Jenny & Stefan's Honeymoon                   June 2 - June 16, 2010  

Stuttgart Luzern Salzburg Geisenhausen Freising
For our wedding, Mama and Papa Heissinger gave us a honeymoon to anywhere! We finally decided on Germany because Jenny was interested in seeing where her new family came from, and meeting everybody that couldn't make it to the wedding in St. Louis. Jenny even started learning German from Papa Heissinger about 2 months before the trip. It was amazing how much she could communicate by the time she got to Germany! And Stefan was also amazed by how much he could still communicate.
Anyhow, we had a great time... even though there wasn't nearly enough time (we'll have to do this again someday!).  Here are some pictures and comments from our trip.
Date Place
June 2 Airplane
June 3-6 Stuttgart, Germany
June 6-8 Luzern, Switzerland
June 8-11 Salzburg, Austria
June 11-14 Geisenhausen, Germany
June 14-16 Freising, Germany



  June 3-6  / Stuttgart, Germany  
We arrived on Thursday, June 3 in Stuttgart, Germany. Stuttgart, home of Mercedes Benz and Porsche, is also the home of the Heissingers! Stefan's father was born there, his grandparents lived there, and his Aunt & Uncle still live there.

 

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Our hotel in Stuttgart upgraded us Presidential Suite and it was amazing! When the Queen of Sweden recently visited Stuttgart, she stayed in this room too.
We had 2 bathrooms, a jacuzzi bathtub, a shower, a sauna, a walk-in closet, 3 balconies, a sitting room, and a bedroom. Wow, what a way to start the trip!
Website: Hotel Schlossgarten

 


Stuttgart is in a valley or bowl, and this is one of the views down on the city.
There are lots of vineyards surrounding the city.

 

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Stuttgart and St. Louis are sister cities! In the middle of the city is this marker...
7500 KM (4,600 miles) to St. Louis, MO U.S.A.

 

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Here's Jenny being Jenny. Some little girls playing nearby were staring at the old
lady climbing onto the statue...

 

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Speaking of strange sights, look at this thing! It's a "beer bike". It's basically
a mobile bar. You can see the kegs of beer in front. They've also got some
loud music playing. All 12 of these bachelorette party girls have bicycle pedals
that power this contraption (the guy in back is their designated driver). And
that's pretty much it... pedal around town, drink, and party... WOOOO! Oh
those silly Germans ROFL. Fun idea, but where's the bathroom?! Anyhow,
here's a video of the Bier Bike on YouTube if you wanna see it in action!
And there's also the official site at www.bierbike-stuttgart.de
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Here are our first proper German meals... meat, sausage, lentil beans, potato
salad, sauerkraut, and spatzle. And 2 Sanwald Weissbiers to drink. Yum!

 

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Stefan and Jenny with Aunt Sigrid and Uncle Gerd at one of their restaurants.
It's the oldest wine tavern in Stuttgart, and it still uses the original rope-operated
elevator to deliver food down from the kitchen. They took GREAT care of us
in Stuttgart!

 


While we were in Stuttgart, Stefan just had to go see his favorite castle, Schloss Lichtenstein.  It's about 45 minutes from the city by car. We were very blessed to have the perfect weather for this experience! The pictures are amazing, but you really have to see it with your own eyes to really appreciate it. Here's the website for more info www.schloss-lichtenstein.de.
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This picture was going to be our 'postcard'. We intended to post this picture
online and e-mail all our friends and family. But, we couldn't find Wi-Fi internet
access, so that never happened :(

 


This is the castle without Jenny and Stefan in the way.
Click here to enlarge this picture!

 


Here's a panoramic view so you get a better idea of what the view really looks like. One simple picture doesn't begin to capture the scene! And even this
panorama doesn't do the live scene justice...

 


Here's a view up to the castle over 800 feet above us.
Click here to enlarge this picture!

 


Another view up to the the castle.

 


As you walk up to the castle...  Click here to enlarge this picture!

Getting closer...

 

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These funny little gnome statues are all over... under benches, bushes, etc.

A view of the valley below

 


Jenny over 800 feet above the town below. As you can see, it's almost a straight
drop down! By the way, can you imagine living down there and having a view of
this castle every day?!

 


Stefan being silly. He still has to crawl into every nook and cranny!
Will he ever grow up?

 

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The only thing that could take our attention away from the most fantastic castle in
the world... this guy's outfit! (don't stare directly at it for more than a few seconds)
Some pictures are worth a thousand words, and some leave you speechless...
this one somehow does both.

 

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Jenny waiting for the tour to begin. Sorry, no pictures allowed inside, so you'll
have to check the website or go see it for yourself!
www.schloss-lichtenstein.de

 

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After Schloss Lichtenstein, Sigrid and Gerd took us to Tubingen. When they
found out about Jenny's love of asparagus, and the fact that she'd never
had German white asparagus, they called ahead to a famous chef friend of
theirs to arrange a special meal. And it just happened to be aparagus season!

 

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Here's the famous city hall and town square of Tubingen.

 

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The folks of Tubingen enjoying a beautiful afternoon by the river (they're all eating
ice cream).  Click here to enlarge this picture!

 

And that's it for the Stuttgart, Germany portion of the honeymoon.... next stop Luzern, Switzerland!