Germany Part 2: Stuttgart and Esslingen

Martin and Regina live in a small village of roughly 3,000 called Unterensingen. Friday morning we got up and around and heading to their house for breakfast. They were such fantastic hosts! This is what breakfast looked like Friday - Sunday at their house:

They were also so wonderful to the kids. Martin played and played with Ash and Regina was so nice and took everything Cosette said very seriously, they had very important conversations together. ;) After breakfast we took the train into one of Germany's major cities called Stuttgart. I guess economically speaking it is a major power house for the country. Ash was so excited to ride the train and loved every minute of it.

Stuttgart was very beautiful. There were like 500 fountains (I'm exaggerating a just a bit) for the kids to touch and almost fall in so that was great. :)

 The pedestrian center is the largest in Germany and was that interesting to walk down. They city was incredibly crowded! Here are some pictures of different landmarks:

Regina took us to City Hall to ride the craziest elevator. It's totally open and never stops moving; you just jump on and jump off at will!

We had lunch at a biergarten, then took the kiddos to a toy shop in the plaza to poke around in and took one ride on the subway so Ash would stop hyperventilating.

We jumped on the train to what I think it one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. It's called Esslingen. It's a small city just outside of Stuttgart that wasn't touched during WWII. Since it was left alone it has some of the oldest, most historical buildings in Germany.

The beginning of the city has a traditional pedestrian walk with all the franchise store fronts most cities have in Europe, but once you pass that area you come to the older part of the city and it was really interesting. Here are some pictures:

This church looks like it has a tunnel connecting the two towers, but it is actually hiding a chain hold up the right tower! 

Old City Hall built in the 1400s! 

Oldest store front in Germany:

This is where people used to go to the bathroom. Up above in the alley there's a little walled room jutting out. People would go there and it would flow down the alley into the street. Ewwwwww. 

After we explored a bit we stopped at Kessler, the oldest champagne cellar in Germany, and sampled a flight.

Martin and Regina then took us up these super steep stairs to the very top of Esslingen. The wall we walked against was so old and interesting. I felt like I was walking around in a totally different era. At the top of the stairs we walked along the wall and looked at all the sprawling vineyards located on a steep hill above the city. It was beautiful. I will say that Ash and Cosette were way too slap happy and I about had a heart attack multiple times as they ran around like crazies on the fricking cliffs. We didn't stay up there too long.

The stairs that went forever!

Views from the top:

Some super old buildings and cannos located at the top as well:

As we were talking back to the train station we stopped in a restaurant called Einhorn. It's located in a cellar that has been around and functioning since 1283. Can you imagine! It was totally dark except for some dim lights and candles. It was very cool.

Ron going into the cellar: 

The kids were cashed after that so we headed back to the village and got ready for bed!