Quick visit @ Stuttgart

Time for one more visit to Ulm! After mulling over various flight options, I decided to fly to Stuttgart (Munich being a wee bit expensive due to the ongoing Octoberfest – more about that fest later!). I was arriving rather early on Sunday, so I decided to meet up with David (who was also coming to Ulm, from London) and have a walk around Stuttgart before heading down to Ulm.

Stuttgart is the capital of the Baden-Wurtenberg state, and one of the biggest (the 7^th biggest, to be more accurate) and most prosperous cities in Germany. It is also known as the “cradle of the automobile” – Stuttgart being the place where both the automobile and motorcycle were born. Stuttgart is also where Porche and Mercedes are based. What’s rather surprising about Stuttgart though, is the fact that it’s a rather green city, surrounded by rolling hills and vineyards, and blessed with quite a generous amount of parks and gardens.

It has to be said that Stuttgart was rather badly damaged during World War II, so the town center is a kind of weird mixture of rather ugly post-war constructions, and well restored historic buildings. The overall impression I got was of a prosperous and dynamic place, with people chilling out in the numerous bars, cafes and beer gardens.
Our exploration covered most of the main sights in the town center. We started at the impressive and lively Schlossplatz, the largest square in the town center, and also where the new castle is located. From there, we headed on to the other well-known square in the town centre, Schillerplatz, where the Stiftkirche and old castle are located (which dates back all the way to the 10^th century).

Our quick tour of the town center done, we made our way to the castle garden beer garden, for a well-deserved schnitzel and pint of hefeweisse. The food and drink bit done, we then headed to the train station. Before taking the train back to Ulm, we climbed up to the 12-floor tower that dominates the train stations (with, quite appropriately, the Mercedez-Bentz insignia at the top), to take in some rather nice views of Stuttgart and the surrounding countryside.
All in all, quite a nice and pleasant afternoon!