Day 19!

Today I got up around the normal time, had a bath and a shave, and had some breakfast. After a a little while it was 11 something and me and Mrs Kirste went into Stuttgart and firstly had a look around a few shops and things like that. At 1.30 we had a bus tour around the city which was really cool. We drove past most the main places outside the innercity, and got some cool explanations and stuff like that too. The tour guide explained in german then english.. i found i could follow most the german, but after a while got mentally lazy and just waited for the english :).

One of the coolest things we drove past was the brand new Mercedes Benz Museum! Im not a car fanatic or anything.. but it looks totally amazing ay! And the design of the buildings is awesome too!! It was designed by a dutch architect, and has this cool double helix thing going on :) VERY cool! Im going there on Saturday, so i-ll have some photos and more explanation soon! The tour also included a trip to the 'Fernseherturm' (TV tower) where aparently you get a great view of the ciyz.. but unfortunately it was closed for the day.. but we still got some pretty cool views out over Stuttgart from up high anyway.

After this we got a short tour around the old schloss, which is a beautiful old building where Stuttgart was founded in 950. Outside this there was a square with a statue of Shiller in the middle, and the main Evangalical church at one end. Its a really nice looking building, but quite hard to get a good photo of!!

After this we walked across the road to the schlossplatz where the new castle stands (they were gonna build a department store there after it was destroyed in WWII!! So glad they didnt!!) And then the tour was over. Me and Mrs Kirste had a drink and went up the big new glass museum/gallery to get a nice view over the innercity, and then it was home time.

At home I had some tortellini for dinner (left overs from lunch - we left home before lunch), and after a little while started a game of texas hold'em with Björn and Arnulf. Arnulf was out after a while, and me and Björn carried on. By about 10.30 we still hadnt finished, but the phone rang and it was Mum.

She told me Grandma died this morning (in NZ.. so in the eveneing here in Germany). That was pretty stink! When I tried to explain n stuff to the Kirstes in German it just wouldnt come out.. it was weird! Its cool that she is now at rest and is back home and doesnt have to worry about nasty elderly-home food anymore.. but its also sad that I am so far away and cant be there for the funeral and stuff :S. I dunno... Anyway, I went to bed after checking whether insurance would let me return home or not.. and didnt sleep that great, but prob finally got to sleep around 1.30-2ish