Ok, so I’m actually back in Stuttgart, but we had an amazing time in Paris with great weather and we managed to do basically everything on my extremely long list.
Sorry for being absent for a bit here, but between work and sleep, there hasn’t been much time for anything else!
Alright, so, Paris. You may have read my post about everything I wanted to accomplish while we were there. Well, we did almost everything!
So I’m trying to figure out what to do during the 3 days that we’ll be in Paris.
We will be also be doing touristy things seeing as it’ll be Michael’s first time there and the last time I was there it was a bit of a rush and I had done little to no research.
I’ve started by writing a list of the must-sees and googling what others found to be worth a visit. Also it seems that there are a bunch of events on at exactly the time we are going.
Well, it’s official, everything will be crowded with children because school holidays are in full force in Baden-Württemberg. Not only will the city be full, but all the popular (and even the less popular) travel destinations will be crowded and prices sky high.
This summer we are headed to London for a weekend for a family wedding, which we are all excited about. Besides that, however, we had nothing planned. I decided that this was not ok and even if aren’t keen on throwing money around…well, you know what they say…travel is something that you can buy, that makes you richer.
So, I am busily planning a trip to Paris! Not sure just yet if it’ll work out, but Michael has never been (I know, right? Even the whole Kok family has been there and it’s not even that far from Stuttgart!) and my friend from Sydney will be there for a few days.
Every time we head to visit Michael’s family, it means a trip to Bonn and to Cologne, hence, Bologne!
Despite living in Germany and more specifically, in Stuttgart for almost 3 years, I am still discovering new places and seeing the city from different perspectives. Continue reading
About 5-10 minutes from where we live, there is a region called “Siebenmühlental”. Roughly translated, it is the valley of the seven mills, hence the title (which reminds me of Seven Hills in Sydney).
Burg Eltz – Photo credit: Michael Friz
This past weekend we visited some of Michael’s family in Bonn and Cologne. The drive up was about 3.5 hours from Stuttgart despite about 9 different roadworks along the way.
Stiftskirche – Photo credit: Stiftskirche
The Stiftskirche is a church in the heart of Stuttgart, amidst the many shops along the Königstraße, the old castle (altes Schloß) and market square (Marktplatz) and town hall (Rathaus). It rises up amongst the urban setting and is the main and oldest Evangelical-Lutheran church in the city.
A funny thing happened on the weekend. I met up with two people from my former high school in Sydney, here in Stuttgart.
Dinkelacker Beer Tent, last year
Internationally, we all know about Oktoberfest, especially because it’s now celebrated in countries all over the world.
In Stuttgart at least, we have it two times a year except that in spring it’s called Spring Fest and the one in September/October is the main event that everyone comes to Germany for. The place that it’s held here is called the Wasen, which is why many refer to it as such.
The Höllenblitz ride
There are rides, games, food stalls with all of the classics (Currywurst, Bratwurst, sweets, Lebkuchenherzen – Gingerbread hearts with cutsie sayings) and of course, the beer tents.
This time around we went for a quick stroll over the entire grounds, having snacks and something to drink. The weather was not great, which was actually a blessing in disguise because it meant that it wasn’t overly full. I’ve experienced times where it was hard to walk or breathe because of the amount of people standing around.
That fest-feeling is not yet here because the weather has been so topsy-turvy in Germany lately, so I’m looking forward to September when the bigger Oktoberfest is on!
Come on, summer!
KOKSTARS 