Legoland, Wilhelma, and Dodging Milan

So I'm safe and sound in Rome now. But before I get into the trip down, I should tell you guys about Legoland. It was awesome! Pretty much a full theme park, with little areas where you could play with Legos. If I had been in a group of people I probably could have actually gone on a ride or messed around in the construction areas. Unfortunately it was just me, so to avoid looking like a creeper, I made sure to keep moving at all times. Took lots of pictures though. Legoland for me was more about the spectacle. They had Lego versions of Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Venice, famous castles, an airport and a stadium. Pictures of most of these are on facebook.

The next day I went to the Wilhelma, a big zoo in Stuttgart built on the land from some famous garden. Don't know about the garden part, but the animals were pretty cool. They had a really big selection too, and most of the animals had babies recently, which increased the cuteness factor by a lot. Again pictures are on facebook. After Wilhelma, I ran back to webchat with a special birthday girl, who I miss a TON.

Today I took the day long train ride from Stuttgart to Rome. Three trains. Stuttgart -> Zurich. Zurich -> Milan. Milan -> Rome. Unfortunately, the Zurich -> Milan train was delayed. When it got in, I had to bolt for the Rome train, crossing 10 tracks in under 2 minutes. The train pulled away less than a minute after I jumped on. Sorry Milan. You were so close to messing up another one of my trips. All worked out in the end, and the train ride from Zurich -> Milan was gorgeous. We went through the heart of the swiss alps in one of the most beautiful train rides of my life.

Just about time for a "pasta party" here at my hostel, so I should jump off. Tomorrow is the Anicent City here in Rome. Lots to do and see here!

Castle Eberbach, Porsche, and Mercedes Museums

The Eurail solution worked. I have a ticket to Rome. I'm going to try to do a day trip to Pompeii when I'm there. The downside is the train ride is almost 3-1/2 hours long. Leaving me only a few hours to actually enjoy the ruins, even if I leave really early. But I did it with Cork, so I should be able to do it with Pompeii.

Anyway the last two days have been pretty exhausting. Yesterday I went to the Mercedes-Benz museum here in Stuttgart. It was really cool, lots of historic pieces. Engine parts and models from way back before there were cars, when it was all theoretical. It was kinda cool to see a 5hp engine from the 1800's. The Porsche museum was more of a showroom. Most of the cars in there were racing winners, and classic favorites. There was also a replica of the original 356 No. 1, which was pretty cool. As well as a Porsche brand tractor. Pictures will be up on Facebook eventually.

Today I went on a day trip to Eberbach. Frommer's recommended it as a cool ruined castle up on a small mountain just outside Heidleberg. The town was really cool and small, with a beautiful church. It took me a while to find the path up to the castle. It probably would have helped to lookup the German word for castle BEFORE leaving. The hike wasn't too tough, a little steep. When I got up there were some beautiful ruins. I couldn't go to the watchtower in the back though, due to reconstruction efforts. Apparently the castle was destroyed by some spoiled noble in the 1400's to prevent anyone else from stealing it. The guy had "too many castles" and it was a "money sink". Tough life, what terrible problems he had. Anyway, it gave a great view of the town and valley. Again pictures will be on Facebook. Tomorrow... LEGOLAND!

Stuttgart and the Eurail Solution

Pictures are finally up on facebook. And I'm finally at a hostel with an internet connection faster than a 28.8 modem. Actually I have to give this hostel props. It's Inter-hostel in Stuttgart and it is really nice. Very clean, really nice people. Really nice bathrooms, kitchen, and laundry. Great wifi. All around great hostel. Stuttgart is really nice so far too. Had to suck up a 100 euro train ticket to get here, but it was worth it. Tomorrow I plan to go to the Wilhelma "Zoo" althought it's more than that. You'll see in the pictures.

Yesterday I went in to talk to the Eurail office in Paris Gare-de-Lyon. In my documentation it had them open from 10am to 2pm on Sundays. Not only were they not open, it didn't look like they had ever been open. They had a sign, in front of one of the regular ticket offices. The sign claimed this was the office, but it was blocking the window, and it had collected quite a bit of dust.

So I went to talk to the regular ticket office. Once again I got a disgruntled employee who did not want to help me. I explained I had a flexible schedule and could stay overnight in any city. I just needed to eventually go to Stuttgart. He basically told me off and said it was 100 euros to go to Stuttgart. (And he spoke perfect, advanced English with the man before me, but all of a sudden had trouble with me....) I asked if I could do standing seating, an option which in my documentation was allowed by Eurail. This should allow me to go on any train, regardless of reservation, I just won't have a guaranteed seat. He said Paris no longer allowed this due to previous problems with Eurail pass members. (Can't verify if this is true or not. Just repeating what I heard)

So enough about my problems. Here are my solutions! I used Rail Europe to lookup what trains are available with my pass. I double checked that my pass was locked out of trains I knew I already could not get (ie the Paris-Stuttgart trains). This was true, so now I knew that the website was showing me what was actually available to me. I have written down 3 seperate itineraries from Stuttgart to Rome on July 3rd. I intend to go into the Stuttgart train station tomorrow, and ask the man politely to reserve these trains for me. Hopefully, my advanced notice, advanced planning, and my research into polite German phrases will pay off. I'll keep you all posted tomorrow.