Mercedes Benz

I went to the Mercedes Benz museum today. It was fun. And nice and warm! The museum is laid out so that you start at the very top and wander down from room to room, and move through the history of cars. There's also some little pictures with general world history on the wall of the walkways between rooms, so you get some idea of the context. It was really quite interesting. I took lots of photos. I may put them up on facebook, but they're not that exciting. Just cars :P


It was so cold today! It had been snowing all morning and the ground is now cold enough that the snow doesn't just melt, it actually covers the ground! It was fun walking to the bus stop through the thin layer of fresh snow, but it was a seriously thin layer. It felt soft under my boots, but anything more than that would be annoying. When I got to the main station I went to the Reiseburo to make seat reservations for my trip to Berlin next weekend. There was a tv with news and stuff on it and it said it was -3 outside. We've hit negative numbers and ohmygoodness I think I might die. I was wearing three pairs of socks, one normal cotton sock, one thick cotton sock and one thick woolly sock. My feet were cramped in my shoes and it was very uncomfortable, but they were STILL cold. Contemplating sourcing myself some expensive thermal socks. Even more shocking is that I don't care if they only come in one colour and they have to match, I WANTS WARM FEET. Also, my hands have been freezing through my gloves. I was thinking I'd have to get myself some more thermal ones, but then today I bought myself some hot chips for lunch and ate them as I walked to the meeting point for the museum trip. I had my right glove off so I could eat the chips, and it went painfully cold. It was past the point of numb and was all burny and red. My gloves actually make a HUGE difference, but I never realised because my hands were still cold *wibble*

The museum was lovely and warm, we even checked our coats. I still can't get used to the whole idea that checking coats is normal. I ended up walking around with just Josie, because we lost Catherine right at the start when she took the elevator before us up. We walked through the whole museum, then sat down and had hot chocolate at the little cafe. I had a look at the souvenir shop, but all the stuff in there was really overpriced junk, but serious junk, no novelty stuff D:

When I got home Marina's sister and her husband were already here. They don't speak any German, and barely speak English, so Marina is kind of working as an interpreter for us. Her sister was insistent on showing me a little photo album of her sons, which was kinda weird, but nice. I made all the appropriate noises and stuff :P We had dinner! Marina has been really tired and hasn't been very hungry when she gets home, so we've just been having leftovers and grilled cheese sandwiches. But tonight we had a full on meal. My new favourite thing is Käsespätzel, which is just a fancy Swabische macaroni cheese. We also had horse meat, which I have never had before. It was the texture of a rissole, not sure if that's just how it comes or just how it was prepared. It actually just tasted like a really nice rissole :P We also had what I think must be smoked pork. Like a steak of bacon :P I also really like Marina's sister because she keeps giving me chocolates and sweet lollies from Brazil. They are yummy :D

I'm really tired now, probably from all the walking I did and the epic amount of foodthings I ated. Tomorrow I'll probably go to a little town called Esslingen. It's an old medieval town, and it has epic medieval Christmas markets. So disappointed that the markets have finished until next Christmas, but it should still be an interesting little town. Expect more photos of buildings!

This weekend is probably the last one I'll be spending in Stuttgart. Next weekend I'm going to Berlin, and the weekend after I'm contemplating skipping the planned hike and going to München. If I go on the hike I've just realised that I'm going to need warmer boots/socks, and thermal underwear and ski pants and a ski coat and stuff like that. Stuff I'll probably never wear again. It will be cheaper for me to go to München, and Catherine and Josie were contemplating going as well. The weekend after that I'm meeting Nicola in Vienna *flail* and then my course is finished. Only four weeks of classes left.

Anyway, I'm going to go and read my book to keep myself awake until a reasonable hour. The Brazillians are all making lots of noise anyway, so I expect going to bed early may not be a good idea :P