I decided to purchase seat reservations for our trip to Stuttgart, but I had to fight with the machine. It absolutely refused to find seats for us. So Nathan suggested I do them one at a time and hope that were were at least in the same car. I don't know what was wrong with the machine, but entering the individually we ended up with seats next to each other. Computers... they make our life easier.
A little over half way to Stuttgart the train ran parallel with a river for a ways. A large flock of swans were on the river... or perhaps several small flocks, as they were were in groups spread over a rather long stretch of water.
Once in the train station, we went looking for someplace to check our luggage. Following the signs, we found lockers inconveniently placed at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Later we learned they were also accessible from an escalator at the other end of the station, but there was no indication of that from where we were.
The outer edges of the market are less than 1/2 kilometer from the station, making it a relatively easy walk... especially considering you'll walk much further once you're in the market. On the way to the market we passed some shop windows decorated with oversized Lego displays. This one's for all you (us) nerds.
There are a few scattered booths along the shopping arcade until you reach Schlossplatz. If it's Schlossplatz, there must be a Schloss... and there is.
In the platz are various attractions for children, including a ferris-wheel type of ride and a train ride that winds through a multi-scale railroad layout. You can also see part of the layout in the photo above.
Hidden behind some of the huts is a skating rink.
For little ones still finding their "ice legs", the rink had some interesting helpers.
But this is still not the main market.
Around the corner and a little ways down (always following the trail of vendors) is a large archway marking the entrance to the main market.
Instead of trying to see every booth, we decided to go where the roof decorations led us... since one of the peculiarities of the Stuttgartmarkt is the competition in decorating the hut roofs. Voting via a form in the local newspaper proclaims a weekly winner.
I thought it humorous that the Gluehwein stall chose a nativity scene for its roof.
After taking in the flavor of the main market, we continued following the diminishing line of vendor stalls until we reached the end. On our way back through the main market we bought some warm food, since the weather had been deteriorating the entire time we were there. We also picked up some fruit on a stick dipped in chocolate. Scrumptious!
Since we were still a good walk from the train station, we decided to take the bus back. The fare was low (only 2,10 Euros each), but it wasn't quick, taking the "scenic" route. We were there in time to retrieve our luggage from the lockers and catch the Inter-City train on to Frankfurt. We could have taken an ICE at approximately the same time, but we would have had to make a 4-minute connection in Mannheim... probably not do-able.
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