Christine in Lego Land

Well, not really.  But very close.  When I was little, my Dad use to take me to downtown Pittsburgh to make a donation to Children's Hospital.  KDKA radio broadcasters would set up shop in a different department store window each week (or maybe it was just each Saturday--I was little back then and I don't really remember the exact specifics) and collect money for the Hospital.  You said your name and who you wanted to wish Merry Christmas too.  I always said my family and grandma since I knew she listened to KDKA.  She also lived downtown so afterwards we would visit her.  Then she would ask why didn't we stop at her apartment first (she lived across from Heinz Hall) and get money to give.  We usually gave at the Horne's Department store, which was a block or two from her place.  The best part about giving was not the radio.  It was the amazing cookies they gave you.  I don't remember the name of the cookies; maybe something to do with stars.  But I loved them.

During my walk tonight, I saw Christmas windows at one of the Department stores in Stuttgart.  I bet that Nathaniel, Jake, and Q would love it here:

Yes, that's right.  They did a Star Wars Theme.  How awesome is that?

It was not all R2D2.

So Maddie and Olivia would also enjoy a visit.  I would say that Santa was a bit shorter than me in real live.

The Truck's arm actually moves.

Christine
p.s. There is a Lego Land in Germany.  Maybe it will make my to visit list.  I am easily amused.

Christine in Stuttgart

Stuttgart is my "new" home town.  Although I have lived here for *almost* a year.  It is the 6th largest city in Germany, generally considered industrial.  This is why we bombed it heavily during World War II.  As previously written, we are home to Porsche, Mercedes, and maybe Bosch (think home appliances).  But we are so much more than that.  My apartment building:

I live in the apartment with the 3rd set of windows (either direction), right side.  It was obviously very warm the day I took this picture as the windows are opened.  I never open windows.

There is a church down the street from me.  Around the lovely church is fire lake.  And as you can imagine, the lake around it was originally used to put out fires.  It is Feuesee Church.  The saying goes that we may have bombed it as well.  And the Germans did not finish rebuilding the top tower.

The Church in the middle of the Stuttgart Mitte (City Center) (two different styled towers):

There are a couple of castles in town as well:

The main castle (now I think it is now government offices but whatever):

Statute of someone (I just kinda like it):

The Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station).  It was the first thing built after WWII.   As a side note, Germans like long words.  So they put all the words together to make up one word.  This may be why I can't speak Deutsch.  Just throwing it out there.  

This is not an in and out bahnhof (train station).  The trains pull in and then there is a separate engine in the back that takes the train out again.  So essentially, every train has at least 2 engines.  This is not very economical.  Years ago, the powers that be decided to expand the Hauptbahnhof.  And make it a threw station.  So that a train could come in and leave without backtracking.  There is a group called Stuttgart 21.  They are "environmentalist" who protest the expansion.  It is suppose to be done in 2021.  Hence the name.  They camp in the park next to the hof (station).  (It is to the right in this picture.)  The park will be gone once they expand the bahnhof (train station).  The Germans love trees.  They are quite upset that very old trees will have to be cut in order to expand the station.  They should have cared back when the vote was taking place.  (My free advice.)

Sometimes they march through town as well.  Germans have to obtain permits to protest.  The polizie (police) always know when there will be a protest.  And they have enough in case things get out of hand.  Which I doubt they ever will here.  (There is a cop on the right hand side.)

One guy does chalk art work on Koenigstrasse (King Street).  This is the main shop street, where the castle is located.  No cars allowed.

 

There is some interesting architecture as well.

I'll post more pictures of the city another.  Something to look forward too.  Ha ha  I look forward to Mayrhofen, Austria and skiing this Thursday, Thanksgiving.

Christine
**Pictures were taken on different days.

Christine at the Restaurant Schwabenstube

Since I did not travel for this holiday weekend, I decided to indulge in lunch.  I visited the Restaurant Schwabenstube.   Michelin awarded the restaurant 1 star.  The restaurant is located near Ludwigsburg, about 18 miles (this may be because of my unique way of navigating) north of Stuttgart.    

The amuse bouche:  I can't remember the description.  But I enjoyed it.

The first course consisted of salad with celery and venison.  The jam on the meat added a nice touch.  I would say, of the 3 courses, overall, I enjoyed this one best.  But this is not the best picture ever.  

The main entree included pork medallions, carrots, and I'm not sure.  But those were not french fries.  I do not know what they were, but they were delicious.  I could eat just those and be happy.  That gut (good).

Finally, I ate plum ice cream, with vanilla creme, plum composite, and cake.  Shockingly, the ice cream was not that good.  It was flavorless.  I was disappointed.  I did like the chocolate cigar though.  Best part of dessert.  Even if it was white chocolate.  

The Nuremberg restaurant is still number 1.  It will be really hard to beat the chocolate bars.  But I am trying.  ha ha  Guten Appetit.  

Christine

Checking to see if my blog is back

That's all.  I hope this works.  And this is not cool that it disappeared for a while.  Google is going to have trouble running the world if "things" just disappear from it.

Christine in Bad Urach, Germany (or the Swabian Alps)

I'm an urban dweller, building loving, pavement kind of person.  But the color of the leaves on the trees in the Swabian Alps are breathtaking.  I enjoyed my hike this weekend.  With a group from the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) on base, I visited Bad Urach, Germany, which is 45 minutes to an hour away.  First, we hiked (well this was more of a walk) to a Wasserfullhutte (waterfall).

I heard that the waterfall freezes in the winter and looks like Luthor's lair in Superman.  How cool is that?  Return in January or February to see more pictures.

Then I hiked up to the ridge line (shown below):

A different view:

The view from the ridge line:

The tour guide practiced force protection on the way down to the beir garden for lunch.  This means we took a wrong turn and walked 10 minutes out of way and then back.  Thanks for the extra exercise.

We then hiked to 11th Century Ruins, Hohenurach.  This walk was relatively flat, until you got right before the ruins.  Then it was practically straight up:

The Ruins were originally a fort.  Later, they were used as a prison.   This time, I took a picture of the ruins information, so there is no need to retype it for you.

I took a picture of the English side.  You're welcome.

After hiking for a couple of hours, we visited a Thermal Spa.  This time I hung around the pools instead of the spa.  They had wonderful heated pools, outdoors.  Reminded me of hanging out in the hot tubs outside after skiing.  Skiing...  Soon it will be ski season again!  Can't wait.

Christine