John has another day of work here in Stuttgart and I need to find something to do. I decide to go to the Wilhelmina Zoo on the eastern outskirts of Stuttgart. I carefully prepare a card in German asking for a day pass for the U-bahn/S-bahn, a tageskarte. I need to cover both lines in case I get messed up transferring. I hand my German printed request to the ticket seller and he says, “Oh, I see you want a day pass” in English. I nod. There is nothing else I can say other than hello, goodbye, please, and thank you.
I make it to the zoo which looks kind of old-fashioned from the entry. I am afraid it will be animals cooped up in small cages.
But it turns out to be modern. I see some very active outdoor penguins, an insectarium with an interesting ant farm, and excellent aquarium with outstanding coral, active tigers, great elephants in different stages of eating trees, and sea lions who are playing king of the hill.
I spend several hours at the zoo. I buy a shot glass. I take the train back to the Flughafen stop and treat myself to a late lunch in the hotel restaurant. I have spring rolls, a salad, and a glass of Chardonnay.
Later John and I go out to dinner at Wolfie’s in Sindelfingen. I order the best “pig” I have had so far. It is grilled with mushrooms and cranberries in a brown sauce. It comes with spaetzle. (This is before I started taking pictures of everything I eat) We have a very nice time.