Day 88: Running Around
The photos for the Budapest trip are uploaded — check them out (Day 82 and Day 83+84)!
Souvenir Shopping
With just under 48 hours left before heading back, I desperately needed to find a shop that sold Mercedes-Benz swag. As reported on Day 86+87, I had a solid amount of souvenirs and swag to buy. My go-to place has always been the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. There is a massive shop with all sorts of awesome stuff that you can buy, from history books to clothes to colognes to cars (miniature ones 🙂). What I didn’t realize is that the museum is closed for a special event for the next 10 days. I was frantically searching for stores on Google that might sell Mercedes-Benz merch until I realized that we have the Kundencenter in Sindelfingen.
So, yesterday morning, I made my way straight to the Kundencenter where I could find all of the things I was looking for. It wasn’t as big as the museum’s shop, but it was good enough. My nephew is going to look dope. I even got a surprise call from him after his midnight snack. He was clearly too drunk on milk, and could barely keep his eyes open after a few minutes of making hilarious faces. I’m pretty sure he was yawning, burping, pooping and stretching all at the same time. Solid multi-tasking. I can’t wait to see him in a few days.
Coffees + Final Meetings
After souvenir shopping, I hopped back over to the office to jump into a round of final meetings as things are now wrapped up here. I finally had a chance to connect with some colleagues who I didn’t get an opportunity to see, so it was great to catch up with them in person. I can never say it’s a “Good-bye”, but only a “See you later”. Judging by the looks of it, who knows, maybe I’ll find myself here again in the not-so-distant future…
One thing I’ll definitely miss about this office is the beautiful field just behind it separating it from the MTC. The walk to the MTC for lunches and meetings and such has been a great way for me to get outside and to reset my mind. I’m going to miss that a lot. Granted, I don’t think I’ll miss the pollen and congestion that comes with it.
Dinner
As the last meeting wrapped up later than expected, I raced home to meet up with friends for dinner. In my haste, I taxied to the wrong address, which added another 20-delay to my arrival. I hopped onto the U-bahn (to confess, I didn’t buy a ticket, because it was one-stop away) and cut through a park to the restaurant. After showing almost 45 minutes later than expected, I finally managed to have a great meal (Linsen mit Spätzle und Saitenwurst) at Buschpilot.
My life was saved multiple times last night: the first time from a massive, horrifyingly scary hornet that was caught and trapped using a coaster and my Radler and the second time when I forgot to take a photo of my meal (which would have been the first time in almost 3 months). Thank you, Fabian ❤️! And thank you to Mark, Julius, Adrian, and Esther for a great evening 🙂.
Packing
Heading back home, I resumed packing duties for the evening. I managed to squeeze in all of my souvenirs into my cabin luggage. With just the bike bag left to be completed, I’m pretty much almost entirely done. Less than 24 hours left to go.
Frieden und Liebe ❤️ (translation: peace and love)