Stuttgart
May 3. 2011 - May 4. 2011
Heading south on the A3
My first city journey in Germany could have taken me anywhere as I had planned specifically to join the last match of my team Hannover 96 in the 2010-2011 Bundesliga 1 season. It so happened to be in Stuttgart which I was more than excited about to see because it was a nice 440km trip heading south on the A3 and it was a challenging game in the great Mercedes-Benz Arena. I had arrived in Germany on May 3rd and hadn't even unpacked my suitcases before heading for the Autobahn at 5am in the morning.
view of the Moseltalbrücke
Noteworthy stops along the trip were the hills along the Mosel River and the famous Moseltalbrücke taking us on the A61 over the Mosel River and Vine valley of Germany. It was turning out to be a beautiful day so we took the opportunity to explore the bridge a little closer and grab lunch at a local viewpoint overlooking the vine valley. From a lookout we were able to enjoy the sight of the Moseltalbrücke which was built in 1969 and measures 935m long, 30,5m wide and 136m high. With lunch out of the way we headed back onto the Autobahn and continued our trip at 160km/h to keep up our target arrival at noon at the Hotel in Singelfingen. Once at the hotel we quickly refreshed ourselves, fueled up the car and asked front desk for train information. Our hotel was 12km out of the stadium which was located on the other side of the city and could easily be reached by car, but we wanted to explore the city before heading to the match so we decided to take a train into Stuttgart. Once in the train our excitement for the game really hit because over half of the passengers had VfB Stuttgart jerseys and crates of beers with them. Of course we were also done up in Hannover 96 fan articles but we cleverly hit them underneath normal clothes. This isn't a high risk match, and the respective fan bases have no rivalries going on between them, but we just wanted to be on the safe side. Once in the city my dad focused on arranging the first rounds of beers and food while I started the usual assessment and appreciation of the city. Coming out of the train we were right square in the middle of the city and so it was easy to walk around. I had no real tour plans but the center proved to be rich in a diversity of structures and open spaces.
Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (Art Museum)
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Koenigsbau (Hall of Kings) Stuttgart
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Right next to the Art Museum sits the Königsbau which was constructed in 1865 by King Wilhelm the first. The impressive plaza was filled with people enjoying the first summer sunshine and many were hanging out here before migrating further to the stadium for the game. We did too, but we still had other places to see and some more streets to discover.
