Another Summer in Stuttgart, 2009

We are in Stuttgart again--this time for one month instead of two. When we arrived on drizzly and cool Tuesday morning, greeted at the same apartment building by the same apartment manager, it felt as if we never left.

It was hot and humid in Ohio just before our departure, so of course we packed mostly warm weather clothing. Despite our experience last summer of many relatively cool days, it still seemed too difficult to believe in the humid high-80s of the Midwest that we should pack more sweaters and fewer summer tops. When the sun has occasionally peeked from behind the clouds this week, however, it has been pleasantly balmy.

Our apartment is updated this year. We have Pergo-style floors, a tiny dishwasher (though we didn't know the German words for "automatic dishwasher detergent" and thus couldn't find it at the grocery) and also a little backyard, where mallards enjoying the "just ducky" weather greeted us on our first day. Apparently, this used to be the apartment manager's place. The not-so-scenic Stuttgart campus is big on using concrete for building material, however, so you might say our front-door view leaves a bit to be desired:

Maya, meanwhile, seems most impressed by the power-flush toilets, and we all immediately indulged in our fond memories of German cuisine. We were suprised to find that the chocolate we most fondly remember, a brand called Milka, is manufactured by Kraft, though it is guaranteed to contain Alpen milk. The Noisette brand contains ground hazelnuts, a delicious ingredient also found in the turn-sandwiches-into-dessert spread, Nutella. How is it the U.S. hasn't discovered hazelnuts in chocolate? Chocolate müsli contains chunks of real milk chocolate, a move we consider pure genious.