Our big adventures

​What a great surprise Stuttgart was! Super easy to take the train from Munich, and the landscape there has rolling hills and valleys that are gorgeous - compared to the relatively flat Munich. Pros: Landscape, easy train system, cars, Porsche museum, Christmas Market, walkable Cons: Cigarette smoke (this isn’t just a Stuttgart thing) Lodging: Hampton Inn Stuttgart City Center - there was a mall next door and train stop just outside. It wasn’t very close to the city center, but the train easily got us there. Breakfast was included - Nate really liked the pumpkin spice waffle, otherwise it was an expected, free hotel breakfast. The room was VERY small with no fridge but we opened the window and used it as a fridge which worked just as well 😂

​It’s the day Beau has been waiting for… no turkey and football for us this year, but a visit to the Porsche Museum.  We started early with a train ride to Motorworld where we walked through Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini dealerships before exploring Motorworld. It’s a 50,000 square meter space with a daily changing collection of hundreds of new and old cars and motorcycles - we got to see Kit from Knight Rider! Just seeing and being able to explore all of the dealerships and cars was really cool.  Then we took the train to the Porsche Museum for a private tour. Beau was like a kid in a candy shop - wide eyed, huge smile… His highlights included seeing the 928 wagon and pretty much everything else. Because of the tour he was able to dig into details and ask questions he wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Nate’s highlight was hearing the full history of Porsche and seeing the evolution of the cars. He also loved seeing the mechanic garage/workshop where they do all of the ...

​We didn’t really have plans on day one in Stuttgart, so we walked though the park to the Christmas Markets that were to open that evening. Then it started raining. Again. We hopped on the ferris wheel where Beau got some great photos, headed back to the hotel for a bit and then took the train back to the (now open) markets.  There were a number of different markets but all connected in the same area, which was nice. They were much more ornately decorated than the ones in Munich, so it looked and felt different. There was a choir singing in the courtyard of the castle, and the music traveled out into the streets. It was beautiful. I drank more gluhwein 🍷 🤷🏻‍♀️ Nate thought he ordered a beer and was drinking it saying it tasted like Sprite. I took a drink and said it was like flat Coke. Beau said it tasted like Pepsi (same thing as flat Coke). Then Beau looked at the alcohol content: Soda. 😂

​This was our first time in Germany and it didn’t disappoint. First, Beau joined us for his Thanksgiving break! We experienced authentic beer halls, the opening of Christmas markets and ate German food.  Pros:  Augustiner Beer Hall, Christmas market at the Residenz, pretzels and mustard, very walkable (we did 10 miles one day 😳), we met and hung out with an extremely diverse group of people, warm German potato salad, felt very safe Cons: Cigarette smoke, really cold and wet (meaning always take a rain jacket and camera cover) Lodging: Courtyard by Marriott City Center - close enough to everything but a bit off the beaten path, which the price reflected and I appreciated. Good breakfast.