Four days after my arrival in Stuttgart, IA (International Affairs) arranged their second  trip for us exchange students. It was booked out since before I came here and there was a long waiting list, but I got a place, probably because they felt bad about not being able to give me a place in the German class.

The trip took us to Pfaltz in the very southwest of Germany, a region famous for its wine. There we first visited two newly renovated castles before we went to a ropeway to enjoy the sight from the top of a mountain. Because of lack of time we only went up and down though, of course we had to be in time for our next stop, a typical southern German dinner. For me that meant Sausage, a slice of a sausage which among other things cointains potatoes, and to that Sauerkraut. After the dinner we went to a small village only 500 meters from the French border where "Deutsche Weinstrasse" (German Wine Road) starts. Weinstrasse is really only a concept to bring tourists to the area and to the vineyards along the road, but apparently it works. After a guided trip in the village and after we had inspected some wines we got to try six different local wines in a wine cellar. Then at eight o'clock in the evening, twelve hours after we went away from Stuttgart, we headed back home.

A very nice trip I would say, mostly because it gave me a good opportunity to get to know many other exchange students. Pictures are from Hans' camera.