Auf Wiedersehen Stuttgart...

Storks' nest on chimney

Stein en Rheim

My last full day with Barbara (who prefers to be called Babs) was very full! She loves to swim, so she proposed a trip south to Lake Constance, which abuts Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. THAT certainly worked for me as well. The 1.5 hour trip through lovely country went quickly! Our first stop was in Singen, where we stopped for coffee and a short visit with her 85 year old mother. En route to the lake we made a quick stop and walk through Stein en Rhein, a charming, tourist town, where there were swimmers and rafters enjoying the beautiful warm day on the river. Then we were on to the Lake, where there were several swimming options either from a paddle boat or the beach, which was our choice. Even though the water was quite low, it was a delightful place to swim. It was not too crowded,and, in fact, there were four swans swimming nearby. On our way back, we stopped to visit Rottweil, another charming small German town, which had pretty much closed up at 2PM. We saw the latest young bridal party outside the Catholic church posing for pictures. Shortly thereafter, as we walked around, we saw and heard the tooting horns echoing all over town.
We got back to Babs' house in time for another delicious dinner of pork (the exact name of which I will have to add next post,) spaetzle, and ratouille. Alf had organized this, so the goodies we had picked up were for another night! It was a wonderful way to end my visit with Babs and her welcoming family! Their two sons were in and out during my stay; Arne awaits his German passport to go to San Francisco for a six month internship, and Hendrik is just finishing up his undergraduate work. Alf has his own architectural business, and was busy at work on three projects with construction due to be started this week. My visit with them was a stellar start to my trip!!!
Sunday afternoon Babs took me to the Goldberg stop near her house so I could take the subway to the Stuttgart train station to go to Berlin. At 4:30 I met Annette, my next couch surfing host, as scheduled at Platform 10. She was in Stuttgart for the weekend to celebrate her son's wedding. It worked so well that we could take the same train to Berlin, due to arrive just before 10PM! She lives in the Schoneberg section, which is south of Berlin; she remarked that the train had a stop south of the main station, which would save us time. Well, to make a long story short (HA!), I neglected to inquire EXACTLY WHICH station I should get off at....Yes, while I was watching for her at the first Berlin stop, I did not see her on the platform, so I did not get off where she got off. OOPS!!! I called her to get directions to her house; I took Bus M85 to KaiserWilhelm  Platz and walked to her building. (Once again the Blackberry saved the day, as I could find her address on Google maps!) She was MOST gracious, even though I am sure she would have preferred to get to bed earlier than the hour I was delayed. So, welcome to Berlin! This will be a busy visit with much to see. At least I could see some of the places I will be seeing by day!