Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Stuttgart, Germany

Our arrival into Stuttgart was pretty simple. While Chelsea went to Prague, Twana and I caught a bus to Stuttgart. It was about a 5 hour bus ride. The bus had advertised that it had wifi but it was very weak and didn't work half the time. Chelsey has family friends in a small town outside Stuttgart, so after the bus dropped us off at about 12am we took a tram to where they could pick us up. It was so nice to know we were going to be picked up from the tram station since it was so late at night. 

Jill and Thomas welcomed us into their home like we were princesses. The next morning we didn't wake up till noon and they had breakfast ready for us. Their house was about a 10 minute walk from a shopping center. We ran some Aranda then came back to go on a bike ride to the center of the town. It was about a 15 minute bike ride/45 minute walk. Twana and I ended up getting separated from one another. I went to the nearest cafe for wifi and ended up being able to text her. After we met back up, we went back to the house and Jill had started cooking a homemade Germany meal for us. Her friend Helena was there. She is one of the most friendly people I have ever met! We sat down together and had a wonderful meal with good conversation. When we had all finished our meal, Jill suggested that we all go into the town center to watch the public viewing of the first World Cup game. So we all packed up in their small European car and went to watch this kickstarter. It was so much fun! There were Brazilian dancers and a band.
Germans tend to not be as enthusiastic as Americans so Twana, Helena, and I got up and danced to the music! The dancers left then Jill translated for us as the mayor gave a speech. Twana and I were never really liked watching soccer but ever since that night, we've been fans ever since.

The next day we woke up grabbed our bikes and headed to the water park. It was only €4 to get in but it was huge! There was so much to do. They had waterslides, diving boards, sand volleyball courts, and little whirl pools inside the main pool. We hung up our hammocks and went and tried out all the slides.
When playtime was over, we napped in our hammocks until we got a text from Chelsey telling us she was at Jill's. We biked back to Jill's and then all three of us decided to head to the town center to get something to eat and watch another game. We grabbed some donners, German sandwiches, and then headed to the public view. We were waiting for the game to start when we saw Helena! She told us that the Spanish club was showing the game and invited us to go with them. It just so happens that on the to the Spanish club is a small section of the town called Old Town Germany. It had beautiful, old, white and brown houses with flowers in the windows. We got to see the old Germany architecture like you see in the movies.
When we finally walked up to the Spanish club it was packed. The game had already started. Helena and her husband introduced us to all of their friends and then their friends introduced us to all of their relatives. Helena and her husband were so kind to us. They bought us food and drinks during the whole game. After the game ended, we said bye to Helena and headed home. It was dark out and half way home we heard men begin to whistle at us trying to get our attention. We ignored them but they kept following us. We didn't stop though we just stared ahead and kept walking. Finally, I got the guts up enough to look behind me and realized that they were gone. This goes to show that having more than one woman with you and an attitude to boot makes all the difference. We were worried but kept calm and cool. We locked the door as soon as we got home and slept safe and sound. 

I became sick for the next couple of days. I went out with Chelsey and Twana to Stuttgart but ended up coming back on the tram because I wasn't feeling well. They stayed out and watched more of the games while I slept at Jill's. Sunday morning wasn't a whole lot better for me either. Jill and Thomas had friends over but still invited to eat lunch with them. We all sat around their table eating more good food and having great conversations. Since Jill and some of her girlfriends had experience traveling alone, we asked if we could interview them for our documentary. They gave us great advise and information. Jill ended up having to catch a bus to Munich to visit family that same night. So it was just us and Thomas.

I woke up feeling much better. Twana had contacted a guy through blablacar for a ride to Frankfurt where we were to fly out to Greece. He came and picked us up from Jill's which was super nice of him. He dropped us off at the Frankfurt central station. Our bus wasn't for another 4 hours so we threw our backpacks in a locker and went to look for something to eat. We found a little Mexican restaurant that was also playing the USA vs Uganda game. There we met two other Americans that we're watching the game. We made friends and cheered on our team! Of course, the US won. The game was over just in time to catch our bus to the airport.

Stuttgart treated us well.


Sorry for not keeping up with the blog but more to come! 

Dori