Day 20

Today me and Mrs Kirste went into Stuttgart for a while. Initially the plan was to also go to Wilhelma, the big botanical/zoological gradens all in one here in Stuttgart. But the weather was stinking hot and i was tired as, so we just did Stuttgart city, and not Wilhelma today.

First off (after getting up and having some toast for brekky) we went to Stuttgart Uni to drop off some books that ariane had borrowed a while back. On the way in there was a big group of kids playing in one of the fountains :) It was really cute! Ha ha isnt it great how kids can get away with just jumping in a fountain and having a bunch of fun.

After that we drove into Stuttgart and headed over first to the evangalical church I saw yesterday. Inside it was very modern. The stained glass windows were either new, and done in a slightly more modern fashion, or they were these equally stunning, but completely different windows. It was great ay! There are a few pics on flickr so check them out! The organ was also beautiful, and it was playing a lovely (but also reasonably modern) piece. Im so used to organ pieces from vampire movies or stuff like that, that i cant really hear it nowdays without getting these images of scary things, or bad guys' lairs and stuff. But its truely an awesome instrument though ay! so powerful and such rich sound! I love listening to it.

After this we went into an indoor market hall. This place was fantastic ay!! There was pretty much anything you might need (in the way of food) there! And heaps of speciality stalls and different international products and stuff.. Not only were the stalls and variety impressive, but the smells were fantastic!! There were different smells when you walked around different parts, but they were all fantastic! fresh cheeses, fresh and dried fruits, the meats and sausages.. it was awesome!!

After this we walked around the park behind the New Schloss and got a nice view of the entrance of the Opera house among other things. (there was a statue outside the Opera house and I thought i recognised it as Schiller, so I asked. Mrs Kirste said she didnt think so but we went to check, and it was! woohoo!! I guess thats really a testament to the skills of the sculpturers that made that statue and the other i saw in Shillerplatz outside the Old Schloss). We walked down to the end of König Strasse and crossed the street to get to the main railway station, where we then went up the massive tower and got a great view of the city. I also saw the HUGE building complex of the Baden Wüttemburg Landes Bank where Mr Kirste works. Behind this is a big empty lot and the train tracks. Aparently they plan to put these tracks iunderground and build a massive new area of apartments and offices there. The project is called Stuttgart 21, but itd cost HEAPS and they dunno if itll go ahead yet or not.

Afterwards we went home and i relaxed for a little while, then we made a brief trip to this old site of a roman camp. There wasnt much left too see except some old statues and pillars.. but it was still cool!! There are some photos on flickr. After arriving home and having a hamburger-a-la-richard me and Björn went for a run. Picked up the pace a bit, but by the time we got back Björn was saying he would never go running with me again ha ha! But it was all just jokes and stuff. Oh! on the run we saw this cool zepplin (actually a hot air baloon in the shape of a zepplin) that was taking people for rides. It was cool! I wish i had my camera :). It was from the company Festo, they have their main office right here in Berkheim, and they are a big international company specialising mainly in pnematics.. Their stuff is really good and is in most countrys i hear.

After the run we had a swim, and then sat up on the veranda and had a chat for a while until around 10 something (it was still low 20s so hanging out in your togs wasnt a problem... nice!!
After this I quickly went online to write an email then off to bed.