**I’m going to Germany! … What should I bring …?
**
Do like Your Grandpa - bring a gun!
Just kidding.
I grew up in Stuttgart, got sick of it and moved to Hamburg.
That soesn’t mean you can’t have tons of fun there.
In the Stuttgart area you might want to got to Ludwigsburg for the baroque castles and parks, to Esslingen for it’s old buildings (escpecially the neat city hall), but I guess your host will have lots of plans for trips like that already.
As mentioned in other posts, drinking age is 16, so if you like to drink or not you can visit all the bars and clubs (you might have to leave at 12pm, though at night clubs). Most of Stuttgarts nightlife happens right in the city center, so it’s easy to get around, the city center is mostly peaceful and safe and it’s not likley that youll run into trouble by checking out bars and clubs. Nice bars in Stuttgart include the “Schocken” which features a dancefloor in the basement and the “Mos Eisley” where they also serve nice food. The most popular music in Stuttgarts bars seems to be Soul and Funk, the town also has a vibrant Hip Hop scene with the “Prag” and the 0771 Club (at changing locations) as it’s epicentres.
The local beers certainly aren’t the finest of the country but far from beeing bad. ordering a “Halbe” will get you a nice 0.5 liter glass of local beer from tap ( usually Dinkelacker or Stuttgarter Hofbräu", someplaces a 0.4 l glass known as “Schwaben Halbe” (People living in Stuttgart are “Schwaben” and often said to be stingy in jokes - the Scotsman of Germany).
For the Bretzels - you should definitly check out the “Bretzelkörble” (Bretzel Baskets at the Königstrasse right in the city-center), idiculously small huts where mean old ladies sell great tasting Bretzels.
Oh, and: beeing to crazy about Munich might offend your hosts! But even though I would never want to live there myself, I strongly recommend a visit.
