Out and About in Stuttgart

This coming Monday will mark the start of our 4th week here in Germany. I can hardly believe it is 4 weeks already. Some days it feels longer and other days thankful less.
The newness of life here has not worn off. There are challenges with not having our stuff and our car yet. This week I thought I might loose my mind if either our car or stuff didn't arrive ASAP..... then by Saturday when the sun was shining and we found out our immediate shipment would be here on Monday life seemed slightly bearable:)......
Germany is beautiful and the people I have encountered have been kind and helpful...... other than a few gate guards.... I look forward to all of the adventures we have ahead. I have had the privilege of adventuring in the city several times.
I have about a 15 minute walk to the nearest U Bahn station ( city cable car/train) The yellow "train" is a U Bahn see here.
from there it takes about 1 hour to get to downtown or to the Schlossplatz...which is "new palace plaza)

In this area there are what seems like a million shops and stores. Ranging from the local small shops to the chain stores to designer stores. There will be H & M, Hugo Boss, Gucci, and then local German shops all in a one block radius.
On saturdays the Rathaus ( city hall) square comes alive with an open air farmers market and one block over is an indoor farmers market.

I LOVE to go to the Schlossplatz and to all the stores and markets. Here P, S, & H are all enjoying the sun and the fountain. P loved the fountain and cheered YEAH !!! every few seconds.
My german is expanding...... however don't get to excited I am learning the names of things and buildings.....This picture below is of chestnuts....before they are roasted I guess they are fuzzy. I had never seen a whole chestnut before. They are kinda cute.
which is an improvement. This week in my never ending quest to find dried currents for the kids and I ( something we all miss from the states.. for eating and baking) I learned that a current is called a Johanissberen in German......and many German woman have stared at me oddly when I seek them dried ( you can find them all over fresh) Fresh is good I love them fresh but for baking not so much. Today at the market an kind elderly woman looked at me and broke into english....." oh no dear you eat them fresh not dried"......so my guess is this is not a common thing here... I can find many fresh Johanissberen to eat !!! Blueberries by the way are called Hiedleberen.........S took a liking to the baskets of eggs and tried to "hug" the eggs. Yes I gently pried them from her hands whew close call....
I have learned to say excuse me.. hello, goodbye thank you please..... etc. I am progressing slowly. I love the H & M store..... I know it is not German but I still love it and they thankfully have a huge kids section...... of course it is priced in Euro.
I love a fish shop they have the best lox sandwhiches..... there is a 4 story German toy store that has the coolest toys.... shhh don't tell the kids it is a favorite of mine too !!!......
Here in this main area there is the New palace, the old palace ( pictured above it adjacent to the new one) and other government buildings ( this is the state capital of Baden-Wittenberg)......
across from the palace the new one.... ( schlossplatz) is the oldest Kafe in the city... the Kafe used to deliever coffee to the King.....when they still had one.......
Last weekend was the end of Volkfest here so they had "rides" and other things in the schlossplatz. Although here in Stuttgart they have the second largest Oktober festival in Germany, the main celebration in in another area of town so this was a secondary celebration.

T & H went rock climbing...... they had fun. Today I shopped the market and found all kinds of good things to eat..... including a "new" food. I ate fresh figs.... I have only ever eaten dried figs so to try them fresh was a new experience. They are delicious by the way.... expensive but good..... ( 5 Euro for 8) But worth every cent ! I hope to go to the city at least once a week but I really must venture out too. This week was my turn for German culture class. Sam & I have to take this for in-processing. It is fun you have one day where they take you on the city trains to teach you how to use them.
Our teacher took us to the Zachke which is a cog wheel car "bus" up to the top of the mountain..... the view of the city is amazing !!!! I cant' wait to take the kids..... The stop by train is actually only 3-4 stops from us. Sam went 2 weeks ago and spent a lot of time in the city center. I hope you enjoy the pictures I will post more this week. Because I am seriously behind..... Wait until you see pictures from last weeks adventure to Kurbis festival ( Kurbis is pumpkin in German) The kids loved it and the palace gardens were endless.....

P.S. Check this post out from another blog. Maryam talks about blogging in very eloquent words....and sums it up.
http://stephanielevy.blogspot.com/2008/10/morrocan-maryam-artists-who-blog.html