Summer in Stuttgart

Summer in Stuttgart, well indeed in Europe is simply wonderful. The weather is gorgeous and there are so many things to do. Summer is when all the festivals seem to occur, so there are no shortage of festivals to visit, foods to taste (which reminds me, I need to get working hard to lose these extra pounds I have packed on thanks to good German living!), beer to drink (see previous comment) and people to catch up with. This weekend we went to the annual Strawberry Festival in downtown old Esslingen. This was our third year in a row, and the weather has been lovely every time! Here is Strawberry Shortcake at the entrance to the festival.

We enjoyed some yummy strawberry icies.

We then went to the local independent community movie theatre to watch a documentary called "Rough Aunties" from South Africa. The documentary was about these women who work for the "Bobbi Bear" Foundation, which protects children who have been victims of abuse. Most of the films shown at this theater are in German, but this film was in English with German sub-titles. It is a tiny movie theater and there were about 12 people in total watching the movie! They had a little presentation at the beginning to tell us that there was some free African food being served after the movie along with traditional African music. We had dinner before-hand in the theater cafe.

It was a fun date night!

Today we caught up with my German teacher, Ulla, her husband Manfred and some of their friends at a Cafe in downtown Stuttgart for Ulla´s birthday. It is tradition in Germany for the birthday boy/ girl ("Geburtstagskind") to treat their guests for dinner or coffee and cake (not the other way around, like in Australia or the States!)

Zev and I have started training together for a few running races that we will run in together; the Esslingen "EZ" Lauf and the "Run to Remember" Half Marathon on base, so that should kick start my fitness again!

Have a lovely week! God bless,

Zev and Fi xo