Sunday in Stuttgart: Teehaus, Weissenburgpark

Jens had proposed that the next morning we meet at the tram station Bopser. I had every faith in his excellent choice of places to go. It would have been fractionally quicker to take two trams but it was another gorgeous day. I decided to walk again along Haußmannstraße again and take the scenic line 15. The sky was blue and the tram glided up the hills around Stuttgart. I saw more of the smart, well maintained villas one with a tower dated 1900. The state of disrepair of buildings of the same era in Buenos Aires, buildings perhaps even more elegant than these made an extraordinary and sad comparison. I wondered what it was that made for such differences - culture, economy, attitude?

Typical villa, Photo:  J Streck, Stuttgart 2016

At Stelle I got off to walk to Bopser, not realising that my walk would be along a forest trail.  It was a surprising and fortuitous turn of events.  The trail seemed well used and I was not worried, still less upon exchanging smiles and hellos with two older couples out for a walk.  The Japanese have a term: Shinrin-yoku - forest bathing. They believe walking in the forest is restorative, that it actually improves and protects health. I live in a part of Scotland where we are surrounded by gorgeous, mysterious but welcoming wooded hills with many walks.  I have often thought how apt this Japanese idea seems when out in those forests. In this wood, the energy of growth was everywhere yet the forest was calm and restful: its scent, the greenness of the leaves, the dirt trail, the quiet and the sound of the birds. I felt lucky and happy to be there. 

I arrived to a street apparently two minutes from Bopser but was confused when Google maps wanted me to return into the forest. I had forgotten to distinguish between the centre of Bopser and Bopser tram stop. I realised that I was only five minutes from a Teehaus in Weissenburgpark. Jens had mentioned a Teehaus. I figured that was the one.  He was tolerant and understanding of my tourist error and we met there instead. 

It was a marvellous setting and felt very European. 

Teehaus

If you go, don’t forget to climb the slope, covered in aliums that day....

....to look at the view.

We had coffee and chatted like everyone else.

Eventually we ordered lunch. With extraordinary patience Jens once again answered my endless questions about the menu. Lentils, here, I said?   Jens said that when the area was poor they grew, and in fact still grow a kind of mountain lentil. I was curious to try a local dish of lentils, sausage and spätzle, a south German noodle. Lentils and noodles in the same dish? I queried. He shrugged. The lentils that arrived were not apparently the mountain variety but they were tasty. Noodles are less my thing and I had ordered them from curiosity. 

As in the Schlossgarten children ran about exploring.  I saw some gazing at tadpoles caught in their hands from the pond while their parents relaxed. It did not feel like worried, stressed Brits I sometimes see trying to control unruly children. The children I saw looked absorbed and happy.  The statues we saw below the Teehaus outside the Marmorsaal (what floors, for dance!) reminded me of a stylised form of that absorption in play:

Photos, 2, 3, 4, 6 (clockwise from top left) by J Streck, Stuttgart 2016

I remember with my babies how it seemed to me they sometimes picked up on how I was feeling. Many times I noticed that as I relaxed, stopped worrying about the baby and toddler and got distracted by tasks I found the baby calmed down too. Perhaps it is not so unlike men and getting dances - you relax, maybe they choose you, if you are not relaxed it is unlikely they will. Yet, like trying to sleep you cannot really make yourself relax.  I think whether you do or not can have a lot to do with how you feel in the prevalent conditions.

Saturday in Stuttgart

Opera, Schlossgarten

I was very lucky to be shown around Stuttgart by my friend, Jens. He moved there from Bremen via Brighton about  three years ago.  Jens proposed we meet for brunch on Saturday at a local cafe.  I decided to walk down Haußmannstraße for some fresh air and exercise.  The sun was warm.   The pavement verges had been left uncut and buzzed with insects among the clover and long grass.  The laburnum was out. I walked in dappled shade under the pink and cream blossom of the horse chestnuts.   

There were lovely views across the city.  

From one of the villas came the sound of a flute.  

 

A fountain set in a wall played.  Go and enjoy grinned its Dionysian faun.   

At Eugensplatz I paused to look at another fountain.  My worries from the night before lingered.  Do you think you’ve come to the right place? said the statue.  “What are you doing here?” mocked  one of its small companions.   “Ignore them” joked the fish.  “I know how you feel” said the stiff, constrained lion without turning his poor head. 

Cafe Babel is a great place to get brunch.  There is a delicious buffet including including juice about 12 euros.  Coffee and hot drinks are extra. There is a sun terrace and a separate pavement bench for coffee in the sun. The staff were lovely.

About Stuttgart

Jens walked back with me along Haußmannstraße pointing out the landmarks. The Bahnhof is topped, curiously, by a Mercedes sign.  

Bahnhof project with vineyards behind

He told me about the Bahnhof project which he thought corrupt and unnecessary.  I think the argument in favour was that it would mean greater throughput of train travel.  The Bahnhof would move underground with the space liberated being used for more shops.  Jens was unpersuaded.  Many of us think we already have enough shops, he said.  There is a large mall already right in the centre - it is the building in the centre with shiny curved roof:

On Monday en route to the airport not long afer 7AM I saw a protester to the Bahnhof project standing in the rain with a banner raised above his arms.  Some citizens really do seem to mind.

I asked Jens about the Mercedes sign above the Bahnhof.  He told me the city’s recent wealth had come from the car industry.  Prior to that he said Stuttgart and the south in general used to be poorer.  I asked him about the people.  He said the legacy of that earlier poverty meant that the locals still had a reputation for tight-fistedness. He said there was a fairly high proportion of incomers and that the native locals tended to be more reserved.

A couple of years ago, some time after Jens had moved to Stuttgart, I had asked him how he found it.   He wrote back:

“Stuttgart is quite the opposite of futuristic Hamburg: We have 2 famous German muscle car factories in the city, so everything that moves with less than 10 liters fuel per 100 km is considered suspicious and its very existence disputed. The town is sited in a deep basin and surrounded by lovely hills with vineyards and orchards etc. But after the war it was transformed following a principle that was called »autogerechte Stadt« (car-friendly city) in the 60ies. Maybe it worked quite well back then, because there was only one car for 14 residents or so. Now it's 9 times more and the whole thing is close to collapse. There are some streets that connect us with the urban hinterland where you have a permanent congestion from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. At the same time German rail sabotages the central station with a refurbishment (est. duration 14 years). And that central station is the main intersection and changing point for long-distance, rail, light-rail, metro, tram and buses. So motorcycles, awesome new electric vehicles, bikes and pedelecs have a big renaissance here and my Thai Honda comes quite handy... but i don't think I will strike roots here.”

But now Jens seemed happy here.  He agreed. Now it seemed he does expect to stay.

Things green

Knowing my interest in green topics he had some time back sent me this.  On our walk he pointed out the long gardens that run north east through the city from Schlossplatz.  With these and surrounded by vineyards and forested hills the city seemed green.  

Photo:  J. Streck, Stuttgart 2016

How green? I asked.   He explained that litter-wise it is one of the cleanest cities in Germany.  But  he said there was a lot of pollution for a city of its size because of the policy he had earlier explained and that the natural basin in which it is situated traps those unhealthy particles.  

- I think these things are important for you.  Why then do you like it here?  

- It is a prosperous city.  

- And yet I think money and material things are not so important for you?

- That’s true.  But prosperity brings civic culture and I enjoy that.

It did feel just the way he described it - relaxed, quiet, clean, prosperous and well maintained.

The Schlossgarten

After the Saturday afternoon dance, I met Jens at Stöckach tram stop and we walked in the Schlossgarten, stopping for drinks at one of the cafes there.  Some of the park was maintained  with meadows in a state much closer to nature - the country in the city.  

In other parts people were having barbecues at the public stands.  I commented how with their circular stands they were rather like the typical German imbiss.

- Actually, the Turkish immigrants brought this idea in the 70s, he said.  

- Really?  I thought German people were very outdoorsy and liked to do this sort of thing.

- Yes but normally we would do it at home, typically in the garden or in front of a garage (in case it starts to rain).

- And yet people seem to have embraced it, I said.

- Yes, he agreed.

We walked through the Schlossplatz. It was a grand, open space for people to use, grassed, central, surrounded by history and monuments, thronged with people relaxing.  

Stiftskirche

 

We walked to the top floor of the Kunstmuseum (there is also a restaurant) and looked at the view.

Then we had dinner at Shabu Shabu which does fresh, tasty affordable food after which I went on to the evening milonga.

Stuttgart - Practicalities

This post relates to a trip away to dance tango one weekend in Stuttgart.

Public transport

Before I had arrived a local friend had suggested I get a 3 day public transport ticket (18 Euros) at the airport information. The S-Bahn trains took me into the city.

 The U-bahn (tram system) is below ground in some of the city centre and above ground  in other parts.

Photo: J.Streck, Stuttgart 2016

 I was told that as in Berlin the U-bahn works overnight at the weekend though since my hotel was near the dance venue I did not need it. Public transport was very easy to use. You stamp the three day ticket in the orange box on the platform, once before you travel. In the city centre there are public transport workers in high vis. vests who will help you find your connection. The main difference with the tube network in London was that at e.g. the Hauptbahnhof one platform serves several lines/destinations. Although I only used the public transport system for a short time and I did not use the buses as in Berlin I found it to be excellent - clean, fast, ubiquitous. Public transport with luggage was no problem since somehow 5 dance dresses, one spare day dress, 2 pairs of heels, 2 pairs of dance flats, and all the necessaries were fitted into a carry-on case without too much difficulty...

Hotel Astoria am Urachplatz

My hotel had been recommended by a dancer and it is also mentioned among the accommodation by Tango Loft. It was on a quiet and leafy street a short walk uphill from the tram stop. 

The hotel backs on to a supermarket car-park but I had a relatively quiet room to the side. Some of the fittings were a bit worn but generally the hotel was very presentable. I thought my room smelt a bit of something, maybe smoke, but all the rooms were non smoking and mine had a balcony. There was no kettle which surprised me but apparently this is not done in Germany. I felt lucky to (only just, and next day) get the hotel iron and ironing board. The staff I met were pleasant.

It was around 2130 before I made the short walk to Tango Loft. The roses and lilac were out. The evening air in the gardens I passed was heavy with scent.