Oh Julia, is a small restaurant chain with locations in Mannheim, Munich and now: Stuttgart. According to the founder, its goal is to provide authentic and fresh Italian food and to spead the Mediterranian lifestyle.

The decor of the restaurant at DOQU is modern and industrial. You have the choice between self service and beeing served (if you want to be served, look for the sign that indicates the area where you want to sit down). When I was there, I chose self service and thus lined up at the bar.

They have a good selection of antipasti (that will even satisfy vegetarians like me :-)) and of course pizza and pasta. But meat and fish lovers will also find a dish to their liking as Oh Julia, also serves burgers, fish, chicken, sausage and more.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out their desserts! I can recommend the lemon tart! 🙂

When you order at the bar, you get a pager. You will have to put the pager on the designated spots on your table so that the waiter can find you and serve you your food.

For drinks, you have to line up at the second bar. That’s a bit confusing at the beginning and actually time consuming but that’s how it is.

I like the open atmosphere at Oh Julia, so it became a place where I go for lunch every now and then. Their prices are standard for locations in the city center I think and the quality of the food is decent. It’s definitely nothing for a fancy night out but a good choice for a casual lunch or dinner.

More information about:

Oh Julia,

DOQU

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This place has been around since the 70s – in those days it was known as “Bernd’s Lädle”. Ever since it has been an institution when it comes to French style breakfast and a cozy atmosphere. Even today, artists, students, business people, and freelancers meet at Academie der schönsten Künste.

Recently, I met my friend Julia there for lunch and I wanted to share my fond feelings for this place with you guys. Let’s have a look inside:

You fall in love with Academie der schönsten Künste right when you enter. Look at all the artwork on the walls and the ceiling! My favorite is the mermaid/fishbone that is hanging from the wall in the center!

In addition to all the art, they also offer a nice lunch menu. It comes with a side salad…

… a main course (of course ) – in my case pancakes stuffed with mushrooms:

… and a dessert! Hmmmmmm, yummy.

In summer you can also sit outside, at the back of the building. But I have to admit, I prefer sitting inside, in between all the paintings. Makes me feel like a little bit of an artist myself

More information about:

Academie der schönsten Künste (only in German)

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BIX Jazzclub is an institution in Stuttgart since it opened its doors in 2006. Regional as well as famous international musicians perform at BIX every week and this club also partner of several festivals and events like the jazzopen for example.

I went to BIX Jazzclub for the first time a few weeks ago with some friends to see the group “Soul Diamonds”. My friend Miri has seen them a few times before and recommended them strongly. And what can I say, she was right.

Soul Diamonds are what you call an “All-Stars-Band”, a combination of musicians with different backgrounds. They play well known songs but also impressive improvisations.

At that night, I fell in love with Fola Dadas voice and the magic, Klaus Graf can perform with his saxophone. What a great band.

If you want to see them, too, you’ve got the chance to do so at the 17th of April. Even though you won’t be able to get a table anymore(those are booked out within days!), normal tickets are still available.

More information about:

BIX Jazzclub (only in German)

Soul Diamonds (only in German)

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They have put up this huge screen in the courtyard of the Karlskaserne, so the ambiance it quite nice by itself.

But I noticed three things, I want to point out you guys…

1.) Reservations

Better be at the Open Air Cinema early. Because as we are Germans, we are very territorial when it comes to reserving seats… Yes. We even reserve seats at the cinema (at least when it’s an open air one) and if we don’t have towels at hand, we don’t mind using pillows, bags or whatever is present…

😀

2.) Don’t be astonished when you have to order popcorn in liters.

At least when visiting the Open Air Cinema in Ludwigsburg, you can be faced with this…

I ordered 3 liters but actually, I was a bit disappointed. I thought, I’ll get a bigger bag… But they tasted extraordinary good, I have to say!

So let the film begin! I am ready!

3.) You should not mind that they show only movies in German…

We watched Die Kirche bleibt im Dorf, which is a German saying that translates literally into “The church will stay in the village”. The actors spoke with Swabian accent which was quite funny to watch as you don’t hear our accent in movies very often 🙂

I checked their program and unfortunately all of the movies they show until the 11th of August are in German. So if you want to go, you should either understand German or be interested in listening to it…

But I can definitely recommend going. I liked the atmosphere of watching a movie under the dark sky of a summer night…

More information about:

Sommernachts Open Air Cinema Ludwigsburg 2013 (only in German)

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It was once planned as a one time event after the Bicycle World Cup in 1991. But as it was a great success, it became an annual thing. Until Sunday, 4th of August, you’ll find its white tents at Schlossplatz…

…but mainly in front of the opera house, all around the Ecksee:

As they are opening the festival this evening, not all of the businesses had their tents ready when we were there around 4 pm. But we were not hungry so it was no big deal. We simply had a fruit smoothie and were quite happy 🙂

We strolled around Summer Festival Stuttgart a little longer, but as it was such a lovely hot day today, I felt like a quick refreshment. And what do you have fountains for in Stuttgart?!

On the last pic you see me splashing water at Moritz, seconds before I noticed it’s my camera he’s holding… 😀

I have to admit, that the Summer festival Stuttgart isn’t my favorite festival in Stuttgart. It is a bit too posh for my taste. For example, here you don’t just eat pizza, you’ll have a  “Pizza Gourmet”!

True story! 😉

Plus, I always feel a bit sad for the ducks that live in Ecksee… Especially as they have babies right now…

On the other hand it’s nice to see the Schlossgarten with all the white tents and a festival is a festival and festivals are always nice to visit – especially when you have such great weather as we will this weekend! 🙂 So: Don’t mind my words and just go! 🙂

More information about:

Summer Festival Stuttgart 2013

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