Exactly one month ago, I surprised my knight on his birthday with a day trip to Stuttgart. Since there is no better present than spending time together and discovering new places, right?

We left Frankfurt very early, so that we first had breakfast at this wonderful café directly at the market place. The sun was shining at 10 am already, which promised that it was going to be a beautiful day. We had coffee and a breakfast special for two people, which was simply amazing. Croissants, rolls, meats and cheeses, melon and yogurt with fresh fruit. Especially yummy were the homemade jams: peach and strawberry. Only because of them, the café is worth a visit. But Stuttgart has more to offer than extraordinary breakfast.

With our tummies stuffed, we began a small sightseeing tour. From the marketplace we walked to Koenigsstrasse, the shopping street of Stuttgart. This street, with all the stores we know from Frankfurt, directed us to an old, pretty castle. What rather impressed us though was the garden, which belonged to the castle. It was big and we spent over an hour at the water in the sun. After enjoying the weather and surroudings, we went on the search for some coffee and drove to the actual destination of the birthday present: the Mercedes Benz Museum.

(Photo left: Side view on castle ©CBMP; Photo right: Old Mercedes Car ca. 1960 © CBMP)

It was my second, my knight’s first, visit to the museum. Eight floors full of vehicles, motors, facts and historical happenings all around the business with the star. At first, one takes the elevator all the way to the top, where one looks at the first motors built for Mercedes and then walks down in a snail form where each floor displays a specific time range. The last floor shows the newest model and formula one cars. On the ground floor, one can actually sit inside a formula one car, which Mika Hakkinnen once sat in – pretty cool! For an admission of 4€ (Student rate) it is really worth a visit!

On the way back to the car, we literally bumped into a soccer game from the second team of VfB Stuttgart playing against SG Sonnenhof Grossanspach. We watched it for a good 20 minutes and it was actually good. But I was pressing to head back towards Frankfurt, since I had planned a small surprise party for my knight with our closest friends, with which the day ended.

A day trip to Stuttgart is definitely worth it. Spending more time in Stuttgart I cannot see doing without going to a musical of some sort. I think, you have seen Stuttgart in a day. My highlights: the garden at the castle and the Mercedes Benz Museum. All in all, Stuttgart is a nice city, if you wish to relax and like to walk through a city.

Lively Main river.

Just don’t move too much: Tree upside down.

Spring Fever?!

Street corner with a garden.

Old and New in Frankfurt.

(all photos shot and copyrighted by me!)

From many people I heard about a Halloween Parade in the Village. This year was their 38th year and is planned by a non-profit organisation and the Theatre of New York. Donations help to support and finance the parade. The parade is 25 blocks long and runs on Sixth Avenue between Broome St and 17th Street. Clubs, several organizations and artists, also partly art student from colleges, have own cars and present large balloons all Halloween themed. The special part of this parade is that everyone can join and walk in the parade. I simply needed to see that.

And if I attend, then I wanted to go all the way and do it right. A few days earlier I purchased my costume (a black dress covered with glitter) and vampire teeth, which glow in the dark. On Sunday in the early afternoon I carved my pumpkin like every year, thought of my make-up, dressed up and met a friend, in order to take the subway to the parade together.

Many others were not dressed up in the Subway, so we started to question Halloween, haha. Many people looked at us, told us how great our costumes / make-up was. When we got out at the station, the picture changed. Many people in costumes walked to one direction – to the beginning point of the parade. A long, wide line of people could be seen. At 6:30 p.m. the first Halloween car started to head up Sixth Ave. Once the first car passed the starting point, the first bunch of people were let on the avenue. And that is how it continued; we got in the third bunch.

Amazing and unforgettable hours followed. To the left and right of Sixth Avenue, young, old, small, tall people stood and watched the parade. Costumes of all kinds were to be seen: vampires, Pebbles, giant baby, dinosaurs, skeletons… I could extend this list for a long time. We walked in the parade from the beginning to the end behind a car which was escorted by a group of young people dressed in mid-evil clothing, who danced to rock and house music. At each corner the car stopped, the song “I Am the God of Hellfire” tuned and when the song line “And I bring you….FIRE, FIRE” ended, everyone, also us behind the car, started to dance like crazy. It was so much fun! The walk in the parade was three hours, in which we also saw the in orange lit up Empire State Building and several light-shows on other buildings as well.

Back home I saw one of the first news reports on the parade – the official attendance (meaning only the audience on the street and us, who actually participated in the parade): 1.8 million! Now that can only be done in NYC!

The evening was a special experience. It was just spectacular and I am still thrilled how the parade was organized. Especially that anyone was able to attend the parade itself and be part of it – it again showed “the spirit of New York City” – anyone can make it and get the chance.

Some of you may know it by the title “Visual Diary” and have one yourself. The concept is pretty easy: take one photo each day, preferably with a smartphone and then upload it right away. My device is the Nokia XpressMusic 5800 – and I will try to take all the photos with it. But since I – currently – cannot afford a mobile contract with an internet flatrate, I will upload the photos from my laptop. In a combination with a smartphone, this actually sounds almost old-school. In the best case, I still manage to upload the photo every day.

“And why?”, you may ask. Much too frequently we forget the great small things in life, which happen every day – a date with a friend, a discovery or simply a good dinner. With a photo a day, it is easier to reflect and remember those things, which were very special in one, short moment. And: having it captured on a photo, the moment will last forever.

My Diary 2.0 can be found on top in the menu. Have fun with it and discover the world with me!

What would Bryan Adams possibly say to this ad? Thank you to my personal blog helper and best friend Simon for sharing this discovery.

After an hour driver a friend and I arrived at the rented apartment, which was a little outside the main part of the city. The place was pretty nice for the low price; the old interior design invited to poke around. We discovered many crazy things and partly could not stop laughing about them. Old dishes and a radio, which only seemed to find classical radio stations were the least funky items.

We then explored the proximity and tested the ice-cream parlor around the corner, which sold really large waffles. Later the other 3/5 of the group had arrived and after some grocery shopping for the next days we walked to into the main part of the city to have dinner.

We ate in a traditional German restaurant near the cathedral and ordered a Wetzlar speciality: potato stir-fry with meat, onion and egg. It was really yummy – and easy to make at home. Afterwards we headed back toward the apartment again, since the distance was further than we thought. The evening ended with a compfy get-together and a few drinks.

Saturday started out with fresh rolls from the bakery around the corner and homemade jam from the apartment’s owner. After that we all jumped into a car and drove to the shopping mall, since it was the last summer sale weekend, which definitely had to be checked out. An advantage to do this in Wetzlar: in the mall there were primarily people of the older generation, so it was quite and not busy.

After a few hours and a packed trunk we headed towards the old part of the city, strolled around and looked at all the old buildings. There are many little streets and trees. But Wetzlar is not for people who do not like to walk, because all over the place there are gradients up to 12 per cent.

In the evening we cooked all together in the apartment, ate, laughed and talked about all the world and his wife, as you always say.

On Sunday a sad surprise was awaiting us: rain, rain, rain! We actually intended to go to the nearby lake and bath a little. An alternative had to be found. Luckily we found out about a wellness bath in Asslar, about 20 minutes north of Wetzlar. We packed our bags, handed in the key and headed up there in two cars. At this point I want to note that the car with the two women in it arrived first at the destination.

The wellness was great, especially the saltwater spa, for which we only had to pay one Euro more. One was able to get into a more relaxed area, a bit off from the main pool area. And one was able to swim to the outside pool. A slide with a timekeeping was also there and one of us actually held the day’s record until around 5 p.m. Even if he was lucky, because the timekeeping board somehow accidently got reset before he went on the slide. Tired and exhausted we headed home in the late afternoon.

The car drive was quite. Fatigue was clearly there. Traffic and a massive rain shower did not really help there either. After I had brought all my passengers home, I looked back at the weekend. It was a lovely weekend getaway, we laughed a lot, talked and were just together. Many moments in which I again realized, how important my friends are to me. When I turned into our driveway, the radio station I was listening to played our song from the weekend, which completed my thoughts and made me smile:

Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP – We No Speak Americano