It’s finally the last week of September! Work has been busy with the final stretch of the fiscal year, and outside we’re definitely paying for all that gorgeous weather we enjoyed earlier—temperatures have dropped into the low 50s, and it’s been pouring rain nonstop all week.
Matt is still biking to work in the rain, fully kitted out in his very-German rain gear. Ryan, on the other hand, has decided he’s a fair-weather cyclist and has switched back to the bus.
Finally, the week wrapped up and we kicked off the celebrations right away. On Friday, our friends Ray and Susan came down from Wiesbaden to spend the weekend with us.
We enjoyed dinner out in town, followed by some drinks back at our house, before turning in for a semi-early bedtime to be ready for Saturday’s activities.
We were up early Saturday to catch the train to the Stuttgart Volksfest—our city’s version of Oktoberfest. We arrived before the fest even opened at 11 a.m., which meant we had the rare chance to wander the festival grounds and snap photos without the crowds.
We joined Ray’s co-workers, who had booked SIX tables for a big party in the Göckelsmaier Tent, aka the ‘Chicken Tent.’
We had the traditional half-chicken lunch and spent the afternoon dancing, singing, and enjoying Maß biers.
Some local friends had a table on the opposite side of the tent, so we took turns visiting each other throughout the day. A few more friends also stopped by for drinks, making it a full afternoon. When the tent closed at 4 p.m., we wandered over to a Biergarten and stayed there until it was time to catch the train back home..
On Sunday morning, Matt cooked us Eggs Benedict for brunch before Ray and Susan needed to head home.
We took a short nap and then headed back to downtown Böblingen for the town’s annual Medieval Festival. We’d never been able to attend before—either because we were out of town or the weather wasn’t cooperating—so we were really happy to cross this off our list finally. Plus, I wasn’t able to get my favorite fest food- Langos the day before, and we were able to find one there.
After the fest, we headed back into downtown Stuttgart and wrapped up the night with sushi at Origami to celebrate a friend’s birthday. From there, we made our way to Hanky Panky, a cozy speakeasy tucked into an old cellar, where we took full advantage of two-for-one drinks. Needless to say, Monday morning came far too soon!
Gilcrests Abroad 