Kelly spent her last few days hanging out in Karlsruhe. We had fun hanging out, doing a bit of shopping, walking around and chatting. It was great.
Here is a picture of the devine chocolate cake that we shared at, *cough*, Starbucks. I may have been a little hard on Starbucks when it first opened in Karlsruhe. For some reason I just really loved living in a "Starbucks free" city. But now that I have tasted the chocolate cake I know I can't deny it anymore. I will be back to Starbucks (although I may not broadcast it). Hey, isn't it pumpkin spice latte time right now?
Here is an interesting little device that we may have at some places in Canada too. It's in the CD department of the big electronics store. If you want to listen to any CD in the store you simply scan the barcode in the machine and pop the earphones on. What a great idea, hey?
Kelly and I also visited the Karlsruhe Zoo. We got glorious weather. Plus it was feeding time, so we got to see a lot of the animals up close.
They have a gorgeous Dahlia garden (my favorite flowers!). We burned up quite a few mega pixels on our digital cameras snapping away. Gotta love digital.
Did you know that Karlsruhe is located on the 49th parallel? This stone marks the exact spot.
Just before Kelly hopped her train to the airport we went for one last stroll around the castle and bought sandwiches to bring with us. I chose this little gem and felt like I needed to share it with you. It's a pretzel shaped like a ring, with pumpkin seeds on top. Yaow!
I don't have a picture of Kelly at the train station because we were a bit rushed getting there. Too rushed in fact and we didn't notice that Kelly got onto the wrong train! I realized that we were actually 9 minutes EARLY and that her train was the next one to pull up to the platform. Fortunately she only needed to get out and transfer at the next stop to get back on her original train. Whew. I'm much more careful about checking train numbers now!
So, like I said, I only had 12 hours to mourn the loss of Kelly in my life in Germany (and do a few quick loads of laundry!) before Fran arrived the next morning at ... wait for it ... 5:30 AM!
Wed October 10, 2007
I met Fran at the airport (I didn't get there until 7:00 AM though!) and not wanting to waste a single moment of her trip, Fran and I set out to see Frankfurt.
After effortlessly navigating the Frankfurt airport, putting Fran's cute pink suitcase into a giant locker, and figuring out the transit system, we hit downtown Frankfurt. Of course, it was still only 8:00 AM so I introduced Fran to a chain bakery called "Kamps" for a quick coffee and her first pretzel of the trip. It turned out to be the first of many stops at Kamps in what would be a long and fulfilling relationship for Fran.
Here we are at the euro bank (or something)
We blitzed the Städliches Kunstinstitut, a world-class art museum. We enjoyed the special Albrecht Dürer prints exhibition. I thought Fran was kidding when she said we would look at everything. We did, but at a brusque pace that was actually refreshing. And it turns out, just training for Fran's record braking museum tours in Paris.
We passed some amazing flower stands. Here is the Dahlia selection.
We asked for a recommendation for lunch and two different people recommended this place called Adolf Wagner in the Sachsenhausen district. They brew their own Apfelwein, which is a specialty of Frankfurt. We had to try some of course. The atmosphere was cozy and traditional with long wooden benches and wood paneled walls. And the food was great too.
Luckily we had clear skies and were able to make use of the views on top of this skyscraper, teh Main Tower. By the way, Frankfurt is famous for it's skyline since very few European cities have skyscrapers, especially in the core, historic district. Of course when you come from Calgary the skyline of Frankfurt doesn't really have the same effect. Kind of pathetic actually if we're talking about hight and number of skyscrapers per square km.
Here is Römerberg, a remake of the historic city centre. Fran and I made a gigantic loop around it earlier, trying to find it. It turned out alright in the end as we managed to see everything we wanted to, including a nice walk along the river, before we finally found it. Not a good day for Bridget the navigator.
We finished the day off with some window shopping before hopping the train back to Karlsruhe. Fran was understandably tired, but I managed to keep her up well past 9:00 PM to help her get over her jet-lag. Overall, a very impressive first day!
Stuttgart - Thursday Oct 11, 2007
Did I mention that Fran is not one to waste a single minute when on a trip? Well, after a decent nights sleep Fran was ready for another adventure. Stuttgart was on the agenda I knew she would enjoy the Oktoberfest like ambiance of Stuttgart's big festival the Cannstatter Volksfest. After being at Oktoberfest in Munich, I realize that this may be one of the best kept travel secrets. Stuttgart has all the ambiance, big beer tents, singing, dancing on benches, fair rides and midway food ... but without the crushing crowds, overinflated hotel prices and need to reserve a year in advance! But let's just keep it our little secret, shall we?
Prost!
Salty half chicken... mmmmmmm.
I thought this ride looked like fun and convinced Fran to try it with me.
Wee!!! It was a lot higher and faster than it looked from the ground. We were laughing so hard I barely noticed.
Our view from the top.
I bought Toby a love cookie. It says "mein Tiger". Rrrroaw.
After grabbing a bag of warm, sugared hazelnuts (YUM) we hopped the subway back downtown for a walk around.
Oberer Schlossgarten
Neues Schloss
Altes Schloss
Wow, these Stuttgarten-ers are really living the life!
I've never tried one of these pay-toilets before. I was scared, but it turned out just fine. Clean, only a mildly disturbing smell, not out of toilet paper. Although I look disheveled because as Fran was taking this picture, the doors were repeatedly closing on me.
Cool fountain on König Straße, the main pedestrian shopping street.
Fran and I made it back just in time for me to make it to German class. After class we all met at Cafe Emaille for some cheap food and Irish beer and cider on tap!
Overall it was a great, fun-packed day, done Fran style.
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