Day 6 - Das Rathaus

 Day 6 - Wednesday, July 6

This was a very interesting day at school - it was Abi-scherz day, which is basically a Senior prank day! The students who just graduated had made a huge mess of the school - desks turned upside down in the classrooms and old school papers strewn all over the halls and stairs! Then they came around and had students from first block classes join them in a conga line - one student had a big boom box for the music - it lead to a big party in the gym.

After the 'große Pause' (big break), we were met by Frau Kramer, who is one of the English teachers. She went with us to the Rathaus (town hall), where we had a reception and tour and learned about the history of Stuttgart. The name Stuttgart comes from Stutte Garten, which means mare garden, because the city started as a horse farm that raised mares. The city of Stuttgart also owns its own vineyard and makes wine, which they serve at important events at the town hall. One of the highlights of the town hall visit was the elevator, called the Paternoster. It is an open lift that runs continuously in a loop - you step on as it goes past your floor and step out when it reaches your destination. It was a little scary for some of us, but everybody tried it!

                     

                

             

                       

                   

After the tour of the town hall, we walked around to see some of the buildings we had heard about. We went in the Markthalle and looked inside the courtyard of the 'altes Schloß' or old castle. Then we had some time to get some lunch and do some shopping on Königstraße, before we headed back for the day. (Dylan and Sam found a fun photo op location...)