3 Days in Stuttgart
Although we are only three days into the trip, it feels like we have already done so much. As someone who has never traveled to Germany before I had no idea what to expect. When we arrived in Stuttgart I found myself very pleasantly shocked. We reached our hotel on Friday afternoon after two flights first from Boston to Zurich and then Zurich to Stuttgart. We stayed at the Premier Inn Stuttgart City Europaviertel which was in a very nice and modern area. We unpacked and then I went to check out the mall with two friends. Professor Wong had told us previously that this was a place where we could get food and any other essentials but it was still much larger than expected. First we picked up some essentials and then ate some döner, specifically Iskender (a variation with sauce on top).
Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and made our way towards the Welcome Dinner with the group. It was nice to sit with the group and have some great schnitzel and try some German beer. Then we left the dinner and walked around with the guest speaker, Thorsten Donn (Head Planner of Stuttgart). He gave us a great overview of the city and its infrastructure which we were able to admire even in the dark. Then we went back and crashed for the first time after a very long and tiring trip. In the morning we all woke up early with many of us facing jet lag and went to breakfast. Afterwards we made our way to the Mercedes-Benz museum which was a great experience. Not only did we get to see cars from many different time periods which is amazing in itself but we also had the opportunity to follow a story. The museum was set up very nicely in the way that it took us from Mercedes’s beginning to now today and historical events which affected them. I also ended up buying a hat and pen for my grandpa who loves Mercedes and has one for himself.
Afterwards we had lunch on our own before going on a private tour of Stuttgart 21. This was very interesting as it is a project which is very close to being completed. I was also surprised to learn about how much controversy the project has faced over the years and still does to this day. Having already spent so much money you’d think that people would have accepted it by not but people still hold weekly demonstrations against the project. In some aspects their concerns are valid with them already running over the budget and environmental issues that could arise from the station. However, some demonstrators didn’t even stop at just complaining but also placed dead beetles in trees to try to scare away constructors. It was also great to see the inside of the tunnels, and understand some of the reasons why the project was taking so long. I remember the tour guide mentioning how they only built a meter further each day. Afterwards, we had dinner on our own but I ended up falling asleep early as I was still jet lagged.
The next day we had a very busy day as we went to the Porsche Museum in the morning. We had a tour guide who was clearly very knowledgeable and interested in the topic which boosted my experience. We got to go into the workshop and see the new cars they were working on at the moment. I also enjoyed getting the opportunity to close the doors and trunks of the cars. He also mentioned how Porsche still does their best efforts to be sustainable which was great to hear from a company which makes race cars and luxurious cars. I was also very shocked to see the same exact Mercedes model that my grandpa owns in the Porsche museum. The tour guide told us that this was the only Mercedes that Porsche made.
Then we traveled to Tübingen which was the city that Professor Wong studied in for a few months. It was very beautiful in some parts but it was also just as interesting to see the not so nice parts. Up until now we had seen a very modern side of Germany and now we got to see a more historical side. Germany has a very long and complicated history dating back over a thousand years. We were able to see some very old and historical buildings. I also had not known before that when selling German apartments, they don’t list it in the bedroom + bathroom format as they do in the US. Afterwards, we had dinner at The Ludwig Cafe which was very nice, the soup was surprisingly good and I had the beef which tasted great. To top it off, we had some crème brûlée that was also one of the best I’ve had in a while. We then went back to the hotel packed and went to sleep. Now we are on the way to Hamburg which is our second out of three cities.
#stuttgart
