Day 86 + 87: My Last Weekend

Day 86

Saturday was my errands day. I needed to cross off a few things on my todo list while the stores were still open. If I needed to buy anything it would have to be today. Most stores are closed on Sunday, and getting anything on Monday or Tuesday would be a tight squeeze.

To start off my day, I needed breakfast. I stopped by the one and only, Strohberg. Breakfast in German is Frühstück, so I was in the mood for either something sweet or savory, or maybe even both. I opted for the Eggs Benedict with a cappuccino. Of course, it was 👌🏾. This was exactly the fuel I needed for my day of shopping.

After finding a few helpful videos on YouTube on how to construct my bike bag and how to actually pack the bike bag, I needed to grab some supplies from the local DIY hardware store, Bauhaus. This is effectively a German version of Home Depot or Lowe’s. I’m still amazed at how everything in Europe is so space efficient. From the outside, one would not think a multi-floored construction / DIY store would fit in a downtown city-center.

With bubble wrap, moving rugs, and a large styrofoam cylinder in hand, I made my way over to the next location which was Breuningerland. Long ago, I posted about running past the Breuningerland in Sindelfingen, which was near my hotel. There happens to be another one in the main Stuttgart city center. I wanted to buy some clothes for my nephew. As fancy as this place seems, it’s labyrinth. I got lost immediately. No sign in that store could accurately tell me what floor I was on. I’ve never been to a mall where there are floors, and then there are subfloors within each floor. It took me about 1.5 hours to find what I was looking for, but I managed to find some adorable outfits for him.

There was one more place I needed to hit, but I decided to push that to Monday instead. I called my day early to head back home and get started on packing. Before starting the process, I stopped off at Claus for some ice-cream. I was in the mood for more ice-cream than usual, so I had an entire bowl that should have been shared with at least 2 other people.

The rest of my day included lots of loads of laundry and packing up the bike bag. I finished my day with a short walk around the neighborhood.

Day 87

Sunday was effectively a repeat of Saturday. I had a few more loads of laundry to get through. Now that all my clothes were cleaned, I needed to get things into suitcases. Because I’m taking the bike bag with me as a check-in, I’ll have to send 2 bags back with co-workers who’ll visit Sunnyvale in the next 2 weeks. I had the fun challenge to see what I need vs. don’t need immediately.

To make things more fun, I also wanted to distribute some of my clothes into my cabin luggage to avoid the risk that if my check-in bags get lost or delayed in arriving, I’ll at least be able to survive for a few days. With Antman: Quantumania in the background, I was able to figure it out (I think).

For dinner, I visited Paula and Basti, who made some phenomenal smash burgers with the whole works: bacon, onions, fresh lettuce, all the sauces, with lightly toasted buns. With a glass of white wine, I was very happy. We soaked up the nice weather outside till about 9:30PM before we bid our adieus and I made my way home.

This was a great last weekend in Stuttgart. 2 more days left to go.

Frieden und Liebe ❤️ (translation: peace and love)