Saturday morning was cold and gray, so I put on some Glenn Miller and made banana pancakes. After breakfast, we say down and wrote a note to our hausmeister asking to what the antenna cable jack in the wall connects. Many German apartment buildings will come with a hausmeister, the person who acts as a landlords representative and takes responsibility for cleaning the stairs and the common spaces. He lets in workers, and accepts packages on our behalf when we are gone, so all in all, a very useful person.
Anyway, after the letter, we Skyped Saori's parents in Japan where Tim and a pregnant Ayumi are visiting with their little Joshua. Joshua is almost two now, and he gets more interactive with Skype every time I see him. It was a bit of a chaotic scene with five adults, one toddler, and the chihuahua, but fun. Saori's mom was particularly exited to have everyone there and chatting.
After Skyping, Saori and I hiked down to the S bahn station and caught a train way out beyond Vaihingen, all the way out to Uhligs Kakteen.
While we were in London, we picked up a book about succulents and cacti. There is surprisingly limited books on this topic- you have a ton of "cute display and flower arranging" type books with cacti and succulents, and, available online, massive multivolume compendia of taxonmetric characteristics of various species. Really there are very few books between the two, which would combine practical advice about propagation and care, along with the different types of plants and the kind of soil, water, and sun they need. We did find one quirky book, which was published in 2004 but all of the photos inside from the author are at least 30 years old. However, at the back of the book was a list of places one can also go to buy cacti and cacti supplies. There are ten listings for Germany alone, one of which was Uhlig Kakteen, which turned out to be very close to Stuttgart.
As Vonnegut said, strange instructions or coincidences are dancing lessons from God, so we headed out. It's a 20 minute train ride from our station, and another ten minutes walk. Rommelshausen is a boring suburb, small, and mostly surrounded by agricultural fields. We found the place easily, marked as it was by a large display of prickly pear outside.
We were Charlie in the Cactus Factory, huge greenhouses of varying temperature all filled with cacti and succulents divided into three sections: stock plants, a nursery, and for sale directly. We spent over an hour wandering though the massive place. In the end, we ended up buying some special cactus soil, some perlite and vermiculite, a few cheap pots, a half dozen baby cacti and succulents, and I splurged on a beautiful agave from Mazatlan, Mexico. Lugged it all back in a few IKEA bags we brought for the purpose except for the agave which was too pointy.
I carried the heavy stuff back to the apartment and Saori bought us lunch from the kebab place down the street and we wolfed it all down before I ran out the door to meet up with some coworkers for a drink. It was Benni's birthday the week before and he invited a bunch of us to his place. Great location, nice apartment. I was jealous of how easily it all fell into place for him, considering the stress and months of searching it took for us. (Although I can't complain about the end result- we have an amazing place for an amazing price in a good location).
I drank with my coworkers for about two hours before excusing myself early to head out to the Long Night at the Museum. Not the terrible Ben Stiller film, but a night once a year where many of the museums and institutions stay open until midnight or 2am, the bus system is reconfigured to serve particular cultural "tours" or loops, and many of the places run special programs. The prices of the tickets were a little expensive at 17 euros, but they did include transportation on the entire network from noon until 4am and all the museum entrance fees. It's a very popular event. Nearly all the museums in Stuttgart participate, and the city becomes packed.
Saori and I joined a long line at the Alte Schloss for a "through and up" tour. We were in line between an hour and 90 minutes in the castle courtyard. There was at least beer and bratwurst sold. The tour ended up being well worth the wait- the Alte Schloss mostly contains a historical museum of the region with artifacts from prehistory through contemporary times. This tour took us in the back way through the ancient and original cellers, and threaded us between ruins, working spaces, outdoor plazas, backrooms, and polished exhibitions halls by way of a series of tunnels and doors marked 'do not enter', 'emergency exit', and 'authorized personnel'. It was great. It was like jumping through portals since one minute you're in a vast ruined hall with the floor torn up to expose the old city wall foundation excavations, and you pass through a door and you're suddenly on the public street.
After this tour, we headed over to the other big item on our list- the old bunker hotel. I had heard rumors when I moved of a massive bunker under the train station , but I couldn't find anyone or anything to corroborate it. I did hear from a local tour guide about the bunker under the market platz. Only open on special occasions. Like tonight.
There was a line, but it moved a lot faster. We only waited half an hour to get in. Before WWII, or during, a large bunker was constructed under the plaza in front of the city hall. After the war, the bunker was converted into what must have been a quirky and cheap hotel. How you can get away with a hotel with no windows in a place like Germany is beyond me, but one cannot beat the location. One enters and exits by way of two openings in the pavement which are normally hidden. There is a large lobby with a bar and a reception desk, and then three long corridors with rooms off both sides. The rooms are exceptionally small- the size of a walk-in closet in many American homes. No bathroom, no window. Just a bed and a desk (in the rooms which were furnished for example). The place was filled with layers of ripped original wallpaper, mold, and decay. Alone, it would have been eerie and terrifying. Filled with excited people, it was surreal and still a little eerie. We didn't stay under too long.
Afterwards, we popped in an out of the music museum, and the big contemporary art gallery, and I realized that I was utterly exhausted. We left shortly after, about half past midnight.
Anyway, after the letter, we Skyped Saori's parents in Japan where Tim and a pregnant Ayumi are visiting with their little Joshua. Joshua is almost two now, and he gets more interactive with Skype every time I see him. It was a bit of a chaotic scene with five adults, one toddler, and the chihuahua, but fun. Saori's mom was particularly exited to have everyone there and chatting.
After Skyping, Saori and I hiked down to the S bahn station and caught a train way out beyond Vaihingen, all the way out to Uhligs Kakteen.
While we were in London, we picked up a book about succulents and cacti. There is surprisingly limited books on this topic- you have a ton of "cute display and flower arranging" type books with cacti and succulents, and, available online, massive multivolume compendia of taxonmetric characteristics of various species. Really there are very few books between the two, which would combine practical advice about propagation and care, along with the different types of plants and the kind of soil, water, and sun they need. We did find one quirky book, which was published in 2004 but all of the photos inside from the author are at least 30 years old. However, at the back of the book was a list of places one can also go to buy cacti and cacti supplies. There are ten listings for Germany alone, one of which was Uhlig Kakteen, which turned out to be very close to Stuttgart.
As Vonnegut said, strange instructions or coincidences are dancing lessons from God, so we headed out. It's a 20 minute train ride from our station, and another ten minutes walk. Rommelshausen is a boring suburb, small, and mostly surrounded by agricultural fields. We found the place easily, marked as it was by a large display of prickly pear outside.
We were Charlie in the Cactus Factory, huge greenhouses of varying temperature all filled with cacti and succulents divided into three sections: stock plants, a nursery, and for sale directly. We spent over an hour wandering though the massive place. In the end, we ended up buying some special cactus soil, some perlite and vermiculite, a few cheap pots, a half dozen baby cacti and succulents, and I splurged on a beautiful agave from Mazatlan, Mexico. Lugged it all back in a few IKEA bags we brought for the purpose except for the agave which was too pointy.
I carried the heavy stuff back to the apartment and Saori bought us lunch from the kebab place down the street and we wolfed it all down before I ran out the door to meet up with some coworkers for a drink. It was Benni's birthday the week before and he invited a bunch of us to his place. Great location, nice apartment. I was jealous of how easily it all fell into place for him, considering the stress and months of searching it took for us. (Although I can't complain about the end result- we have an amazing place for an amazing price in a good location).
I drank with my coworkers for about two hours before excusing myself early to head out to the Long Night at the Museum. Not the terrible Ben Stiller film, but a night once a year where many of the museums and institutions stay open until midnight or 2am, the bus system is reconfigured to serve particular cultural "tours" or loops, and many of the places run special programs. The prices of the tickets were a little expensive at 17 euros, but they did include transportation on the entire network from noon until 4am and all the museum entrance fees. It's a very popular event. Nearly all the museums in Stuttgart participate, and the city becomes packed.
Saori and I joined a long line at the Alte Schloss for a "through and up" tour. We were in line between an hour and 90 minutes in the castle courtyard. There was at least beer and bratwurst sold. The tour ended up being well worth the wait- the Alte Schloss mostly contains a historical museum of the region with artifacts from prehistory through contemporary times. This tour took us in the back way through the ancient and original cellers, and threaded us between ruins, working spaces, outdoor plazas, backrooms, and polished exhibitions halls by way of a series of tunnels and doors marked 'do not enter', 'emergency exit', and 'authorized personnel'. It was great. It was like jumping through portals since one minute you're in a vast ruined hall with the floor torn up to expose the old city wall foundation excavations, and you pass through a door and you're suddenly on the public street.
After this tour, we headed over to the other big item on our list- the old bunker hotel. I had heard rumors when I moved of a massive bunker under the train station , but I couldn't find anyone or anything to corroborate it. I did hear from a local tour guide about the bunker under the market platz. Only open on special occasions. Like tonight.
There was a line, but it moved a lot faster. We only waited half an hour to get in. Before WWII, or during, a large bunker was constructed under the plaza in front of the city hall. After the war, the bunker was converted into what must have been a quirky and cheap hotel. How you can get away with a hotel with no windows in a place like Germany is beyond me, but one cannot beat the location. One enters and exits by way of two openings in the pavement which are normally hidden. There is a large lobby with a bar and a reception desk, and then three long corridors with rooms off both sides. The rooms are exceptionally small- the size of a walk-in closet in many American homes. No bathroom, no window. Just a bed and a desk (in the rooms which were furnished for example). The place was filled with layers of ripped original wallpaper, mold, and decay. Alone, it would have been eerie and terrifying. Filled with excited people, it was surreal and still a little eerie. We didn't stay under too long.
Afterwards, we popped in an out of the music museum, and the big contemporary art gallery, and I realized that I was utterly exhausted. We left shortly after, about half past midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment