Benz. Everywhere you look you can see the Mercedes-Benz star, they have a Mercedes-Benz museum as well as a Porsche museum. They really love their cars here. I then needed to head to the airport.

Looking over Stuttgart

So, 2 flights later I landed in Birmingham at 9:30 pm. Unfortunately, the last train to Aber left at 8, so I was stuck in Birmingham for the night.

Tuesday morning, I caught the train back to Aber. The train got in at 11:20, I ran to my flat, switched bags and ran back to the station to catch the 11:50 bus to class. I walked in with a minute to spare.

 (Travel tip #8: Don't let the little things set you back, go with the flow and take everything in stride, you can make a million plans and then plans always change)

I had quite the adventurous weekend but what’s an experience without a couple bumps in the road.

➹“A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.” – African Proverb➷