This week felt long and stressful for everyone. Work and school have kept us all busy, and after-school activities have filled our evenings. The kids are in baseball and softball, Matt has been going to the gym, and I’ve had German class. The weather has been cold but sunny, and we’ve really enjoyed the extra daylight.
Friday couldn’t come soon enough, so we decided to celebrate the end of the week by getting out of the house with some good friends.
On the way to our friends’ house in Sindelfingen, Matt and I made what we thought would be a quick stop at the Intersport store to check out their ski boots. A friend had told us about a laser scanning machine that measures every angle of your foot and recommends the perfect boot. Since both of our boots are more than 10 years old, the liners have gotten thin enough that they no longer keep our feet warm. It also means that, with all the extra space inside, our feet slide from front to back while skiing. It seemed like the perfect excuse to see what the technology would say; and honestly, it just sounded like fun to try.
Long story short, we ended up in Intersport for almost two hours. Not only did we get our feet scanned and fitted for new boots, but before we knew it we were standing on a jelly-like machine making impressions so they could mold perfectly fitted insoles for us. The only sad news is that, since the weather has been so nice, ski season is basically over for us, so we’ll have to wait until next December to try them out.
Finally, we made it to Nick and Natia’s, where we enjoyed a long evening of flowing wine, pizza, and decompressing after the week.
We ended up having such beautiful weather over the weekend. When Saturday came, even though I wanted to sleep in after the night before, I dragged myself out of bed and back into the car so we could head to Schwetzingen. The town, near Heidelberg, has long been on my list of places to visit. There used to be an American Army base there, and my uncle was stationed there in the 1970s. The city is home to a large palace and enormous, world-renowned gardens where they host an annual Easter egg market. It’s one of the few places I hadn’t managed to visit during our time living in Germany.
We made the hour-and-a-half drive, and by the time we arrived it was over 65°. I didn’t even take my jacket out of the car. We found the town of Schwetzingen to be so pretty, and it really reminded me of Potsdam, the palace city just outside of Berlin. The palace was originally built as a summer residence, and the city developed around it as a seasonal retreat. This was really evident in the many green spaces and large squares filled with outdoor dining. Around the Schlossplatz alone, there must have been 500 seats outside the ten restaurants and cafés.
The palace itself, I thought, was kind of ugly. But the original structure dates back to the 1100s and was expanded in the 1300s, which probably explains its more utilitarian look.
The Easter egg market was held inside the Orangerie in the palace gardens. Vendors sold real eggs; drained of their contents; that were hand-painted and strung with ribbons to hang on Easter trees. The market wasn’t as big as I expected, so it didn’t take us long to visit all the vendors. There were so many beautifully painted eggs in a wide variety of styles. A few other Easter-themed vendors were also there, selling Easter lamb cakes and wreaths. I ended up buying a half dozen hand-painted eggs for my Easter tree.
Since we didn’t spend much time at the market, it gave us more time to walk along the paths in the palace gardens and enjoy the gorgeous sunny weather.
After our walk through the gardens, we exited the palace and took a stroll around the Schlossplatz directly across from the entrance. It was filled with restaurants, cafés, and people enjoying an aperitivo in the sunshine. I would love to come back one day and simply soak up the atmosphere of the city.
We made the drive back to Stuttgart and even had enough time for a nap before it was time for dinner with some friends.
We had a true German dinner at the Paulaner Bierhaus in Leinfelden and then moved on to a pool hall close by. I don’t think I’ve played pool since we moved to Germany, so it was super fun to try out a new spot.
In true form, we stayed out far too late and ended up sleeping in the next morning. Sunday turned into a much-needed day of relaxation. We all slept in, then spent some time helping Brooklyn get ready for her trip this week. She’ll be in Luxembourg attending a science conference at the University of Luxembourg. We said our goodbyes at the bus drop-off at 1 p.m. and spent the rest of the day getting organized and preparing for the week ahead.
Gilcrests Abroad 