Stuttgart, Germany

germany updates:

stuttgart.

this lesser-known but by no means less-interesting town in germany was home for 3 nights.. my german host family were more than generous and accomodating. andi's parents and siblings took care to make sure i felt right at home, which wasn't difficult since the hospitaliby was plain hospitable. though andi's mum didn't speak much english, her caring nature shone through her continous need to make sure her loved ones were well looked after. despite german being their native language, the straub family made it a point to converse in english and watch dvds in english (with german subtitles) to make i didn't feel left out.

nights were peaceful and for the first time in months, i actually slept without ear-plugs. every morning, i awoke to the bell chimes of the nearby cathedral and a bountiful basket of fresh bread.. sounds pretty provincial huh? haha..

i thankfully didn't need to eat out much as andi's mum was a fantastic cook. though meals were neither extravagant nor exhorbitant, they were worthy of michelin stars in my little red book.



my first dinner was german kassler (loin of the pork), potatoes and cheese with bread.


on easter friday, we stayed away from meat. smoked salmon, prawn salad and different types of cheese took center stage. with the decorative grapes, doesn't the cheese platter remind you of a roman platter?


this was dinner upon arrival from munich. smoke-bellowing roast lamb, beans with bacon, pan fried potatoes and nudlen.


haha this is as german as it gets- sausages!

i also visited burg honenzollern castle, which stood on top of a hill. seeing how only the handicapped and elderly took the shuttle bus, we decided to hike up the hills. it was a climb that proved just how lousy my stamina was. its quite worrying when i think of the number of breaks i had to take in that short period of time..

after the twenty minutes climb, i must bore an uncanny resemblance to pugsy. HARHAR, YANG!

but up above, the view was pretty amazing. though the castle would probably have been prettier in spring/ summer with all that greenery, i am glad i made that trip.