Kris' Visit

March 16 - 20, 2003

Kris had less desire to go sight-seeing than she had time. She wanted to go to the bars. So the first afternoon & evening, despite her jet lag & head cold, we went to several local bars. I was amazed at her endurance.

The second night we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with my cousin Benny at an Irish pub in the International Center.

We were served by an Irish lass, an adorable Scot, and a guy from Essex who is half Italian, half Pakistani. And I thought *I* had an unusual blood-mix.

It was good to have cocktails amongst English speakers, as my Deutsch seems to deteriorate exponentially to the number of empties taken away.

~~~The third night we took a much-needed rest.~~~

The fourth, after a day of wandering around downtown Stuttgart, was spent downing margaritas and tapas. On our stagger back to the train station, in the pedestrian zone, we came upon an old hippie who could've doubled for an insane Santa.

He had wheeled a beat-up piano into the main plaza & was playing horrible versions of songs we should have been able to recognize. We tried to sing along with "Bobby McGee," but he was all over the place with the lyrics. Still, we loved him, he loved us and we danced & sang there between the impressive Baden-Wuerttemberg parliament, the Stuttgart stock exchange and the orange-circled moon.

The fifth & last day we crammed in the miscellany: The market, a home-made lunch, shopping for souvenirs, an ice-cream cafe, a stop by my grandparents' and, finally, a trip to the fortress ruins at Neuffen followed by dinner with my aunt, uncle & cousin. Whew.

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