Wait, Where?

Travels

This was actually an ad feature, but still:

Stuttgart, Germany?

Actually, yes.  Of all the German cities I’ve visited — and that’s a lot — I was unexpectedly and pleasantly surprised by Stuttgart,  Here’s why.

It’s quite pretty, being set in the midst of a series of ridges and hills — like Johannesburg — and it makes no bones about the fact that it is all about business — again, like Johannesburg.

But it’s also a nice place to visit:  the food is varied and not expensive (at least, not when I was there. Tip:  if you can find a place that caters to the after-school crowds, the deals are sensational:  think 1-euro gyros and -pizza slices).

I remember asking the guy behind the counter in the above pic why they didn’t serve lamb gyros — highly unusual for a Turkish joint — and his response was:  “German lamb is terrible.”  (Schrecklich!)

Also, walking in the city itself is great fun, as there are several pedestrian-only streets and of course, there are the bars.

Close by, there are all sorts of interesting places, e.g. the Mercedes and Porsche factories and museums, for those who are that way inclined.

And unlike many Euro cities, renting a car is an excellent idea in Stuttgart for the simple reason that the Swabian countryside — Black Forest, y’all — is spectacular.  (If you have the money — I didn’t — rent a Porsche Boxster.)

I wouldn’t go there in winter or even early spring, though:  it’s pretty bleak.  This was late April/early May, when I was there:

But the best part of going to Stuttgart is that even in summer it’s not a tourist-y city like Paris or even Munich.

I’d go back there tomorrow if I could.

Afterthought:  like many German cities, Stuttgart was bombed all to hell during the slight disturbances of the early 1940s.  But just a short trip up the autobahn from Stuttgart is Tübingen — which wasn’t — and it’s worth a couple of days all by itself.

The street food alone was voted “Best in Germany” by the kids — and they went to all the places I went to.

22 comments

  1. IMHO, Stuttgart was a very pleasant city to visit in the late ’60s; no language barrier for me, but everyone [almost, but not the Turks] wanted to practice their English.
    No comparison, however, to Johannesburg which still remains #1 in my mind (memories really: I don’t know what it is today) of places I’ve ever stayed; that’s stayed, not “visited”

  2. Lived in Germany for 3 years in the 70’s, would like to go back someday but I don’t see that happening. At least I have the memories….

    1. Same here, in uniform the whole time (as I suspect you were too). Did my bit to help hold back the communist hordes. My-my, look at the German gov’t now. Yeah, I’m content to stick with my old photos and memories.

      1. Yes. 1974-77, Wildflecken, Germany.
        54th Engr Bn., 8 miles from the East German Border.

        1. 1974-77, Pinder Barracks, Zirdorf.
          156 Maintenance Co., Small Arms Repair shop. US gave the post back to the Germans about 1995.

          At one point my buddy and I were TDY to a sister company. We spent a week with the 11th CAV doing repair work up at one of their border guard camps.

  3. Haven’t been to Stuttgart, we will definitely correct that. Thanks!

    When visiting the wife’s relatives in Bavaria twenty years ago, Nuremberg shone as my favorite city. A wondrous mix of history, culture, scenery, architecture, dining, people, walking touring, and shear immersive ambiance.

  5. Best meal and best wine I had in Germany was in Wurzburg at Juliusspital. This was in a 2 week visit of several towns in Germany and several good meals.

    I did get a little tired of pork, though. Even as consistently good and affordable as it was.

    Wurzburg is on the list of cities I would want to explore longer on my next visit.

    It’s a shame that England and Europe have been overrun with “Turks” and other non-Europeans. There may not be a next visit. Hell, with their current commie government, I don’t even want to travel on connecting flights at Heathrow; they may jail me for my posting history here in the U.S.

    1. Gotta say, I was a little underwhelmed by Würzburg. The Zentrum is lovely, but very small. Best to get there on Market Day, when the entire square is filled with stalls.

      Tübingen, however… in a heartbeat.

  6. hmm, bit far to drive out for a weekend (10 hours one way, including time for rest stops along the way).

    1. That’s the problem with you Euros… everything is just too far to drive, but too nearby to fly.

      That said, I would have to drive ten hours just to get to New Mexico, not that I would ever want to do that unless en route to somewhere else.

      1. I made a bunch of work trips to New Mexico back in the day. Albuquerque isn’t a bad place when the hot air balloons are flying. Food is pretty good if you like chili (green or red?) And then there’s Roswell – nobody has ever had so much fun with an event that probably never happened as the UFO people.

        We drove across New Mexico at least a half dozen times to visit the in laws who wintered in Yuma. The drive was sort of pretty if you like brown.

  7. I worked out of Panzer Kaserne for a couple of years as an Army Contractor. Stuttgart has one of the better Christmas Marts. It is huge. Starting in the spring there is some type of Fest every weekend through October within an hour and a half driving distance or by train.

    I had a 10 year old beater Jaguar XK with the 4.2L V8. If I didn’t have the military fuel ration card I could not have afforded the XK as it got about 15 mpg if you drove it like a grandmother. If you pushed it on the Autobahn it would drop to 10 mpg. It had a 155mph speed limiter and had no problems getting there.

  8. “… during the slight disturbances of the early 1930s…”

    Did we lose a decade somewhere, Kim?

  9. When I was driving through Stuttgart in 1970 (U.S.Army), traffic stopped. I was surprised to see a truck driver get out of his truck and piss on the street. Well, if you gotta’ go, you gotta’ go…

  10. Great suggestions. Thanks, Kim. Just one demographic/geographic nit-pick: the Black Forest is not in Swabia (Württemberg), it is in Baden. The locals are touchy about the difference, as the Badener minority was subsumed into the federal state of Baden-Württemberg after a plebiscite that many still regard as having been incorrectly carried out, if not outright rigged. There is no love lost between the Badeners and the Swabians, as the riots at any soccer match between Stuttgart and Karlsruhe will attest.

  11. Just watched Jordan Peterson interview with Tommy Robinson on JP’s feed. I promise I will never leave American soil again. Eff the fetid Europeans. Way back, a WWII vet suggested we kill everyone in Europe and make it a hunting preserve. Great idea.

  12. I habe only been to Stuttgart a bit, but longer in Tübingen as I had family there. Definitely a lovely place to visit, food was great amd reasonably priced when I was last there.

    It is a university town so a lot of young people, but they were all very well behaved when I was there. I would enjoy visiting again.

Comments are closed.