Ok, so we had some friends going to a German beer festival, and while we don’t want all our travels to revolve around beer festivals or wine tastings, it’s hard not to go to these things when the opportunity presents itself. That being said, we donned our half-fare cards, and took the Swiss rail system north into Stuttgart, Germany.
The thing about Germany is, it keeps surprising me; I’ve had this conversation with a couple of people, and we all agree that, while it doesn’t get the tourist destination-buzz of other European countries like France or Italy, Germany is a really cool place. The towns are über-cute, people tend to be friendly, it’s extremely clean, and great for walking around. There aren’t a ton of "you-have-to-see-this" sorts of places, but it’s just…nice. Anyway, that sums up Stuttgart. There isn’t a hugely compelling reason to visit it, but it’s a nice city. I believe it’s known as the greenest city in Europe, evident in the fact that seemingly every block has a park, and the town is divided in a couple places by a forest (seriously, there are thousands of trees just growing randomly in large swathes of land throughout the city.) That’s pretty cool.
As this was only a weekend trip, we didn’t get to do the usual amount of sightseeing, and also it was more of a trip to hang out with friends and enjoy a giant festival. The Spring Festival, as it is known,
draws a lot of people, and it’s kind of similar to Oktoberfest, the main difference being that Oktoberfest is bigger and is probably more family-oriented (I know that sounds weird, but it’s true). This was more of a carnival atmosphere, with lots of rides and food stands, and was basically a giant unpretentious party. That being said, we did go up in one of those gigantic towers where you can look across the rest of the city, and also walked around quite a bit.
Anyway, it was another good weekend, and it ends what might become our most intense period of weekend traveling in Europe. Almost looking forward to spending next weekend lounging around in Geneva…almost.
Next weekend: Partytime in Geneva!
