Stuttgart, Esslingen & Ludwigsburg

Medieval.  Baroque.  Mercedes.

We're lucky to live close to the amazing European Christmas markets and are trying to see as many as we can while we're here!  Our holiday quest continued in Stuttgart, an easy 2.5 hour drive from Basel.  We started our day on busy Königstrasse, the city's main shopping street.  It brought us directly to the first cluster of alpine stalls, where we enjoyed a pre-lunch snack of bratwurst and started our glühwein mug collection.

 
The market boasts an ice skating rink and almost 300 festive stalls spread out from the New Palace and the Königsbau, across Schiller Square with the Old Palace and the Collegiate Church, to the Marketplace.  Apparently there's a contest for the best decorated roof and the vendors go all out - mechanical reindeer, Santas galore, nutcrackers, ornaments, trees . . . amazing.

There was also one of the biggest train displays we've seen, where kids could actually ride on the coal-operated train through the "village"!

In early afternoon we headed via train for the short trip over to Esslingen am Neckar.  This town is much smaller and has a bit more character than Stuttgart (not surprising since 80% of Stuttgart was bombed during WWII).  The old town here is full of narrow streets and half timbered houses. There was also a Medieval market with fairytale figures on stilts, acrobatics, games, rides and traditionally dressed craftsmen selling  leather, jewelry and much more.  We had some more glühwein (gotta taste test!) and indulged in some tasty fried apples as well.  The setting was magical, we really enjoyed this one (as did many others because it was soooo crowded)!

 

Fancy a Ferris Wheel ride?!

 

 

 

We then backtracked to Stuttgart so we could catch the train to Ludwigsburg, which has a beautiful main square with two baroque churches standing majestically across from each other.  What an amazing setting for the market!  The architecture here was much different than Esslingen.  The entire square was glowing with angels and arches filled with thousands of tiny light bulbs, it felt quite romantic! 

 

Our night ended back in Stuttgart, where we saw the town crier walk through the market ringing his bell, which announced the closing of the market for the night.  We were able to enjoy the festive lights and squeeze in some handicraft purchases before the stalls closed.  Trifecta, we hit all 3 markets in one day!

On Sunday we walked down the shopping street in its entirety, which was a ghost town.  Much different than Saturday!

We then headed to the Mercedes Benz museum.  Wow, it was a very nice and thorough display that started  at the very beginning (development of the first car) and took you through the history of the brand while tying in social trends and events happening at the time.  The building itself was also a beautiful piece of architecture.  I'm sure we could've spent more time here but 2 hours felt sufficient.  And I now know what I want for Christmas (but surely won't get!)