Scott and I had been excited for Nate & Dana's visit to Stuttgart for many months. Nate has been Scott's best bud since 3rd grade when Scott was a bashful introvert and wore rec specs.
Dana and Nate are world travelers but this was their first European trip.
We served them our favorite German beer and showed them Stuttgart's top attractions. One day, we were scared that we lost Nate forever.
Nate's train ticket says 2 zones but Nate "explored" all 6 zones
His plan was to take the train to Scott's office (10 mins away) for lunch and instead he rode for 3 hrs and sadly never found Scott. Fortunately, (for me since I put him on the wrong train), Nate is a positive spirit and grinned saying, "no big deal, now I have mastered the Stuttgart rail system for our ride to Paris; it's time for a beer!"
His plan was to take the train to Scott's office (10 mins away) for lunch and instead he rode for 3 hrs and sadly never found Scott. Fortunately, (for me since I put him on the wrong train), Nate is a positive spirit and grinned saying, "no big deal, now I have mastered the Stuttgart rail system for our ride to Paris; it's time for a beer!"
We also attended the Leinfelden Krauterfest (festival of cabbage)!
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| Cabbage Queens |
It should have been no surprise that this was a large event with cabbage vendors and entertainment since Germans love fests and kraut.
cart o krauts
Shots of Baileys from cabbage leaves was not a big hit.
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| Check out the Germans smooching in the background - clearly, kraut is a real turn on |
The Speers celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss with plenty of beer.
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| Nate with Dana tasting the local specialty- sauerkraut goulash Massive piles of oddly shaped cabbage surrounded us on ever street. |
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| Boy in background sporting the trendy cabbage hat |
The next day, the Speers took the train to Paris and we went back to work. The following weekend, we drove to Lake Como, Italy.
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| Speers and Scoots waiting for the ferry to Bellagio The drizzly cloudy weather didn't stop us from exploring the famous gardens. |
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| Thrifty Frau Shank's hair growing long and unruly, excited for an upcoming trim in Charleston |
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| Pretty sunset not depicted well in this picture We relaxed at my favorite wine bar, Cantina Folie, that I had discovered with Cindy. The service and quality were still buonissimo! |
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| Lots of wine - we each tasted 4-5 types and picked our favorites |
The next morning, we drove to Alba, located in the Piedmont region of Italy. This area is famous for superb Northern Italian cuisine so we scheduled a cooking class at Per Tutti i Gusti.
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| Nebbiolo grapes and pretty autumnal colors |
Per Tutti i Gusti is a family run business in the heart of the Barberesco wine country. Three generations (Grandma, Patrizia & Baby Lucia) live together on this small farm where they sell local homemade specialty products.
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| When I asked Patrizia if they make goat cheese, she looked perplexed- thus, these goats are in fact pets That day, after spending quality time with this wonderful happy family, Scott and I decided we are ready to take the next step in our relationship ... |
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| This beats a hairless cat ...we are going to get a pet goat! I was excited to see all of the ingredients were already measured, chopped and ready for us to start cookin! We worked in a huge industrial style kitchen that was better than I expected (based on cost and previous emails). |
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| Patrizia in middle, bowl of green is the spinach ricotta filling for the agnolotti (mini special ravioli) Patrizia and grandma taught us how to knead the dough make fresh pasta from scratch.
 I was surprised to learn the only ingredients in gnocchi are flour, potato, and egg Last but not least, we rolled dough for Paste Di Meliga- corn flour biscuits (served with a zabaglione sweet cream and Mosacato wine sauce) |
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| Doughboy Scoot's biscuits were shaped oddly but he looked like a pro in his manly apron While we cooked, we sipped wine and tasted a variety of local cheese, meat, truffle creams, honey, sauces, jams...
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| "Chin Chin" we toast like Italians |
After dinner, Nate wandered back to the kitchen to hang out with Grandma (adorable lady spoke zero English and LOVED Nate and his cooking skills).
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| Pasta machine we did not use (this would have been cheating but much easier) |
The next day, we went to the famous Fiera Del Tartufo (White Truffle Festival). White truffles are considered one of the world's most prized and luxurious delicacies. Pigs and dogs are trained to hunt truffles in the Alba countryside.
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| According to wikipedia, "The record price paid for a single white truffle was 330,000 USD (£165,000) for a specimen weighing 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb), discovered by Luciano Savini and his dog Rocco." |
For a mere 10 euro, we spent hours in a huge exhibition hall sampling truffle creations and sipping wine from the over 30 local vineyards.
Most of the food was exquisite but we stayed away from a few local favorites like the carne cruda (below).
Most of the food was exquisite but we stayed away from a few local favorites like the carne cruda (below).
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| Raw beef resembling an uncooked Wendy's shaped hamburger, no grazie! |
More photos from the truffle extravaganza below:
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| Italian man shaving truffles over fresh fried eggs (this was superb) |
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Highest quality Parmesan Region  |
Travelling with the Speers was truly enjoyable and we look forward to many more vacations with them in the future!
