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...