Stuttgart Christmas Market

While Sam was working hard I took the kids and went off to our very own cities Christmas market.

I of course made the mistake of going on a Saturday.....so it was so crowded we could barely move.

 However it was very exciting and full of festive smells and sights. The kids loved seeing all of the different scenes on the buildings and the lights.

 Stuttgart area has a lot of wooden crafts and the light carvings with the electric lights are very ornate, yet very light weight like balsam wood weight. 

This market we all enjoyed some Koinig cake. Which is gingerbread with almonds in it and this light glaze. It was a really fun day and really nice to finally see our city market.

 It was so cool to see them smoking the fish right there in front of the stand where they sold it. The process is really cool.

Now I have to tell you I also had an exceptional cultural learning day. German's are pretty black and white about things, at least in my experience it is what it is. However I haven't really felt the impact so acutely as I did this day. I never drive down to the Schlossplatz because it is a pedestrian area and parking is a nightmare here especially because we have a bigger vehicle. I had to drive here today because I had to drop Sam off at where he was taking pictures for the day. I braved finding a parking garage on my own. Not the big deal I could find several on the side streets. Now many people park illegally all over the side streets, I refuse to do so because the last thing I need to do is get into trouble with the law in a foreign country.... I parked in the parking garage ...which I will tell you if you have never seen a German parking garage before I deserve a medal for it. They take the term squeezed in like a sardine to  new level...... the spaces are small even for compact cars and they will put 4 spaces where we would put 2. Not to mention for some strange reason they think it is perfectly normal to put 2 spaces in between these huge concrete posts.......I have seen 2 inches between car doors and posts..... Sam and I have parked between them because there were no other spots and literally had to crawl out our sun roof to get out.... yes we took all the kids out first. Well today I had a spot...another out the sun roof moment..... I had my card for the garage.... after the market I went to the automated pay station..another German experience paying for parking at a station instead of when you leave......... this is where the day went awry...... the machine did not give me my ticket back !!!!!!!! it was a plastic card and usually you just get a paper ticket.....so it was different already I paid 5.40 euro..... which was painful enough for 2 hours of parking........ and it kept my card...well there was a guy at the door so I thought maybe this one worked different and I headed out..... of course the gate wouldn't open because I didn't have my card back UGH!!!!!! so after trying to get the guard to open the gate and trying to explain in gestures and broken German my card was eaten by the machine..... a lovely German woman came and offered to help........ the guard very grudgingly opened the machine for like 2 seconds and didn't see the card so he told me I would have to buy a new card for 20 euro !!!!!!!! I tried to tell him I paid and the machine ate my card..... the man with no change in his expression repeated the same thing over and over again..... the machine was working fine it was my fault and I would have to pay for a new card and I wasn't getting a refund...... of course it was on a day when the exchange rate was awful again so it was 1.39 to 1 euro....... I was livid and the guy just stood and stared at me like I was the crazy one...... stood and stared and he would have held me and my car hostage all day he could have cared less....and he did it with a straight face......... I was very naughty and I paid him  in english..which I knew he didn't understand I told him it was extortion and it was awful I had to pay for his machine's mistake I wanted my money back and I was angry..... I am an expressive person already...which makes the people here in Stuttgart stare at me anyway but I have learned to be clear and direct...... so I snatched the paper from him my card and told him again I was angry and gave him one of my best stares and glares.... he knew I was mad..... which is what I wanted... of course in the end I still had to give the highway robber 20 euro....on top of the 5.40..... to get out of the garage......... I know it was silly...I knew I wasn't going to win..... but seriously how stubborn can parking guy be...the machine ate my card !!!!! I will not go back to any parking garage again.......... I didn't want to in the first place.....so while the market was beautiful it has been the most costly by far..........Lesson of the day..when is a dispute with a parking attendant.... whether it is the machines fault or not you will pay...... I can't help but wonder if I had parked illegally and gotten caught would the ticket been less??? I know I know let it go....... but it was the machine's fault it started it........