One of the privileges of being in Business Class was that I was one of the first to get off the plane. Since I also had only hand baggage, I was outside the customs/immigration within 10 minutes of leaving the aircraft. Immediately on heading to baggage claim, I found the Budget rental counter and I waited to get served. The guy was pleasant enough, but after getting all my documents and my credit card, he informed me that my car was registered for Terminal 1 (we were in Terminal 2) and I should head there. I gathered all my stuff and headed to terminal 1 which involved a lot of walking and a train ride. When I got there, a sheepish looking woman told me that she had received a call from the guy at Terminal 1 and that he had my credit card which had been left behind. They would send my car over to Terminal 2 and I should just go back. I smiled and made the long trek back and the guy was more apologetic. He said he would upgrade me to a car with automatic transmission (I had manual) as well as GPS. Even the trek to T1 wasn’t all bad as I stopped at a store anf got an all-Europe SIM card for the phone with 750 MB of data. The car was a nice SEAT Leone (apparently SEAT is made by VW).
I got the car, out in the address and headed out. Even at 100 km/h, I found cars just whizzing by me. Apparently, if there is no explicitly posted speed limit, people go crazy. So, I joined them and did 170-175 kmph (only hitting 180 in a few short stretches.
I reached Sheila’s host’s place by about 2:30 PM. It is in a picturesque small town (rather, a collection of towns) called Albstadt. Kira (Sheila’s exchange student host) and her parents were wonderful and welcoming. It was fantastic to see Sheila again. They served some coffee and cake and we went on a fantastic walk through the countryside that ended with some spectacular views of Hohenzollern castle. Absolutely spectacular.
After the walk, we got home and soon left for dinner at Hotel Host in Juningen and had an excellent Schwabish dinner. I had a traditional clear soup called fladle and wiener schnitzel, which, as the hosts reminded me, was authentic as it was made with veal and not pork. And, of course some regional beer. They insisted on paying for it. We said our goodbyes at that point and Sheila and I drove to Stuttgart.
The drive to Stuttgart (though barely an hour) was tough. I had had barely 3 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours and I was very tired. I managed to stay awake by speeding. We arrived at the Airbnb place in Stuttgart which is VERY centrally located and parked. The apartment is cozy, but didn’t have soap or a functioning light in the living room. Sheila and I decided to go exploring to see if we could find a place to buy soap that night.
We headed out at about 10 and eventually found our way to Hauptbanhof (the main station), where we found a store that sold us soap (shower gel) and some evaporated milk (for Sunday’s coffee. We walked back to the apartment where I typed this up and went to sleep around midnight. As usual, I’m glad I managed to stay up this late. Sleep will be easier.
There is no air-conditioning and no fan. How typically European. The room is sweltering and humid. I guess I’ll have to learn to sleep in sweat.
I got the car, out in the address and headed out. Even at 100 km/h, I found cars just whizzing by me. Apparently, if there is no explicitly posted speed limit, people go crazy. So, I joined them and did 170-175 kmph (only hitting 180 in a few short stretches.
I reached Sheila’s host’s place by about 2:30 PM. It is in a picturesque small town (rather, a collection of towns) called Albstadt. Kira (Sheila’s exchange student host) and her parents were wonderful and welcoming. It was fantastic to see Sheila again. They served some coffee and cake and we went on a fantastic walk through the countryside that ended with some spectacular views of Hohenzollern castle. Absolutely spectacular.
After the walk, we got home and soon left for dinner at Hotel Host in Juningen and had an excellent Schwabish dinner. I had a traditional clear soup called fladle and wiener schnitzel, which, as the hosts reminded me, was authentic as it was made with veal and not pork. And, of course some regional beer. They insisted on paying for it. We said our goodbyes at that point and Sheila and I drove to Stuttgart.
The drive to Stuttgart (though barely an hour) was tough. I had had barely 3 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours and I was very tired. I managed to stay awake by speeding. We arrived at the Airbnb place in Stuttgart which is VERY centrally located and parked. The apartment is cozy, but didn’t have soap or a functioning light in the living room. Sheila and I decided to go exploring to see if we could find a place to buy soap that night.
We headed out at about 10 and eventually found our way to Hauptbanhof (the main station), where we found a store that sold us soap (shower gel) and some evaporated milk (for Sunday’s coffee. We walked back to the apartment where I typed this up and went to sleep around midnight. As usual, I’m glad I managed to stay up this late. Sleep will be easier.
There is no air-conditioning and no fan. How typically European. The room is sweltering and humid. I guess I’ll have to learn to sleep in sweat.
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