Germany – Last day: SAP Headquarters and Hockenheim

My last day in Germany was a bit busy but nice. Our first destination was SAP Headquarters, and my first surprise was there were 2 SAP buildings: headquarters and Germany, as indicated in the road signs:

SAP Headquarters is a complex of buildings, some of them exclusively for parking purposes and other under construction.

This is the front of one of the main buildings:

After that, we made a technical stop in IKEA to eat hotdogs. My first (and last) hotdog in Germany, because the rest were German sausages of course!

Then we headed to Hockenheim, to visit the Hockenheimring (I'm a F1 fan). I took this picture from one of the intersections:

The bad news: Hockenheimring was closed! We forgot to check the dates and they already started holidays. But at least I took a picture outside:

I'll visit this ring in my next trip.

Germany - ‘Ausfahrt’ city and ‘Einbahnstrasse’ street

In my first days in Germany, as a non-German-speaker, I was very excited and interested in every sign that I could read, especially while travelling through the autobahn. One road sign caught my eye:

And my thought was "that’s the exit to Ausfahrt". Some kilometres later, another sign:

I thought “uhm, maybe it’s a large city”:

How large can be “Ausfahrt” city?

I started to think that “Ausfahrt” city was really huge and we were driving encircling it. maybe all roads lead to Ausfahrt. But as I was reading the signs every time I found them, my dear kiwi said “Exit”. “What?” I said. “Yes, ‘Ausfahrt’ means ‘Exit’ in German”. I still feel stupid for that. 

But as I can improve, during our city adventures we almost get lost among the streets. Again I was reading the road signs, this time trying to be helpful. To figure out where were we, I read every sign whose looks like street name and I proudly read ‘Einbahnstrasse’, believing that name means something. And again a simple answer “yes, I know that’s a one way street.” 

German language is funnier that people think. Could you find the exit?

Germany – Stuttgart: Zoo and outlet

I can’t remember when my last visit to a zoo was, and that’s the reason I wanted to visit one in Germany. Again we arrived to Wilhelma after several minutes in the ‘autobahn’. This is a picture of the entrance:

Then can be useful take a picture of the map:

We found some nice friends, sometimes they look like talking. For example this one is saying “Mom, where are you going? Wait for me!”

“Hey guys, smile! We'll appear on the next Camel’s pack”:

“Nemo!!! Where are you?”:

We also I found some jelly fish dancing:

That was the first time I see an electric eel. Notice the black box which indicates when eel generates electricity:

At the end of the day, we reached Metzingen, a.k.a. the outlet city. No more pictures but we walked a lot. Zero clothing shopping…buh. We bought some things in a toys store and ate fresh popcorn. 

p.s.- Where is the rest of the pictures about the zoo? Look at the sidebar.

Germany - Heidelberg

We started this day late. When we reached Heidelberg, we looked for a nice place to drink a coffee; our place was Hard Rock Café:

It wasn’t as glamorous as I expected, but the place is really nice. I had a Student's Breakfast at 4:30 pm. One stunning thing: they sell sex-toys in the ladies bathroom (?).

With more energy, we were ready for the castle. Again, saving some Euros and sponsoring healthy exercise, we walked uphill to the castle, but it was quite dark. However, I could take nice pictures where the architecture is highlighted:

The view from the castle is beautiful. Here is the Christmas market and the Neckar river:

We walked then to the river and took this picture of the castle:

While we were waiting for some friends, we heard music. It was a little band in the street. I was wondering what Christmas carol was it, but for second time in the day I was stunned, they were playing Britney Spears song “Baby One More Time”. A really Christmas song.

Germany – Nuremberg (Part II)

Today started as a very nice day. I love buffet hotel breakfasts. We went for a walk but sadly my left knee wasn’t in its best moment. That didn't stop us to enjoy the walk and get some crêpes. The old buildings look different:

More pictures about the strange fountain, now with daylight:

I really like these medieval buildings:

Of course, a stitched image:

During our return trip, we made a stop and lunched… Makis! Courtesy of Nordsee:

What happened with the Christmas Angel? Well, that girl has a busy schedule, as us, and that made impossible our meeting. Maybe we meet her next year.

Germany – Nuremberg (Part I)

Some months ago, I watched a TV program from Deutsche Welle about the Nuremberg Christmas market and Christmas Angel, and that really interested me. That’s the reason why visit Nuremberg during my trip in Germany was mandatory. Kiwi-chan drove the car during 3 hours from Bruchsal, and after 1 stop and 4 super sandwiches we were there. My first impression was the landscape full of old medieval buildings around:

But the old buildings have a modern artistic touch, like this really strange fountain:

Beautiful churches:

A sign, made with lights, was welcome us to the market:

In the market, I took this video in front of Frauenkirche:

We ate 2 “Nuremberg sausages in a bun” and I tried Glühwein, but it was too much alcohol for me, so I only drunk the non-alcoholic version, for kids.

Germany – Karlsruhe (Part II)

Today we saw the Karlsruhe Castle, it's really beautiful:

There is also this statue. I don’t know who he is and why he is killing this poor dragon:

The statue of Karl Friedrich von Baden, where kids play:

Karlsruhe is also decorated with Christmas theme:

Again, some pictures of the tram. I still impressed about people walking among the trams:

The Pyramid, built in 1825, is the symbol of Karlsruhe. During these days it's a little bit hiding, because the Christmas market is exactly there:

Germany – Schwegenheim and Gommersheim

With a sunny day, we visited Gommersheim village. In the road there were several forests:

Also we had to cross the Rhine:

In the middle of the way, we pass through Schwegenheim village. I like the architecture of the houses and the width of the streets:

Finally we reach Gommersheim. I took this wonderful picture, sadly the only one. My fault:

Germany – Mannheim

Back in Germany, we visited Mannheim. In the road there were SAP Arena:

Here is the sign indicating we are entering in Mannheim:

I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but at least I took one of this square. The illuminated building is Galeria Kaufhof: