Ruins of Hohenurach Castle (25 July 2010)

Sunday morning we got an early start and went to visit the Ruins of Hohenurach Castle which was erected in the 11th century by the Count of Urach. It was expanded in the 16th century by the Dukes of Wurttemberg. This castle has towered as a picturesque ruin over the old town since 1765.

As breathtaking as the ruins are, our travels up to it were not so easy. We decided to take the road less traveled so to speak. Instead of taking the winding and flat path, we took a steep and ever inclining one. Perhaps not the best choice. Iggy, an 18 pound Boston Terrier, practically pulled us up the incline.

When the ruins were in sight we stopped to get out our cameras. Our Camera refused to turn on because our battery was dead, but no big deal our friend Nick had brought his entire bag of camera equipment. So he took out his big and heavy camera and lense and started to get ready to shoot, but his memory card was in his computer... at home. Our memory card did not fit in his camera and his battery did not fit in ours... so now we will do our entire photo shoot with our iPhones. you be the judge but I think they came out well. It was entertaining how every other person had their nice Canon's or Nikon's to take pictures with. Go figure, it would happen to us.

At the ruins we were like little kids. Excited about every little thing. There were real dungeons and underground holding cells and absolutely the most amazing views.

On the hike down we took a short 3 km detour to see a nearby waterfall. The waterfall was impressive but we all agreed that the ruins were far more impressive but to the locals the waterfall must have been a thing of wonder because there were only a handful of people at the ruins but there were over 100 at the waterfall.

All in all a nice day.

Ritter Sport

Following the Visit to the Porsche Museum Jenny decided to try to make our Saturday even more German by visiting the Ritter Sport Factory. The place is every kid's fantasy, especially big kids like us.

We were taken back in time to when cocoa had been harvested and used by the Olmacs. After a brief history, we then viewed the process of making chocolate. It was quite an interactive walk through, however the highlight was pressing a little button on a machine that would have a Ritter Sport truck deliver a chocolate to you by way of vending machine style.

At the end we entered the shop; it honestly felt like we were in Willy Wanka's chocolate world! There were candy bars everywhere, in any flavor you could possibly imagine. To name just a few:

1. Vollmilch – Plain milk Chocolate (Royal Blue Wrapper)
2. Schoko-Duo – Plain milk Chocolate and white chocolate (Royal Blue Wrapper with chocolate bar on outside)
3. Dunkle Vollmilch – Plain medium dark chocolate, 40% cacao (Azure Blue Wrapper)
4. Halbbitter – Plain dark Chocolate, 50% cacao (Burgundy Wrapper)
5. Edelbitter – Plain dark chocolate, 71% cacao (Pink Wrapper)
6. Knusperkeks – Milk chocolate with a butter biscuit (Brown Wrapper)
7. Pfefferminz – Chocolate with peppermint filling (Caribbean Green Wrapper)
8. Joghurt – Yogurt (White Wrapper)
9. Erdbeer Joghurt – Milk chocolate strawberry and yogurt filling (Light Pink Wrapper)
10. Voll-Nuss – Milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts(Brown Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
11. Dunkle Voll-Nuss – Dark chocolate with whole hazelnuts (Dark Brown Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
12. Weiße Voll-Nuss – White chocolate with whole hazelnuts (White/Cream Wrapper with Hazelnut-Pattern)
13. Knusperflakes – Milk chocolate with corn flakes (Golden Yellow Wrapper)
14. Voll Erdnuss – Milk chocolate with whole peanuts (Orange Wrapper)
15. Ganze Mandel – Milk chocolate with whole almonds (Dark Green Wrapper)
16. Marzipan – Dark chocolate with marzipan center (Red Wrapper)
17. Cocos – Milk chocolate with flakes of coconut in the center (Silver Wrapper)
18. Trauben-Nuss – Milk chocolate with raisins and hazelnut pieces (Carmine Red Wrapper)
19. Rum Trauben Nuss – Milk chocolate with rum-soaked raisins and hazelnut pieces (Crimson Red Wrapper)
20. Cappuccino – Milk chocolate and cappuccino cream (Amber Wrapper)
21. Alpenmilch – Special milk chocolate with high alpine milk proportion (Sky Blue Wrapper)
22. Nugat – Milk chocolate with hazelnut-nougat center (Midnight Blue Wrapper)
23. Feinherb à la Mousse au Chocolat – dark chocolate filled with chocolate mousse (Bistre Wrapper)
24. Karamel Nuss - Milk Chocolate with butter caramel cream dropped hazelnuts and crispy rice (Golden yellow wrapper)
25. Haselnuss – Milk chocolate with hazelnuts
26. Praline – Milk chocolate with hazelnut praline filling. (Navy Wrapper)

It certainly was a sweet part of our day! We stocked up on our chocolate bars and hit the road. AlI I know (Jenny) is that I would not have a problem going back there again and restocking of course!

Porsche Museum ( 24 July 2010)

The Porsche Museum is a place that does not shy away from the big, the bold, and the brash. This OZ-like building withholds 80 of the company's jewels, not to mention a steak house, a visible restoration workshop, the company's archives, and a dealership across the street for those (like us) who decide that they must have their own after seeing the wonderful collection.

Stepping off the escalator at the start of the exhibit is like walking into heaven (for Nick). The very first thing we saw was the silvery aluminum reconstruction of the space age 1938/1939 type 64 Porsche that was the beginning of what is known as the Porsche car company today. It is a brand that is inspired by its client-racer heart and soul; the sports car specialist. It is important to point out that the Museum is far less impressive than the Mercedes Museum across town, but where the Porsche museum lacks the historical importance of the Mercedes Museum it has a dazzling array of automotive pornography. Where the Mercedes Museum is a must for all visitors to Stuttgart the Porsche Museum is a must for any true car enthusiast.

The Photos have been added to the gallery.

Mercedes-Benz Museum (17 July 2010)

On Saturday morning we headed into Downtown Stuttgart to Bad Cannstatt to see the Mercedes-Benz Museum. The first thing that hits you is the striking architecture of the building. It is just marvelous to look at. Once inside the buildings size really hits you, the center hall has a open view to the roof over 120 feet above.

The museum has over 200 cars on display which in itself would be enough but at Mercedes there is more much more. The history of both the automobile and the company is thoroughly covered while also showing the impact the car and the company had on Germany history. While walking through the museum the architecture of the building becomes more amazing as the continual spiral downward creates incredibly diverse viewing rooms holding cars spanning over 100 years of Mercedes-Benz history.

An amazing Museum that we will definitely be returning to.

Burg Hohenzollern (18, July, 2010)

Hohenzollern Castle is home to Hohenzollern family that came to power during the Middle Ages and ruled Prussia and Brandenburg until the end of World War I.

It sits on a craggy peak that rises above the surrounding plateau; looking stunning in its mightiness. We had to walk up a steep and relentless hill from the car-park to the castle itself. But honestly in reality, we took the bus as we were not aware of its strenuous surroundings. Once we reached the top there were excellent views that seemed to go on forever in the distance. Inside the castle walls we saw the innate beauty it withheld, unfortunately pictures were not allowed; we were not even allowed to wear our regular shoes either. So, in a rather bizarre twist as to preserve the marble and timber floors, we had to wear slippers. It was quite fun sliding around in them throughout the entire tour. Nick even got to wear a kings cape (not a real one of course, rather one meant for children).

While the castle's beauty was undeniable, the most breathtaking part were the majestic views taken from the top.