It’s been another cold week in Stuttgart! Not only did the temperatures drop again this week to the 40s, but our boiler broke again, and we had no hot water. Thankfully, this happened the day after our guests departed and not while they were there. However, I have learned my lesson about talking about the boiler. I made a joke last weekend about being ‘due’ for another hot water issue, and lo and behold, I seem to have talked it into existence. Unfortunately, the plumber was away on their Easter vacation and could not come until next week! We would spend the rest of the week alternating between cold showers and running down to a neighbor’s for a hot shower.
Our week went by as usual: work, school, and activities. Friday was my day off, and I started it with a long, hot shower at my neighbor’s. That is NOT how I like to spend my day off, but after three days of freezing showers, it felt like such a luxury. The weather wasn’t great, and everyone else was at work and school, so I checked out an indoor destination I wanted to visit: Wiblingen Abbey.
The Abbey is about an hour from our house, near Ulm, famous for its beautiful medieval library. The Abbey itself was founded in the 1000s. Wiblingen was renowned for being a place of higher learning and prosperity. Its prosperity led to a massive renovation push in the 1700s when the entire complex was rebuilt in the Baroque style. The library was one of the later completions and was done in the much fancier rococo style. I love visiting libraries and was excited to check this one out. Its style was SO EXTRA. The library didn’t seem to have much space for books but was full of marble statues, blue and red-toned Corinthian columns, a frescoed ceiling, and gilded trimming. It was A LOT to take in, but somehow, all the competing styles worked, and it was beautiful.
As I toured the second-floor library, I found myself wondering how the weight of the room was supported when it was full of so many marble columns. I soon found my answer when I found a column with a cut-out section. They are actually made of wood and painted to look like marble! Very cool and resourceful!
After my library tour, I returned home for the “day off nap.” That evening, Matt and I, and some friends had dinner at Zum Russenstein, a Michelin guide restaurant just down the street from our house. We have driven past hundreds of times and always say we should go, so we finally got a reservation. The cuisine is German-Schwabian, so most of the menu consisted of dishes we were familiar with but were cooked to the highest quality. They also had an interesting way of serving the dishes on wooded, shelved stands. The best part was the Spargel (white asparagus) soups, which were served in shot glasses. Definitely an experience! We capped the night with a glass of wine and canoli at the new-ish wine bar down the street, Vinothek Giarola.
Saturday was a big and busy day for everyone! We started bright a early with a rocket launch for Civil Air Patrol. Ryan and the other cadets built model rockets and gathered to launch them on this clear morning. Luckily, we arrived first, and Ryan got to set his off first! It went so high that we lost sight of it. Its parachute launched as designed, and it landed back almost where he set it off from. It was so cool! The best part was the sheep grazing in the field next to us, who all took off running when the rocket was launched. We were able to stay and watch several other cadets launch their rockets before running across the street for baseball and softball.
Since the baseball team’s home field is being renovated, the high school team is leasing the Stuttgart Reds baseball field, and the softball team gets to play on their softball field. This was awesome because they got to use the professional facilities for their games and were right next door to each other, so we could run back and forth to see both games at one time. So convenient! The softball team won both games, but sadly, the baseball team lost both.
It was time to rush Brooklyn home as soon as the games were over. It was also prom night! No hot water at home meant we had to start by dropping her off at the neighbor’s for a hot shower. Then, she came home and finished getting ready. Once that was done, we got back in the car and drove to Schloss Solitude, where Brooklyn, her date Kenneth, and her friends were taking pictures.
The Palace and its grounds overlooking the city make it a beautiful spot to take pictures, so it was no surprise that it was packed with other high schoolers doing the same thing. Brooklyn and Kenneth took photos with each other and with other friends there.
After pictures, we dropped them off at Bio Kitchen in Böblingen for dinner, and from there, they walked to prom at the Motorworld ballroom. Since they are both on the junior class council, they had to stay and help clean up afterward. Matt picked her up around midnight, and she crawled into bed afterward. They had a great time at the prom, and more importantly, everyone else also had a great time. Brooklyn’s been working hard to plan and fundraise for the prom all year, so it was a job well done, and we are excited that she now has one less thing to work on.
We didn’t have the luxury of sleeping in on Sunday. Matt took my car to get the brakes changed, Ryan went to work on a fellow Scout’s Eagle Scout project, and Brooklyn was playing her first game for the Stuttgart Reds minor league team. I drove her back out to the same field she played on Saturday.
It was a beautiful day and I even had time for a walk through the vineyards behind the park while the teams warmed up.
It was a doubleheader against Gammertingen, and their team has a fascinating backstory. Gammertingen is in an extremely rural area about two hours south of here, and it is strange that a village their size has such a robust softball and baseball program. A man from the town was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer in the 1980s. He had to go to America for treatment and took his son, who would be his blood donor. During their stay, the son fell in love with baseball. The dad fully recovered, and when they moved back to Germany, they started the club, which has now evolved into this huge program. The current team has the two daughters of the son who traveled to the US. Their team name is ‘The Royals’, and they use the same colors and design as the Kansas City Royals, where the dad received his treatment. Such a sweet story!
They were really close games, but they lost both. Of course, my phone died when the games started, so I only got one really bad picture. I was so proud of Brooklyn for making her debut on the team, though. She was exhausted after prom and a doubleheader the day before but muscled through.
To close out the weekend, Matt and I celebrated a friend’s birthday at the Brauhaus in Böblingen!
Gilcrests Abroad 