31/10/07 - Back from Germany

There’s been no holding me this month.  Between getting back from Hong Kong and setting off for Germany, I’ve hardly had time to touch base.

I’ve been staying with my old friends Elke and Rudolf Lughofer in Stuttgart.  Their other guest was Carmen Presa.  Elke, Carmen and I first met while working as foreign language assistants in France during our student days. 

Stuttgart is surrounded by forests and we had some wonderful walks.  The display of autumn leaves easily rivals that of New England.  The steeply sloping vineyards are also a picture at this time of year.  We stopped off in Rotenberg to sample Zwiebelkuchen, a savoury cake composed mostly of onions.  Washed down with some very new local wine, it was excellent. 

There’’s a lot to see in the city centre - beautiful buildings, parks and gardens, museums and galleries, markets - and there’s generally some entertainment going on in the huge square in front of the Neues Schloss, the ‘new’ castle.  This little chap twirled around constantly as he played and I preferred him to another busker, whose chief selling point was the (live) parrot on his head. 

On a more cultural note, our hosts treated us to a performance of The Taming of the Shrew by the excellent Stuttgarter Ballett.  The title of the ballet translates into German as Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung.  Stuttgart has a very well joined up transport system and the price of our tickets for the Opera House included travel to and from, cutting out the need to hunt for a parking space.

We visited several places of interest outside Stuttgart: Bebenhausen Monastery, Blaubeuren - to see the amazing Blautopf, the blue pond that marks the source of the River Blau - and the cathedral and old streets of Ulm, leading down to the Danube. 

My favourite part of the trip was the university town of Tübingen.  We had lunch near the castle, in the splendidly named Mauganeschtle (Nest Egg) restaurant.  I tried the local speciality, Maultaschen, literally bags (or pockets?) for the mouth.  Not unlike ravioli, they come stuffed with all kinds of things.  I chose wild mushrooms and enjoyed every mouthful I ate, although the portion was so generous that I couldn’t finish it.

A novel way to transport a bicycle down the Neckar, I thought.  The punts are mostly owned by the various fraternities and it’s possible to hire one.  Although not a bad day for the end of October, it was too cool to make the prospect of falling into the water an appealing one.

Far more attractive from a bathing point of view were the mineral waters of the spa we visited in Bad Cannstatt.  I never thought anything would induce me to swim out of doors at this time of year, but it was a magical experience as darkness fell.  My friends, hardier than I, ventured into the cold pool and actually seemed to enjoy it!  I confined myself to the warm and even warmer areas and revelled in the jacuzzi and the areas where jets of water provide a vigorous massage service.  I was still glowing when we arrived back at Elke and Rudolf’s house.

It was a very enjoyable break and I’m finding it hard now to get back into what passes in this household for a normal routine.