The weather has been practically chilly here lately, which is new to me coming from central Virginia where it stayed warm with high humidity through much of October. Even last year it felt like it was warmer this time of year in Stuttgart. This week the thermometer stayed in the mid-sixties for the past four or five days with rain most of the time. So today when the temperature shot up to a sunny 72°F, I decided it was time for another taste of ice cream before the summer slips away.
My destination today was Killesbergpark where a new business complex opened up about a year or so ago at the Killesberg u-bahn stop. There's a large Aldi, Edeka, and Alnatura there for groceries, a DM for other home and body products, a furniture store, a paper store, a Mediterranean foods store, and a couple of banks. My impression is that the offerings will continue to grow as more people and businesses move into the area.
At the very end of the shopping complex just by the exit to the u-bahn station are a few store fronts bearing the name Schloz. There's a flower shop, a café, and, most important of all, Schloz Eis. I first visited this ice cream parlor about a year ago when I saw lychee as a flavor on their menu board. I love lychee flavored drinks, candies, curries -- you name it -- and so I couldn't turn the opportunity down. I was pleasantly surprised by the natural flavor and by how smooth the texture was for a fruit-based ice cream.
When I returned today, lychee was, sadly, not on the board, but my husband and I were tempted by some of the other flavors on the menu. So, we jumped in the long line in front of the ice cream parlor (which thankfully moved quickly) to order some pre-walk snacks. On this occasion, Matt tried a scoop of the banana split and a scoop of the pistachio, while I went for a cone with a scoop of pistachio and a scoop of walnut (my new favorite flavor of the past few months). Both of us were surprised by how creamy the pistachio was. There was almost a buttery flavor to it, as well as a distinct saltiness. The combination was tasty, though I wouldn't want to eat a whole carton of it as I can imagine the salt-flavor would start to overwhelm your tastebuds in large amounts. My walnut was a little milder with more milky creaminess and whole chunks of walnut. Matt's banana split had a healthy balance between a real banana flavor and a chocolate syrup taste studded with bits of bittersweet chocolate.
All of Schloz's ice cream is homemade and you can watch the chefs at work through the glass in the kitchen to the right of the entrance. They boast a rotating board of flavors made with real fruits and organic sugar. I think I personally prefer the pistachio and walnut flavors at Pinguin, but I will continue to return to Schloz to try some of their other special flavors, especially because I loved how creamy their ice cream is. My two scoops today were super soft and began melting on my cone after I got it, so it looked a little more like soft serve than hard balls of ice cream, which in my opinion is a good thing. I also want to go back to have some more lychee ice cream, which I saw on their board just last week on one of the rainy, cold days.
Plus, and this is perhaps the best reason, Schloz's ice cream parlor is located next to one of my favorite walks in Stuttgart. Killesbergpark is absolutely beautiful this time of year when the flowers are blooming and the animals are outside enjoying the weather. It being Sunday, the children's train was running, families were enjoying a nice walk, and couples were lounging on benches or picnic blankets on the grass. There also seemed to be a special Dahlia installation with some lovely flowers blooming. We enjoyed a winding walk with Leo, and saw a few parts of the park that I've never seen before -- the park is that big!
Schloz Eis is located just off the Killesberg u-bahn station. They are open every day of the week from 11 am until 8 pm. Go for the ice cream, but definitely take a stroll through the park while you enjoy that extra scoop.