Home Sweet Home

March 25th Continued... - Rolling into Stuttgart, I can't tell what the city is like. Didn't really get to see any big veranda's or huge sky scrappers. Kind of just all of a sudden appeared into downtown just like that. Drove by a ton of night clubs along the main strip on Rotebuhlstrasse and then came upon my building. It was above a theater company that had a huge head of some dude on top of the entrance. It was mid size, but big enough to show professional productions of plays that were on Broadway. I wonder if the dialogue is in German?

Across the street was a huge Gothic church (St. John's Church) that had a pond in front of it with ducks and turtles. Flanked on the left was a cool cafe that had an outdoor patio. Of course I didn't come to actually appreciate all this stuff until a week after I arrived. It was cold and rainy. About 40 degrees to be exact.

Ralf and I made our way to the back entrance with my bags and began the hike up to the 4th floor to my new place. Damn these bags are heavy! He fiddles with the door and we're in. I knew it was going to be small, so I wasn't surprised when it was a bedroom, kitchen (I mean closet) and bathroom (I mean closet). For me, it was just fine, because I could cook and Ralf promised me an Internet connection.

They set me up with the essentials. Towels, soap, white bread, American cheese, beer, 5 types of ham, orange juice and spaghetti. What else could a guy ask for. "We need to drink beer!" Ralf said. "You will learn that Schwabian's celebrate beer".

"What's a Schwabian?" I said. I thought I was in Germany! "This is the Schwabian region and we speak differently and our customs are our own". Crap, I just spent $500 on Rosetta Stone and they didn't mention anything about Schwabian German.

This was the moment of truth. I didn't see an Internet cable and I was curious as to how I was going to communicate with Rocky Mountain Tours (and my wife for that matter). He pulled out a little white stick. It was a city wide Internet connection.

It took a few minutes to get set up, but once we did, it worked pretty well. I can't really stream video that well, but good enough for my Magic Jack.

After a little hanging out, Ralf took off and I was alone in my abode. I was hungry and wasn't in the mood for Grilled cheese and spaghetti. Time to venture out.

It was pouring rain and I didn't have any rain gear. We don't need that shit in New Mexico. Started walking down my street and found a very traditional looking German restaurant. It was really intimidating. Surely they didn't speak English in there. Moved on to a hip looking place that seemed to serve food, but I couldn't tell if it was open. I pulled on the door and it seemed to be locked. I ran away before anyone could ask me anything. It's cold and I'm hungry and wet and I'm in Germany.

After walking another 15 minutes and not having any luck, I decided to go back to "John Doe's". That was the hip place I tried first. I saw people in there, so it must be open. I tried the door again. Still locked. "Drucken" it said. I tried to push and magically the door opened. Damn that was tough.

I get to the counter and ask the girl, "Sprechen sie english?". "Yeah, a little" she said half heatedly. "Can I have the lasagna" I said. It was the only thing I could decipher on the menu because it wasn't in German. It was Italian and that I could read! I sat there and ate my pasta and drank a beer and called it a night. So far, cold, rainy and I can't talk to anyone. I has to get better!