110619 Stuttgart London Venice

In mid June 2011, I received an opportunity to return to Europe for business; this time near Stuttgart, Germany, and then near London, United Kingdom.  The scheduling offered a few days of respire in between the 2 locations.  For this trip, I had the pleasure of having the company of my lovely wife.  Instead of heading home directly after London, Mylinh planned and made arrangements to visit Venice, Italy.

The first leg of our journey took us to Stuttgart after 2 long flights from Phoenix, with stop-over in Newark, NJ.  We arrived to cloudy skies.  Our true destination was Kirchheim Unter Teck, a small town Southeast of Stuttgart.

Kirchheim Unter Teck.

Kirchheim Unter Teck is such a quiet and peaceful little town.  My wife & I enjoyed our walks in the early morning, breakfasts and dinners together.  My daytime hours were taken up by work.  The last 2 days of that week included a German national holiday.  We took advantage of this time off to visit Burg Hohenzollern, a private castle, about one hour drive by autobahn from Kirchheim Unter Teck.

Burg Hohenzollern.

Driving back to Kirchheim Unter Teck, I decided to loosely follow my GPS.  We ended up in another small picturesque town named Bad Urach.  Since it was a holiday, most shops and stores were closed.  The hostess of the restaurant where we had early dinner barely spoke English, but we still had fun.

Bad Urach, Germany.

The next day was spent in the center of Stuttgart.  Like many city in Europe, the center of Stuttgart favors pedestrians.  We found street painters and bands performing their crafts, as well as food stalls everywhere.

Painter & food stall in Stuttgart.

State Opera House in Stuttgart, Germany.

The weather was beautiful, with perfect temperature.  We tumbled into the Markthalle, an indoor market place.  There were stalls selling fresh fruits, produce, hams, cheeses, breads.

A fresh fruit stand in Markthalle in Stuttgart, Germany.

After spending a few hours in Stuttgart, we drove to Burg Hohen Neuffen for dinner, based on a recommendation from a customer. Burg Hohen Neuffen is a medieval castle at the top of a hill, with an elegant restaurant inside.  The day we were there, there was a wedding.  Quite romantic.  After dinner, we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Burg Hohen Neuffen near Stuttgart, Germany.

Sunset at Burg Hohen Neuffen.

A short flight the following day brought us to London, United Kingdom.  One hour car ride going west took us to Newbury.  We were lodged at the Newbury Manor Hotel, almost across the street from the branch office of my company.  The hotel ground and on-premise restaurant were quite charming.

The River Bar Restaurant at the Newbury Manor Hotel, west of London, UK.

A relaxing moment at the Newbury Manor Hotel.

And yes, we did go to London, but not to visit the queen, even though we did pass by Buckingham Palace.  To fully appreciate this huge cosmopolitan city, one would require at least an entire week.  My work obligation was scheduled to begin the next day.  No wanting to risk missing the train back to Newbury, we had to cut short our visit to London.

Buckingham Palace in London, UK.

The day after I completed my work obligation in Newbury, my wife & I took a very early morning flight to Venice, Italy, with a stop-over in Rome.  The weather was perfect the entire time we were in Venice.  Piazza San Marco, which is the main square, has restaurants with menus limited to drinks, coffees, pastries and light snacks.  In the evening these restaurants had live bands, from 3 to 7 members, playing outside.  To sit down and fully enjoy the music, one had to order from the menus.  Mylinh & I sampled Italian dishes ranging from simple panino to fancy seafood pasta.

The main island has very few streets for automobiles, mostly for the people coming from the main land; they need a place to park while visiting the island.  Instead of streets, there are canals and pedestrian paths; And the canals are the claim to fame of Venice.  When visiting Venice, one must be prepare to walk; and walk we did.  In lieu of cars and trucks, there are boats of various sizes.  Public transportation is a system of water buses and floating stations.  And of course, there were also the famous gondolas.  Venezia, as Venice is called locally, is an amazing place.

Venice, Italy.

Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy.

Piazza San Marco at sunset.

Besides the main island, we also visited Lido & Murano.  The latter is known for its glass products.  Lido island has very nice beach.

Glass art on display on Murano Island.

Beach on Lido Island.

Sunset over Venice, Italy.

Both of us thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Europe.  Fond and fun memories of all 3 locations we visited will always be with us.

Many more pictures of this trip are at https://picasaweb.google.com/108013863525571472697/110619Europe#.  As always, I solicit your comments and critiques in hope of improving my blogs as well as my photographic skills.

Thank you,
Paul