Sunday, May 07, 2006

A short stay in Stuttgart...

...of less than two days meant not much time to be out and about. Which was okay by me, as I find the town's architecture heavy-handed and dreary whether new or reconstructed/old.

Still, the Koenigstrasse, a street transformed into a giant pedestrian mall, was a delight on a sunny day. There's a park on one side where sun-worshippers gather (to the right of the bandshell in the photo), and outdoor cafes a-plenty for those tired of shopping...


This church is one of the more graceful buildings I saw in the area, though it obviously lacks the delicacy of Italian and French counterparts. The clock still worked, however...


The most interesting building -- at least among those I saw -- was the Mercedes-Benz Museum (designed by a Dutch architect!) in the nearby district of Stuttgart-Unterturkheim. Newly completed, it will open to the public later this month...


But my hotel room afforded a spectacular view. The spire on the hilltop is a TV antenna tower; similar structures are found in most German towns....


The view was compensation for a tiny, though reasonably comfortable, room. I wish I could have gotten a photo of the circular shower stall; it was so cramped that any movement while in it was almost certain to shut off the water tap...


Not the most exciting start to a trip, though there were some interesting moments during "working" hours which I might proide a sample or two from later.

The pictures get much more interesting tomorrow, when we'll be off to Munich!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice pikkies Scrib! As for the design of the Church, it actually looks quite Norman English. Not fancy, but functional. Actually, that pretty much sums up German design!

Anonymous said...

It sounds like there was never a dull moment.

MrScribbler said...

Ummmm...there were one or two dull moments, Kit! But since they occurred while I was sleeping, they didn't matter very much....