I live in Stuttgart now!

My blog has been silent since August because on August 14^th, I moved to Stuttgart, Germany to start a new job! I have been teaching violin and viola (but mostly violin) at the International School of Stuttgart since the beginning of the school year. My youngest students are in 2^nd grade and my oldest are seniors in high school, everything from beginners to really advanced players. Between that and finishing my dissertation (I’m Dr. Molly now!), it’s been a busy fall!

I haven't had much of a chance to explore the city yet between my job and finishing up at Rice, but these few pictures will give you a taste of where I live now. 

This is Schlossplatz, the central square in downtown Stuttgart. The big fancy building in the background is known as the "New Palace," which is where the kings of Württemberg used to live.

Schlossplatz in October

Schlossplatz is in the middle of Königstraße, the main drag of Stuttgart. Ben took a picture of this street performer on Königstraße one weekend in October when he came to visit:

Königstraße Balloon Man

I live up in Degerloch, which is a suburb of Stuttgart and is where the school is. It's a tiny little town, with one main street that has all the stores and everyone knows each other (it seems). Very different from living in Paris! Here is my street:

My street!

Up at the top of my street is a great farmer's market every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Ben took this picture of one of the stands in late October:

Farmer's Market

The market is right next to the old church in the middle of town that chimes out the time. At 7am in the morning, the bells ring FOREVER. Luckily, I can't hear it very well from where I live, but if I lived right next door, I think I would be annoyed to be woken up at 7am every morning, even on the weekends!

Church on my street

House with murals

Around the corner from me is this interesting house (-->) Apparently the neighbors think it's quite an eye-sore!

The grapes for the wine shop

 
And up the street is a wine shop that makes their own wine.






One night in the fall, I was walking to go to the U-bahn (the subway) when I noticed lots of people coming out of their houses and staring at something behind me. I turned around and saw dozens of colored hot-air balloons!

Hot-air balloons!

Now that my dissertation is done, I’ll have much more time to explore the city and write about it. In the meantime, here are two blog posts about France I wrote on the train to Stuttgart when I moved, but didn’t have time to post (one about Versailles, one about historic Montmartre). Ben and I also just took a trip to London, so that one is coming up, too. Stuttgart is also home to some great Christmas markets, so I'll try to get that blog up in time for Christmas this year!