France & Germany! Day 6, Part 2: Stuttgart

Taking the train is always so stressful in Europe. Trying to figure out which platform for our train. 

Bye bye Strasbourg.

We managed to find our train, our seats and also space for our luggage. We found the 2 luggage and 2 backpack configuration working very well for the train rides, as big luggage had to be stored away from the seats, at the luggage area and being too far away from belongings leave us jittery. There was also the stress of finding space for the big luggage in the same train car.

There is no immigration control across the boundary. When we crossed over from France to Germany (which is the next train station from Strasbourg), we had some Police (or immigration officers?) onboard checking our passports and that was all. 

The announcements started appearing in English! The Germans speak better English than the French. Ah Yee say de. 

Arrived! 

Our accommodation was in another part of the city that required us to take a bus/ tram from the train station. We decided to store our luggage in the lockers, explored the city centre 1st before heading to the accommodation. The lockers cost us 5 euro each. 

The plan was to go to the market but we were attracted to the many shops that greeted us. Nana got a sweats from H&M.

Zaky said that he needed to pee, which led us to what looked like a mall, in search of a toilet that eventually cost us 70 cents euro. That was when I realised that the indoors in Stuttgart are heated like oven. 

I also found somewhat of an Asian foodcourt and we decided to have Asian food. We were craving Asian food. 

The Indian curry chicken rice was yummy. 

It was so warm in the mall that we had to peel off our jackets. Daddy Lim ordered a kimchi ramen (I warned him) and started perspiring. I think he perspired more than the jog in the morning. lol.

After dinner, we walked the city a little bit more. Yes, the Christmas market is about the same; just a lot more beer. Haha. 

Nana was tired, possibly from this morning’s run but also she seemed to be coming down with something. We went back to the station to retrieve the luggage and started the real challenge - how do we get to our accommodation? 

We googled map and decided to take a tram. Google map said that the tram station is 10 mins walk away. The station was under some sorts of construction and we walked this semi-permanent bridge that led us to what looked like a park. It was dark and quiet but thankfully, signs were strategically placed and we found the station. We then had to figure out how to get the tickets. The VVS app was recommended and I downloaded the app, only to realise that I had to create an account and once I signed in, everything changed to German. Daddy Lim and I agreed while in Singapore, to screw the app and buy tickets from the station. 

We got the ticket and boarded the tram. The tickets cost us 12.40 euro, and I am anxiously calculating how much transport would be costing us in Stuttgart. There was no conductor checking the tickets, it was a very honor/ trust system. 

While in the tram, I half suspected that Daddy Lim got the stop wrong on Google map. We ended up alighting 1 stop later bcos he punched in the suggested parking location address instead of the accommodation address. We took a 10 mins walk to the accommodation and came across a laundromat. Just what we needed! But it closed at 10pm and we were nearing the closing time. Oh yes, we rarely stayed out beyond 7pm in Europe. It must be the lack of sun.

We found the building and then it was sort of an escape game to try to get the keys and opened the door. 

There was no lift, no indication of storey or door number. Our accommodation was on the 3rd floor and that was the top floor. We almost died lugging the luggage to the accommodation and I am thankful that I have a teenager boy. After so much food on the trip, he was making the eating useful. 

The accommodation felt like it was haphazardly built as part of the attic. A hallway that was slightly sloped one side. 

The living room, which became where we leave our luggage. It was very nice to have a lot of space. 

The kitchen.

The 3 bedrooms - the kids each slept in a room on the 1st night. 

We love the space; the only problem with the accommodation was that it was very, very cold. We turned up the radiator but it didn’t seem to provide any warmth. We started piling on our heat tech, jackets and wore them to bed. When I was ready to go to bed, I was even worried that the kids would die from hypothermia in the night and was grabbing the winter jackets to the kids. Then I realised that Nana’s room had somewhat heated up; the radiator took time to work and we needed to keep the door closed. That was when I know that we would be ok. Lol. 

Ah Yee said that everybody walk in Europe and it is not difficult to clock 30k steps. We haven’t at all throughout the trip. Disneyland was 25kish steps and today was the nearest. Daddy Lim and Nana probably crossed 30k with the morning jog. 

Good night! 

Mummy Lim