Panzer and the "Beloved Stuttgart Wine Village"

September 3rd was still a work day for poor Chris, a 1/2 school day for Nick, and the Carson's - well we didn't know if we were "coming or going" given the jet lag, but we had a good tour guide and occupant in Shane.

We filled the day with errands to the nearby Army Post - yep we have decided that is going to be our "Schtick" since we our now out of the Army and yet we keep going to the posts we have decided that all future vacations will require a pop-in to the nearest Army installation. I guess we better keep our ID's (ha-ha yeah right!). Deakon made the first purchase of our trip at Panzer, go figure. He went all the way around the world to buy some Italian sunglasses in Germany on the US Army post. Be sure to look for them in later pics :0)

We spent the afternoon enjoying the day and company before heading out to the festival in downtown Stuttgart.











I should set the tone that until now we had not seen "Stuttgart the city" so I really thought it would be similar to the quaint towns we had seen along our errands etc., but in reality it is a beautiful city and very big compared to my expectations.

The city was vibrant and full of life. There happened to be a protest going on that day, not sure for what though. Nonetheless, the Wine Festival was calling our names for food, wine and experience. There were over 120 wine alcoves with traditional decor and they offered over 250 wines from the regions accompanied by some traditional German cuisine. I should note that they trick the tourists though with free entry which sounds great until you have to use the potty and well then that will be a small fortune as the night progresses.

The food was so good and sadly I didn't write any of it down to tell you what we ate so you just better go to Germany. Some of it was reminiscent of what my grandmother cooked and other items were knew to me. The best meal of the night ironically came shortly after the 1/2 meter wiener as we were making our way to the car. Yep that would be the Turkish Doner Kebab we snagged on the way to the car; OMG was it good and it was a family affair as was all the food for the night. Ah good times. 

To end the night, Chris tossed me the keys and I got to drive us home on the Autobahnen (to us Americans we say AUTOBON). Within minutes I had the Passat up to 115MPH - All I can say is EXHILERATING!!! I can report now that since we returned, Chris got up to 125MPH and confirmed our theory that the dashes turn into one big line the faster you go. Keep it safe "Mario Andretti" and thanks for the experience, I can check that off the bucket list!