Last Day in Stuttgart

Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Zuffenhausen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Today was the last day in Stuttgart for Connie and I. Steve and Lori were on their way to Venice for the last few days of their vacation while Bubba and Tracy would be off to Amsterdam in the afternoon.

Connie and I spent the morning packing up all our clothes so we could enjoy the rest of our day without worrying about it . It took a while to balance our bags so we wouldn't be over weight with all the stuff we'd bought thus far. Given that we were leaving lots of gifts behind that we brought with us, mostly for Hugo, we generally were pretty good weight wise and didn't fear any penalties facing us at the airport.

Once we had everything pretty much packed up, we made our way to the Cannstatter Wasen for one last look around the Volksfest and the weather was cooperating with a nice warm sunny day. As we arrived we immediately noticed how relatively empty it was, which wasn't really surprising considering it was a Tuesday. Our first stop was to the beer tents for some lunch. In front of the Stuttgarter Hoffbrau and Schwaben Brau tents were their brewery parade wagons with their horse teams. Of course Connie, being the horse lover that she is, had to go and say hello to the horses. After she had her horse hugs and kisses, we checked out the interiors of the tents in the daylight, which relatively empty looked enormous. Surprisingly the Schwaben Brau tent that we partied in a couple of nights earlier was almost half full and the same band that played that night was on the stage, so we decided that this would be a perfect spot to have lunch. Once again Connie had her feed of Maultaschen and I finally had my long awaited Schweinshaxe, which is a roasted pork knuckle, along with a Maß of beer for yours truly and an Apfelschorle for Connie . As we sat there feeding away we made the observation that the majority of the patrons were at least our age and older. Seems that the older crowd prefer to come and enjoy the fest during the day when it's a bit less crazy.

Well sated, Connie and I headed out to check out the Almhüttendorf area, which is a collection of Alpine style booths serving up all kinds of delicious foods and drinks. We kicked ourselves for not coming to the fest earlier a couple of days earlier and visiting this part of the Volksfest, but in retrospect it was probably a good thing as we probably would have just stayed there and eaten ourselves to death. There were some pretty interesting cooking methods being used by the food purveyors including salmon on cedar planks over an open fire pit and a round rack about 4 feet across hung from above over a fire pit with all kinds of meat being barbecued. There were also a couple of places selling traditional Volksfest clothing which we paid a visit into, both of us picking up a couple of items for our ensembles .

We continued our way through the fest all the way to the other side where we found the shopping bazaar that Hanno had told us about. Here one could find all manner of t-shirts, trinkets, clothing, etc. Connie found a really nice little outfit in one booth that she wanted to try on but the change room they had in back was occupied, so the woman took us over to the booth next door that was selling all kinds of leather goods to use theirs. Turned out the two booths were owned by the same people. Connie stepped into the change booth, which was essentially a sheet drawn across a back corner of the booth. Meanwhile the guy running the booth came up to me and asked if I would like something to drink while I waited. Kann I get you somzing to drink? Then he spieled off a list of possibilities in quick order...Wasser, sprudle, wine, schnapps, bier? Of course I said yes, a bier would go nicely. As I waited for Connie another couple came in and as they selected a few things to buy the guy asked them if they would like something and again rhymed off the selection quickly . Clearly he'd done this enough times to have it down pat. Connie finished trying on the outfits and of course bought one and after a little chat with the proprietor...and a schnapps...we were on our way again. By now it was late afternoon and the fest was really starting to fill up. On our way out to the S-bahn we passed throngs of people coming into the Wasen all dressed up to party. 

Once we were back at the apartment we finished up packing the few things we bought and then went to the local supermarket to pick up a few things to go with the meat that was left over. We went to one of the larger supermarkets in Zuffenhausen and what did we see? A big automated wine tasting machine! All you do is put in your credit card and select your wine and drink it while you shop. Now that's civilization! Chalk up our shopping to wasted intentions though, as we ended up full from the starter of Maultaschen suppe and bread that Isa had prepared. It was soooo good though.

We spent the rest of the evening playing with Hugo and seeing him off to bed and chatting away with Isa and Hanno. We had such a wonderfull time this past week with them, as usual, and already started talking about plans of when we'd be together again...as usual. At one point I could have sworn I saw Hanno hiding Connie's passport so we'd have to stay!
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