Ditching the Shoes

I was exhausted today. I stayed up late last night. What was worse that that my host woke up early to get to a doctor's appointment, waking me in the process, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Normally 5 hours is enough sleep but compounded with jetlag it was just too much to bear. I stayed inside till nearly 1pm today. I couldn't seem to feel warm no matter what I tried. But about 1pm I ventured out and went to Konigstrausse, the pedestrian shopping area of downtown Stuttgart.

I walked the entire length of the Konigstrausse looking for my shoe store before finding it. I was fearful that they might not take my shoes back. Maybe there was some sign that I'd overlooked or couldn't read pertaining to returns and exchanges? But they were actually quite kind and took the shoes back without a fuss.

Unencumbered by one less package, I made my way through some of the lesser alleyways off of the Konigstrausse. I spotted a Louis Vuitton. Could I have finally found the hidden alley with the "nicer" shops of Stuttgart? Yes, indeed I did. But the most exciting thing wasn't the LV store, but an amazing gourmet market that I stumbled into, almost quite accidentally! There was nothing outside to clue the passerby into the delights that one would find inside. But once inside, the store unfolded. I found about 5 or 6 rows of independent markets, each row containing 5 to 7 vendors. Each vendor specialized in produce or spices or meats and clearly had the best of what there was to offer in their area of specialization. Never before had I seen such perfect berries, such lean cuts of meat. Perfectly beautiful fillets like I have never seen before. Everything was so clean, bright, sparkley. It made you want to buy. I spied one vendor going through her grapes and carefully scissoring off the brownish ones. No wonder everything was so perfect, what with such intensive pruning and care?

I didn't buy anything but I did snap a few photos of this delectable display. I did stop by a meat counter that sold Langenjaeger sausages that were shrink wrapped and asked if they could be taken on the plane and left unrefrigerated for a day or so. He answered in the affirmative and I promised to return on my last day and buy a bunch of them. Not only does he shrink wrap the Langenjaegers but he can wrap just about anything up. Perhaps I'll get a few other things for the road as well.

On the way back to the train I passed through a Scottish rally for the Rangers football game. It was refreshing to see such passion in a city that is so clearly lacking. The Scotsmen were there in droves. Beers in hands. Singing. Chanting. Yelling. The news said that no less than 2000 flew in from Glasgow for the event. I'm sure that number was on target. I watched for a bit and wished I'd had someone to hang-out with so I could join in on the festivities, but I was on my own this evening and didn't feel like imposing on anyone. (Rare for me, eh?) So I grabbed a chunk of bread from a local shop (and was overcharged as usual) and grabbed couple of weisswursts from the local meat market and I was back home for the evening.

It wasn't the most remarkable day but tomorrow will be infinitely more interesting. I am going to make my way back to Schwaigern and try to get my hands on the "church book" that contains the names of my Keplinger relatives. I have to know, once and for all, if we're really from this inhospitable land. I so hoped we'd wind up being Austrian rather than German as they have a bit more to be proud of, meaning I'd have something to smile about. But if we wind up being German, at least we're Swabian and that's infinitely more interesting than being German.

After Schwaigern, I'll make my way to downtown Stuttgart to partake in the Christmas festivities and get some Christmas shopping accomplished. Whether or not I've company for the night.