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Over The Water And Back Again—A Transatlantic Trip
By Snookums, edited by Filbert, photos by Filbert

Part 8-- below (or at the "read more").

May 12 (Monday, Day 16, Barcelona, Spain to Stuttgart, Germany) –

We had decided that if it wasn’t raining we would take the public bus to the airport for $6 each rather than a cab for $40.  This meant walking with our three rolling suitcases and one duffel bag four blocks to the bus stop but since there was a McDonald’s between us and the bus, we decided to stop there for breakfast at 8:30 AM.  (Nothing else is open in Barcelona at that time of day so we HAD to go to McDonald’s.)  The breakfast menu consisted of the fruit and yogurt parfait, muffins and coffee along with all of their normal hamburger items.  Filbert ordered a cheeseburger and Snookums had the fruit and yogurt parfait which was ½ the size as the ones that we get in the U.S. and it was twice the cost. 

Over the Alps

Our flight on GermanWings to Stuttgart, Germany was uneventful and we landed in sunshine.  Filbert was excited to finally use his high school German on people other than Snookums.  He was surprised at how much he remembered, and irritated that he didn't remember more.  Two of Snookums' sisters (for purposes of this Internet article, Sister #1, visiting, on her way home from a 2-year stint in India, and Sister #2, with her husband and family in Germany) were waiting for us as we walked through the unmanned customs lane at 2:30 PM. 

We had to stop at the Army base in order to get special passes for us and since Sister #1 was visiting had gotten hers earlier in the day, the woman was ready for us (and Sister #2 was ready as well since she had our forms already filled out).  We were asked for a paper itinerary and all we had was our electronic itinerary.  This flustered the woman for just a minute or so and then she commented that the Army needed to get on the ball and realize that technology had advanced past paper.  She wrote down a reason for us not having a paper itinerary (uh, like the fact that NOTHING is on paper anymore!) and we got our passes and were allowed on base (Panzer Army base) and got to their house (and the handmade “welcome” signs) around 4:00.  Nieces #5 and #6 (belonging to Sister #2—are we straight on that?--Ed.) were home from school and helped with our luggage.  Filbert immediately opened one of the many German beers that were cold and ready.

Beer

More beer

OK, time for the Cast of Characters in Germany:  Filbert and Snookums, your intrepid traveling couple; Sister #1, Snookums' older sister, en route from India back to the States; The Colonel, married to Sister #2, another of Snookums' older siblings, with a family totally consisting of Nieces #1 through #6 and Nephew #1 (of which, Nieces #2, #3, #4, #5, and #6 are currently with the family, as Niece #1 and Nephew #1 are both off at college in the U.S.)

May 13 (Tuesday, Day 17, Stuttgart, Germany) –

The Colonel took leave today so the five of us (Sister #1, Sister #2, Colonel, Filbert and Snookums) went off to explore. We got the grand tour of the little Army base (Patch) that the Colonel works at and then went into the small town that is near their house (which is NOT Stuttgart which is also close) to go to the beer store.  Filbert was overwhelmed and the Colonel tried to steer him the right way.  The final tally was two total cases of three different beers plus two bottles each of two other brands of beer.  Snookums bought three bottles of Diet Sprite. 

Then we went to the local mall and shopped at a Real—like a German WalMart since it sells clothes, food and appliances.   We ended up buying some various wursts for dinner as well as braunschweiger, yogurt and some other miscellaneous items.  We ate at the German vendor at the food court.  Our other choices were Greek, pizza and Chinese.  Snookums had curry with turkey, spaetzle and salad.   Filbert and the Colonel had wienerschnitzel.  Sister #1 had chicken cordon bleu.  Everyone but Snookums had beer, too.

Niece #3 gets physical on the pitch

We got home in time for our wurst dinner and then went to Niece #3's high school varsity soccer scrimmage.  This was against a local German club team and Patch High School lost to the Germans which was expected given that the Germans have played together for many years.  The weather was great for the 7:30 PM game.

May 14 (Wednesday, Day 18, Stuttgart, Germany) –

We walked to the Army post exchange which is about 2/5 mile from their house.  We wandered up and down the aisles and ultimately Snookums and Filbert ate at the food court while waiting for Sisters #1 and #2 to finish shopping.  Snookums had a pretzel roll with ham and Swiss cheese on it from the German bakery.  She also bought five individual pastries for everyone to share for dessert tonight.  Sister #1  found bargains of two pairs of shoes for $5/pair (and she says she has no heels after being in India for two years) as well as two skirts for around $5 each.

Base housing

After dinner we went to Niece #3's band concert.  We were promised that it would be 1 hour and 15 minutes long, but the band conductor apologized to the crowd at the 1-hour mark.  It ended up being 1 hour and 30 minutes long.  We’re sure Niece #3 was the best trombonist of the three, but it was hard to tell!

Niece #3's band concert

Throughout yesterday and today Filbert continued to sample the various German beers.  He enjoyed them all except for the beer/cola variety that he bought one bottle of to try.  Everyone thought it tasted like a mix of flat beer and flat cola and no one liked it.  It must have been popular in Germany, though, since the beer store had at least six brands of it.

May 15 (Thursday, Day 19, Stuttgart, Germany to Southampton, England) –

We woke up and did two loads of wash to have clean clothes for the final leg of our trip.  Pat took us to the airport around 2:30 PM.  While waiting for our flight, Snookums had a two-hour nap on the airport chairs.  She started getting a chest cold yesterday and the sleep was needed.

The German passport control guy was stumped and kept flipping through our passports and finally asked how we got into Germany.  We explained that we came on a cruise to Barcelona and no one there stamped our passport.  That was all he needed to hear and he stamped our passport for us to leave Germany. 

Our Lufthansa flight from Stuttgart to London Heathrow was uneventful but we were surprised to find that we ended up on a regional jet rather than the 737 that we booked but we still got a little snack so all was well. 

Stuttgart: planes in the rain

We landed in London around 6 PM, got our luggage and found an ATM to get some pounds.  We made our way to the central bus station in Heathrow in time to catch the 6:50 bus.  We had a nice 2-hour ride to Southampton and then took a cab to the Holiday Inn Express.  We were staying for free using points and it was about 5 miles from the ship in the middle of nowhere, but the price was right.  We ordered Chinese food to be delivered, since we really were in a suburban “middle of nowhere” (at least from a walking perspective) just off the “motorway.”  We went to bed around 10:30 PM.  By the way, the only bed types that Snookums found when she was looking for Southampton hotels were “double” beds.  Sure enough, a double bed is for two people but is smaller than a queen bed in the US.  We liked king beds but we survived.