On Saturday I got up at 6.15am to go to Stuttgart with a friend of mine. I’d passed through that city many times on the train but I had never actually visited it, and what with my likely leaving this region this year, I have decided that I want to do a little traveling to and sightseeing in the state. We originally wanted to do this trip a month ago, but ended up putting it off until now because of my thesis.

Stuttgart was really nice. It’s not that big a city, and we only spent a few hours there so I didn’t see everything but I did like what I saw. While it is nowhere near as picturesque as Heidelberg or Munich, it does have a few lovely places to offer to its visitors. One of which being this gazebo that I absolutely fell in love with. I want a gazebo like that in my backyard! Okay, I’d be happy if whichever city I move to has one! The fact that I love it so much may or may not be related to the fact that Stars Hollow (that Stars Hollow, and yes, I do realize it’s a fictional town) has one and I always thought it was absolutely beautiful.

Though the one in Stuttgart is even more beautiful, if you ask me. By the way, if you are not as enamoured with the cross process option on Flickr as I am, you can see the original version of each picture by clicking on it.

We also saw the most delicious-looking chocolates at the market hall, and a guy playing the saxophone with a parrot on top of his head. No really. A real, living parrot.

It was a really fun day, even though my feet were so sore after all these hours of walking around cold and snowy Stuttgart. And did I mention it was cold? So very cold. Which was not helpful that time when we got a little lost in the woods looking for a subway or bus stop after a visit to the TV tower. We did find one after a half hour of walking through the snow, though, and we even got to ride the Stuttgart “Zacke” – Germany’s only rack railway, so it was good for something, after all. And while it was cold, we did get lucky with the weather because, at least for a few hours in the afternoon, the sun came out and the sky was bright blue.

Other than that, the day involved lots of good food (that may not all have been so healthy, but we walked so much I hope it didn’t do any “damage”), spending more time in stores than planned (it was oh-so-tempting to do some “big city shopping” but I didn’t end up buying much), oh, and my finding a girl’s public transport ID in the snow, only to lose it again before we made it to the Lost & Found. Not one of my brightest moments!

All in all a great day with my friend whom I hadn’t seen since last summer. I am so happy I finally got to use my camera again. I haven’t had many opportunities to use it lately, and I have been missing it so much!

The weekend ended with a Sunday mostly spent in bed, sleeping or reading. Perfect way to spend Sunday, but the weekend went by way too quickly. How was yours?