German-Wer rastet, der rostet

English- To rest, is to rust

We loved our time in Germany! It wasn’t originally on our itentory when we were planning our first trip to Europe but I have a friend who lives in Germany. When I was talking with her about where she lives she was only a few hours by train away from where we were staying in Zurich, Switerland so we added a few days onto our trip so we could visit her! We were so blessed by her and her husband’s generosity and had such a wonderful time exploring Stuttgart with them.

Things To Do:

Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart

This is the public library in Stuttgart. It is so incrediable! This massive building has floors and floors of different topics like children’s, music (where you can practice instruments) and books upon books. That square in the middle of the floor is actually the skylight for the huge room underneath it. There is also a coffee shop but it was closed while we were there. You can walk up onto the roof and see a great view of the city! This is a great place to visit if you are a book lover like me.

Stuttgart TV Tower

This was the first telecommunications tower in the world that was constructed from reinforced concrete. It is 710.7 ft high and was the prototype for making similar towers around the world. It was completed in 1956 and Queen Elizabeth II visited it in 1965. You can purchase tickets online or at the door (we did at the door). You ride up the elevator to breathtaking views of the city. There is also a restaurant at the very top so we enjoyed the views with a coffee.

Old Castle Stuttgart

This castle was stunning. It was originally built in the 10th century and was the home of Counts and Dukes of Wurttemberg. Today it is a museum and there is a coffee shop on the inside. We did not do a tour but we did enjoy a delicious coffee and cake inside the castle.

Schloss Solitude Palace (Solitude Palace)

This castle was a short drive outside of the city of Stuttgart. We had a picnic here and enjoyed walking around the grounds. It was originally a hunting retreat completed in 1769 for Charles Eugene, Duke of Wurttemberg. Now it is a popular wedding venue and a place for people to come and enjoy its beauty.

Food and Drinks

We had some delicious food while in Germany! My friend made Maultaschen which is a German dish that is a meat mixture with vegtables in a pasta dough. She cooked it with eggs and it was SO good, I tried to make it when we got back into the USA and it was okay but nothing like what we had there. Her husband’s family also did a BBQ and all the food was so wonderful. We also went out to a Turkish restaurant. I’m not really sure what we got because our friends ordered for us but man oh man it was SO good! They said that Turkish food is the most popular food in German that isn’t German food so there are Turkish restaurants everywhere. We compared it to how Mexican food and restaurants are here is the USA. I am not a big beer drinker but when in Germany I recommend drinking all the beer! It was SO good and didn’t taste like beer we have in the USA. My friend’s husband took us bar hopping in the middle of the night and it was one of the most fun nights I have ever had! Drinking in public is allowed in Germany so we would go into one bar and get a beer to go and drink it while we walked to the next bar. We could not get over that even though people were out and about drinking in the middle of the night, there were no fights going on, nothing bad was happening and people were just having a great time. When you finish your beer you do not throw your bottle in the trash, you set the bottle next to the trash can so it can be recycled. People will come by and pick up the bottles because they get money when they are returned. It was such a different atmosphere than how the drinking culture is in America. It was a breath of fresh air to enjoy our time and not have to be scared of what people may do.

Side Note: All of our trains in Germany were late so make sure you plan extra time between your activities and travel plans incase this happens to you as well! -Kylie

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We loved our time in Germany with our friends and we can’t wait to go back and visit them very soon! Have you ever been to Germany? Let me know about your experience!