It's been so nice to see Mary again, and because I know she's reading this blog, all I will say is that she has been delicious. Her mama is also adorable. Big thanks to the Gromova family for being kickass hosts!
However, my darling Mary forgot to mention how hilly Stuttgart is. And rainy. But now that I have the obligatory complaints out of the way, I can give my true feelings on the city. Stuttgart is nicely medium-sized, and perfect for those who want to avoid the country but also the huge cities. The metro system is a little confusing at first, but it seems to cover the city well and it operates at decently-paced intervals (although not for anyone who's lived in London, haha).
For car lovers, there are museums dedicated to Mercedes-Benz and Porsche here. But as I know nothing about cars, they were not on my itinerary, and I preferred to check out some of the parks and the city centre. Mary took me one to of her favorite spots, Bopser, where you can get great views of the city and the hills that are EVERYWHERE.
The next day, we went to Heidelberg. Now everyone raves about how beautiful Heidelberg is, and to some extent, I can see what they were talking about. It's just that it rained on and off for most of the day, and there was no sunlight whatsoever. We visited Heidelberg Castle, which was ruined in the French invasion but still pretty impressive. The view of the city that you get from there is also great, fog or no fog.
In Heidelberg, we went to this very traditional German restaurant, where I had veal and potatoes, and my first German beer (Verdict: the meal was great, the beer was good for beer...I guess.). Over the past few days, I've tried bretzels, the German version of cheesecake, the black bread, and the big banana, currywurst. To be honest, I enjoyed the pastries more, but I figured I couldn't leave Germany without trying something so typical. And thanks to Mary's mom, I've also gotten to try some tasty Russian-Ukrainian food (all unpronounceable).
This morning, Mary and I went to Mineralbad Leuze, a spa in Stuttgart that is great value for money (Also, who knew Stuttgart was hiding natural springs?). For 11 euro, we had access to all of their saunas and pools, as well as their steam room. I'd never even been to a spa before, and what a great way to pop that cherry. This must be why Stuttgarters are so chill. I will admit - the nudity in the sauna was a bit weird at first, but no one was peeping or being gross (except me actually), so that wasn't an issue for long.
I can't really think of an eloquent way to wrap this up. This trip has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I hope it's the first of many adventures. I am so glad that I got up off my ass and did it. The memories I've accumulated will always be there, ready to be dusted off on the most tedious or depressing of days. As Anita Desai said, 'Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.'
No matter what the future holds, no matter what other countries or cities I venture to, I will always remember winter 2015 when I froze/hiked/gelato-ed my ass off and saw a little piece of Europe. Now I'm determined to see more of it, and I want to believe I'll get that chance.
If you've ever had dreams of travelling, and something trivial is holding you back, get over it. You won't regret it, trust me.
A bientôt, Europe! See you soon! Don't worry, you and your seemingly endless supply of pigeons haven't seen the last of me!
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