Let me start this post by saying, if you thought the NC State Fair was crowded... come to the one in Stuttgart. Wow. That's all I can say right now, wow. I'll start this long story at the beginning. Oh, and this story will probably be in two parts, it's just that long :-)
Steven and I woke up around 10:30 and after much hassling, I finally got ready. Well, we got out of the house a little later than planned (gosh, I told him he was marrying a girly girl, so he was much forewarned, haha) and didn't get to the train station until 12:30. Oops, the train we were hoping to get on was scheduled to leave at 12:26. My bad. Here's where the hectic rushing around begins. Upon walking into the train station, we see blinking on the board (that states when every train is leaving), that the train to Stuttgart is delayed by 5 minutes. Score! So, without even thinking about how ridiculous I looked, I started running as fast as I could to the platform we needed to be at. I'm pretty sure I only literally stepped on 5 steps out of like 25 while running up them. Crazy, I know. Anyways, right as we are about to reach the platform the train pulls away. I hear Steven behind me reminding me that the train that we were watching leave, was in fact the train that we were suppose to be on. Oh well, there were other trains that would be leaving to go to Stuttgart today, we just had to wait a few more minutes. And, here's where the crazy day began :-). Steven and I are standing there... me huffing and puffing trying to catch my breath while trying to explain to Steven how out of shape I really am. I mean, who get's winded by running up 25 steps?! Well, I guess I do, haha. All of the sudden, Steven says, "Ah, look the Mexicans!" Yep, we had run into our Mexican friends... Ole! That's when we also realized that standing around us waiting to board the next train to Stuttgart where about 35 other people. No lie. Oh.. my.. goodness... Can I even count that high??? 1...2....3...4...5. Kidding.
After a few minutes of awkward eye contact, Steven was finally able to catch Enrique's attention. Which resulted in Enrique running over yelling, "Steven!" and everyone looking at us. Yup, his name is Steven.... and yes, we are Americans. Then began the awkward moment of Enrique going to kiss me on the cheek, me not knowing what he wanted a kiss back on the cheek (which is what people do here) or a hug, and me awkwardly hugging him while he kissed my hair. Insert mental note here - next time I greet someone named Enrique for example, remember to be polite and do the little kiss each cheek thing. After a few short minutes, we finally saw the train coming. Usually, in our experience, the people just stand there and when the train arrives, they walk toward the door. Oh no, not today. Before the train had even arrived, I started seeing all the 35 people standing along the platform walking towards me. Um..... am I suppose to be walking too? Enrique and Alex (the other Mexican) start saying, "Hurry, follow us!" So, just like them, we began briskly walking to where the train would stop. I stood there amazed for a few seconds trying to figure out why seeing 35 people rushing towards a train reminded of someone herding cattle. Thus began the fun task of trying to board a train with people walking off and people pushing me aside. Of course, the train was packed. Actually, packed is an understatement. It was crazy. I ended up having to sit in Steven's lap and every time the train jolted or turned, I about head butted Steven or the Mexican sitting near me. Classy, I know. After that excitingly short ride, we exited off it. You see, we really didn't know what trains we had to board, we simply knew where we wanted to end up. But, our smart Mexican friends did... so it was imperative that we didn't lose them. We left the 1st train and were casually walking when all of the sudden everyone around me was running. I mean, booking it. It was like they were being chased by something horrible. But this time, it wasn't 35 people it was more like 200. No exaggeration at all. Just imagine 100 or more cows trying to squeeze into a small door. Except, these people didn't need a prod just the promise of beer at the end. Well that was one fun, long, painful, ride. All of us ran onto the train and just kept running. We ended up running upstairs... into 1st class. When we realized that we were indeed in 1st class, we just started laughing. We're we planning on leaving? Oh no. We had about a 45 minute train ride to Stuttgart. Steven and I stood the whole time. However, I was pushed into a small corner behind a chair where I couldn't even put my head up straight. I'm sure people passed by thinking, "Oh, that poor girl she was born with a crooked neck", haha.
After a long and painful 45 minute or so ride to Stuttgart, we still had to board 1 more train. Joy. Upon arriving to Stuttgart's train station, I came to realize that not only had we and a few Mexican's decided to go to the fair today, but so had a couple of THOUSAND other people. Of course, we didn't have any idea what platform to go to, but after the help of some people, we found our way. I mean, half of the people there were dressed in the authentic German clothing, so all we really had to do was follow the authentically dressed people. The girls had on those cute dresses, and the guys had on the leather (short) shorts with overalls. I never thought we were going to be able to actually get on the train, that's how many people were trying to get on. I'm pretty sure that the train was so slow because there were so many people on it! Obviously, finding a seat wasn't even an option. We rode most of the ride with some stranger in our face. Good thing that was only a 5-10 minute ride. After a few more minutes, we FINALLY arrived to Bad Cannstatt - where the fair was. You guys, there were THOUSANDS of people there. I mean, imagine the NC State fair tripled. Steven and I both looked at each other and just knew that this was going to be a fun day!
Ok, here's where the second half starts...
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