Hometown Tourist

Day: 319

Markus, intent on making sure I hit every important spot in the region, had us out early to find some local culture and history. Starting with his local farmers market, followed by a castle and the old town of Tubingen; I was exhausted by the time we were drinking coffee, eating Black Forest Cherry Torte, and talking of the night’s plans.

Stuttgart was having a “Night of Culture”, which was essentially 70 venues all with live bands, theater, dance, book readings, art shows and the like for us to partake in; all for 15 Euros including the shuttle bus all over town. There ended up being five of us, all traipsing around listening to assorted Funk bands, watching some (very bad) interpretive Theatre pieces, and fortunately avoiding the German book readings which would have probably drove me to the nearest bar.

Speaking of bars, the Germans know how to put on an event. Of all of the assorted places we visited, none was short on beer. Never did the thought cross their mind that “Hmmm… this is the regions parliament, maybe we shouldn’t bring in a full bar.”

Needless to say, by the time 1 am rolled around and we were entering a “cultural” dance club, I was a little wobbly. It was nothing that a couple hours of my horrible dancing couldn’t fix. Around 3am the club decided to give up its “cultural status” and let in hordes of people. With the world closing in, we decided to depart, climbing back in the Mercedes for some more speed across the autobahn and a pre-sunrise bed time.