I’ve been away for a week, studying in Stuttgart. Old school stuff – professors deriving equations on the (white) board, students sitting at their desks and writing. I filled about 100 pages in a notebook and a half.

Not much time left for sightseeing and socializing, but I really enjoyed my brief stay there. I was planning to make this an all-work-trip. No touristy stuff! The night before the flight I googled the main attractions and I was amazed…

Because they have this and this!!

And art museums, and a zoo, and huge parks!

I would’ve loved to rent a bike because they looked awesome and the weather was nice and sunny. I missed my bike.

The first thing I noticed when I got there – they have hills!!! And tall buildings on those hills!! You don’t understand, that’s ok. Nobody did. I wouldn’t have known it either, but seeing hills after 1 year in flatland was a treat.

I’ve never seen the main square in daylight.

I had the constant feeling that I was missing something. That the city has more to offer than what I am seeing. Every time we turned a corner and entered a new street, there were surprises in store. Like this miniature market:

Or this amazing tea shop we accidentally found:

The lady was a delight to talk to. She was really passionate about her teas and we chatted about the horrible water in South England. Then she let us sniff half of the tea boxes. I left Stuttgart with tea bags as souvenirs. I’ve never had such an amazing experience. The tea shops I’ve been to in the UK are mostly chain stores. Not much enthusiasm in there, to be honest.

I had the chance to visit the Staatsgalerie because it’s open until 8:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The permanent collection had some little gems scattered here and there.

And I could go on like this for a while. The Turner, Monet and Twombly (whoever that guy is) exhibition was breathtaking. I wasn’t allowed to take any photos, though.

I had the chance to see one more museum on Friday and I chose, oh yes, of course…

It was magical.

On Saturday I had some time to kill, but I preferred to remain stress-free and went to the airport early. Luckily, they didn’t accept my check-in luggage until the noon flight to London had departed, so I discovered there’s a terrace where you can watch the runway.

They also had some old planes on display. My favourite:

And the funniest looking:

This was by far the most exciting part of the airport. I watched my friend’s plane taking off and I took dozens of photos.

The rest of the place was a bore. I couldn’t find sausages/salami or cheese to bring to the office, so I settled for some tasty German dark chocolate.

Overall, I’m left with the image of a dark Schlossplatz and its mixture of old and new architecture.

And the little tea shop on the corner.