Trying a new App

Hello from the Pullman Hotel bar! This is just a quick post testing a blog app for the phone. Pretty slick!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Vollmoellerstraße,Stuttgart,Germany

Zum Paulener

Before we went to dinner we had to first find the yarn store.  I had taken a screenshot of a small section of the map, but as with most places in the old parts of Stuttgart, the streets signs can be hard to find.  After walking around for a bit, we couldn't find the store we came for, but ended up finding another place that had what Shanna needed.  Now it was on to Calwerstraße! 

It took some time to find it, but once we did & walked in, the staff was very friendly.  I felt bad thinking the hostess looked like a pirate, but she had hoop earrings, a bandanna on, and hair tied back...her clothes didn't help the image either.  But she spoke perfect English and was very friendly.  The service was slow, but that was due to the fact that it was 75 degrees out and their entire outside area was packed.  We ended up getting a table inside where it was relatively empty.  The German's approach to smoking is about 10-20 years behind the US, so there were people lighting up all around the restaurant.  Our waitress eventually made her way to our table where we ordered the first round of Paulaner beers (Shanna got the Hefeweizen Dunkel, while I got a Hefeweizen).  Next up was food.  I wish I had written down the name, but I forgot to...it had veggies, spätzel, bacon, chicken, beef, and a small brat.  The meats were set in a creamy mushroom sauce.  It was 18 Euros, and we definitely should have split it...it was MUCH bigger then we anticipated.  I felt bad not finishing it because it was a waste, but we don't have anything to heat it back up with, plus our mini fridge lives up to it's name...I doubt it would have fit.

It was AWESOME.  The bacon was thick cut, which I normally don't like, but this tasted great.  The only let down was the sausage...it tasted like a low cal hot dog.

Definitely give this place two thumbs up.  The food was good, the staff was friendly, and of course, 1 liter beers of Paulaner.

Exploring the City

While Shanna's been working, I've been busy exploring what Stuttgart has to offer. Mostly it's been a lot of walking and taking the train since for the first few weeks we didn't have a car, and now that we do, Shanna uses it to get to & from work.

One of the first places I hit was the TV tower. It was built from 1952-1954, and at the time, was the first TV tower of it's kind. There is supposedly a restaurant in the silver part at the top, but I didn't know that when I visited.


The viewing area that you take the elevator to is 150 meters (approx. 500 feet) high. The view was AMAZING. I took a few pics w/ the phone, but it doesn't do it justice. For those with a fear of heights (like me), just take slow steps and deep breaths...trust me, it works.



One thing I saw around the city that I thought was great was all the taxis...there's no Crown Vic taxis around here...just Beemers & Benz's.



Tonight when Shanna gets home we're heading downtown to a fabric store, then, more importantly, Zum Paulener! Paulener is one of my favorite Munich breweries (who am I kidding, I love all Munich beers), and they have a chain of restaurants around Germany, much like Dogfish Head has restaurants on the east coast of the States. Below is a stock picture from another site...tomorrow I'll have pics of my own to post! As well as my review of the tavern...and the yarn store. ;)

Our First few Weeks

We've had several adventures in our first few weeks. We arrived on Monday, so our first time out and about all day was Saturday, which happened to coincide with the first day of the Stuttgart Spring Fest. Stuttgart is known for it's huge festival area and it's festivals. For Spring fest, they had rides, shops, food and beer. Here are a few pics.




Right in front of the hotel is a huge park that stretches for kilometers. The dogs have claimed their spots and have learned to wait to cross the street. They're acting like civilized city dogs, which is great when you're living in a hotel!

Milo waiting to cross the street.


Murphy at the park.


View from the Pullman Fontana. Our hotel is great. It's right next to a train and metro stop and walking distance to a mall, shops and plenty to eat. It took us a few weeks, but we've discovered the room service. I'm not sure how many more pizzas I can take.


This past weekend, we decided to explore downtown. We found a huge produce market and an antique market. It was such a gorgeous day of 75 degrees with a slight breeze. We found a square to sit and relax and then look around some more. I'm hoping to go back soon and take one of the walking city tours.


Here's what I bought. Don't worry, they're fake Hummels, but I love them.

Welcome to Germany!

After having lunch with my Mom & Brother in Springfield, VA, Shanna & I headed back to the hotel to pack up and get ready to leave. Once at Dulles, checking in was pretty easy...amazingly enough, it was made easy because we had the dogs with us. There were huge lines at the United counter, which I found interesting since it was late afternoon on a Sunday. All the way in the back, though, there was a line with one person in it for people checking in pets. We got in the line, quickly made it to the counter, and in no time at all the dogs were checked in, along with our luggage. After a quick trip through the security line, we had about an hour to kill before our flight took off. That's where the "smooth sailing" part of our trip ended.

After a quick bite to eat, we got to our gate, only to find out our flight had been delayed due to a mechanical problem. 15 minutes later they asked everyone to head to the opposite end of the terminal where a working plane was, but it had not been prepped for an international flight yet, so it would be 30 min or so for them to move everything. 10 minutes after we got to that gate, they asked that we all go back to the original gate. Apparently whatever problem there was had been a simple fix, and the plane was good to go.

We took off at 7:30pm EST (original take off time was 6:50pm) and landed in Frankfurt, Germany, at 9:40am. Since we didn't know if we had to pick up the dogs & our luggage, then go through customs, or if we could just head to our next gate, we had to stop at customer service. At this point we knew we weren't making the 10:20am flight we had been scheduled on. The customer service rep for Lufthansa was nice, and after asking our last name, his first comment was "Oh...like the Antivirus". Even in Germany that's the first thing they think of when they hear "Norton". In any case, he said we were booked on the next flight at 1:30pm, and we'd go through customs when we got to Stuttgart, so we could just head to our next gate & relax.

At 1:00pm, we were told our next flight had been delayed due to weather (I guess they can't fly when it's cloudy, because that's all it was outside), so we didn't end up taking off until 3:00pm. Thankfully Shanna was able to call her office to let her boss know about the delays. We landed in Stuttgart around 3:45pm, and quickly made our way to baggage claim to get the dogs & our luggage. Customs was a breeze...they quickly flipped through our dog papers, and let us go on our way.

Once it was all said & done, it wasn't too bad of a trip. It would have been nice w/o the delays, but at least we all made it, and the dogs were allowed into the country and were just fine by the time we got to the hotel.

More to come later!