Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award 2015

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award 2015

Ami im Schwabenland recently nominated me for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award (thanks, Ami!). It's very much like the Liebster Award that I was nominated for last October. The rules are simple:

  1. Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you and share a link to her/his/their blog in your post.
  2. Answer the ten questions you've been sent.
  3. Write ten questions of your own.
  4. Spread the love and nominate up to ten bloggers!

Here are the ten questions Ami im Schawabenland sent, along with my answers...

 

Hot (Hot Hot!) This Year at the Marienplatzfest

Hot (Hot Hot!) This Year at the Marienplatzfest

If you live anywhere on the European continent, then you'll have felt the same heatwave that's been affecting Stuttgart this past week. Temperatures climbed up to 100-degrees Fahrenheit (37-degrees Celsius) this Fourth of July weekend, which though I recognize is nothing compared to the U.S. South this time of year, it's still unseasonably hot for Germany and somewhat challenging in a country without home air conditioning. Still, the weather didn't stop me from going to the Schlosspark for a picnic yesterday afternoon and then out to the Marienplatzfest for my first time. 

The annual festival takes places in the Marienplatz square just above the u-bahn station and next to the Zacke (the old "rack railway") station. To tell you the truth, we stopped by Marienplatz on Friday night to see what the festival was about, but the square was so crowded that we decided to come back on Saturday night without our dog, who was finding it challenging to find space to walk without being stepped on. And so on Saturday we made our way there again around 9 pm -- without the dog -- when the heat had subsided a bit...

Must-Try Eats in Frankfurt

Must-Try Eats in Frankfurt

A couple of weekends ago I found myself in Frankfurt am Main visiting with friends. Frankfurt has the biggest international airport in this part of the country, so we make it there somewhat regularly either to see friends arrive or leave from the airport, to go on our own adventures, or to visit our friends who live there. On this occasion, we had a couple of meals from some past favorites, but we also tried brunch at a our favorite Frankfurt bakery for the first time and loved it! 

If you're ever in Frankfurt, here are three places that I recommend you try...

Upcoming Festivals and Events in July/August 2015 (Updated)

Upcoming Festivals and Events in July/August 2015 (Updated)

The festival season is in full swing now -- just check out the length of this list! Here's what's going on:

July 2nd to 5th Marienplatzfest -- Somehow I've missed this festival in Marienplatz for the past two years in a row due to traveling, and it always looks like a lot of fun. According to my friends who've gone, this four-day festival features live bands, food stands, and some urban art creation. I've marked my calendar and plan to try it this year for sure...

Take Two at the Stuttgart Street Food Market

Take Two at the Stuttgart Street Food Market

Even though the last street food market turned into a bit of a fiasco, I entered the dates for their second event in my calendar as I rarely pass up a food-focused event. The second market took place this past weekend at Turlenstraße 2 in the Mitte. Right away the location was much better. Instead of the winding path through the train tracks that I took to get to the first market, this one was located right across the street from the new Milaneo mall. The signage was also much better with large, bright green announcements along the entrance. 

The venue was a bit like the bottom level of a parking garage with all of the food trucks and stands set up inside. There was a desk set up at the entrance where they required a 2€ entrance fee. When we arrived on the first night, Friday, we noticed a group of Mexican dancers by the entrance putting on a show. It was a very festive atmosphere, although much quieter than the first market. By comparison, there was hardly anyone there. The lines to most of the food stands were only three or four people long at most, and there were plenty of picnic tables set up around the venue for people to stop and eat. There were about 30 different stands set up in total, and we ended up going to the market on both Friday and Saturday night so that we could sample as much as possible...

Recap: A Weekend Jaunt In Ireland

Recap: A Weekend Jaunt In Ireland

A few weeks ago, a friend and colleague of mine was lamenting the fact that she was about to leave Europe and hadn't made it to Ireland, the place where her ancestors are from. Perhaps it was the wine we'd been drinking copiously at dinner or my lust for travel, but my response was "why not go together?" And so that's how we found ourselves in Ireland for the first time last weekend. Here's a quick recap of what we saw and did..

More Walks In And Around Stuttgart

More Walks In And Around Stuttgart

Walking is my main source of exercise these days as it's an activity that I enjoy and one that my beagle will actually take part in. (We quickly found out when he was a puppy that running was out of the question after about five minutes.) I wrote a post last fall about some of my favorite walks in and around Stuttgart, and I'd like to continue that post with three more walks that I've found since then. 

And so here are three more walks that I've come to enjoy in and around Stuttgart (again, in no particular order and continuing from where I left off)...

Istanbul Comes to Stuttgart at the Marktplatz Istanbul

Istanbul Comes to Stuttgart at the Marktplatz Istanbul

I've been to the Marktplatz Istanbul for two years in a row now. It's one of those festivals that we first stumbled upon by accident on one of our walks downtown, discovered the food and entertainment were awesome, and then made sure to look out for it every year. 

This year, we decided to go on Sunday, the day the festival opened, and met some of my coworkers. We were there at around 12:30 to grab some lunch, but discovered that they were still setting up. No matter -- we grabbed some drinks and waited a bit at the picnic tables until the food stalls were ready for us. It was nice because there was hardly anyone there (unlike our trip last weekend to the Stuttgart Street Food Market),  and right when they opened up the food stands, we were the first in line...

The Best Ramen in Stuttgart (and more!) at Tokio Dining

The Best Ramen in Stuttgart (and more!) at Tokio Dining

It seems like May is the month of holiday weekends, what with the Tag der Arbeit (Labor Day) on May 1st, Christi Himmelfahrt (Ascension Day) last Thursday, and now Pfingstmontag (Whit Monday) this Monday. I love having a long weekend, but it's kind of a pain when the grocery store closes because these days I can't be bothered to plan ahead for meals. This was the case on Thursday, so we decided to avoid the hassle of planning on Wednesday and went out for dinner on Thursday night. 

A coworker of mine recommended Tokio Dining to me ages ago, but with Kicho just down the road from us, we hadn't gotten around to it. However, she promised they have the best Katsudon that she's had outside of Japan, and so it's long been on the top of our list for a visit...

Big Demand for the First Ever Stuttgart Street Food Market

Big Demand for the First Ever Stuttgart Street Food Market

I found out about the Stuttgart Street Food Market about a month ago on Facebook. Even though I never grew up in a city around much street food, I've loved eating at food trucks on our trips to places like Amsterdam and at festival stalls around Stuttgart. There wasn't much information about this market leading up to the event, but I was pretty excited to try it nevertheless.

The website details said it would be at the Nordbahnhof from 11:00 until 18:00. While planning for the event, I had every intent on getting there early, but when we left the house around 11:30, it was such a beautiful day that we decided to walk there to work up an appetite. As we passed through the city center, we saw a huge antiques market stretching from the Rathaus (town hall) all the way up to the Altes Schloss (old castle), as well as some kind of bike festival in the Schlossplatz. It's odd for two events, let alone three, to be going on at once on a Sunday, and I wondered if there would be enough people left to attend the Street Food Market...