In Bruchsal we had to change trains before the last leg of our journey to Stuttgart. It was 7 pm, and by and by it was getting dark. Milloup stretched his legs, stretched his back and generally enjoyed once again having a lamppost on which to post a message. So he immediately and gleefully produced the most southerly "greeting" of his life so far.

At twenty past seven our train pulled up at the station, and we rumbled on the last few kilometers towards Stuttgart, while darkness fell on the country. It was a trip of only 30 minutes, but during this time we drove through more tunnels than we'd passed on the rest of the entire journey. It must be quite a hilly area!

We tumbled out of the train in Stuttgart's main station and had to find our bearings. First priority was to find a food vendor and buy some dinner to take along to the hotel. This accomplished, we went in search of our tram, line 15 towards Stammheim. I saw a sign saying S-bahn and thought that was it. We found a lift and was taken to the platform, but from there only lines 1-6 originated. About turn!

After a couple of enquiries I discovered that Stuttgart had both S-bahn and U-bahn, and that we had to go to the other end of the station to find our tram. At long last we found the right platform, and then I had to buy a ticket. There was a vending machine with a list of destinations as long as an arm, but fortunately they were arranged alphabetically, so I soon found Kirchtalstraße. Now we only had to wait.

Several trams passed, and they all stopped near the spot where we were standing. So when line 15 was announced on the signboard, I was in no hurry, merely let Milloup into his box. The sign did bear the additional information "Tief", but at that stage that didn't mean anything to me. Suddenly the train was there. Not in front of us, but some 50 meters further along the platform and down a few steps. I grabbed the box and went scuttling along as best I could. Fortunately, the driver seemed capable of recognizing a bewildered tourits on sight, so he waited politely while I threw myself and the box through the front door of the tram before he set off.

Gasping and wheezing I sank down onto a seat. Milloup regarded me quizzically from the depths of the box. He's been through quite a number of experiences with me during the years, but I bet that was the most bumpy ride he's ever had in his box. I didn't have a map, and I had no idea how far away was Zuffenhausen and Kirchtalstraße, so I kept both eyes and ears wide open. However, it turned out to be quite simple. A metallic-sounding taped voice announced all stops along the route so noone could be in any doubt as to where they were. We passed exotic-sounding places like "Prrragfriedhof", "Löwentor" and "Prrragsattel" as well as the more prosaic-sounding "Milchhof".

Finally the voice announced Zuffenhausen Rathaus, and the next stop was our destination. I got off, carried the box to the pavement and let Milloup out. With Milloup pulling eagerly we then turned right into a quiet residential street. First downhill, then uphill again we wandered. Milloup was placing his advertisements for the benefit of the local fourlegged residents as we worked our way forward. Finally we reached Spielbergerstraße, and there, just across the street, was our hotel, the Keinath.

First on the agenda was some food and water for Milloup, and while I dug this out of the bag, Milloup tested the bed. It seemed to pass muster.

And then it was time for the last walk of the day. We left the hotel and strolled up Spielbergerstraße. It turned out, that Milloup had chosen a dead end street. Where the street ended there was a tall fence, and high above it a carriageway rested on solid pillars. The cars were whizzing past up there, but where we were standing it was peaceful and quiet. To the left of the street were a few two-family houses, to the left a fairly large field. As I didn't know the area, Milloup had to make do with walking on a lead that night.

After our brief outing we collapsed in front of the TV, but after a long day it was soon bedtime.

27 August
Next morning the alarm sounded at 7. We made another quick outing up the street, and this time in broad daylight Milloup was allowed to investigate the field on his own. Behind the field was a cluster of garden houses, so all in all it was a quiet corner of the city.

The bag had already been packet the night before, and breakfast was to be purchased and eaten on the way, so we were soon ready for departure. Now we knew the route to the tramline, and Milloup religiously inspected the advertisements he'd made the night before and renewed any that needed renewing.

When we reached Kirchtalstraße we turned left and followed the rails towards the city center. A little down the road there was a bakery, and fortunately it was open, so I bought some provisions. The weather was nice, and we had plenty of time, so we continued along the street, past the town hall and onwards along the tracks. That way we couldn't get entirely lost, was my philosofy. Further along the street we found a tiny park with some benches, and we sat down to allow me some breakfast. Milloup was an interested spectator and - as always - quite ready to help the moment I needed help with some chewing. He wasn't kept entirely out of work..

We found the tram stop and sat down to wait. At long last the tram showed up and we climbed aboard. At Pragsattel we had to change for the number 7, the only tram to go up to Killesberg where the show was taking place. And I do mean up. Round a couple of hairpin bends and through a tunnel, and we were there. There was nowhere to get lost, Killesberg was the end of the line.

From there we had only to follow the stream, and soon we were outside the hall. Outside a large number of foreign flags were fluttering in the breeze, including a Danish one. This greeting pleased me a lot, especially when I found out later, that Milloup was in fact the only Danish dog to have ventured this far south. Consequently, the flag was there in his - and only his - honour..

Once the inspection of our papers had been completed, we entered the show area. It was a huge place. I checked the catalogue and discovered that we were to go to ring 7 in the hall that contained also the big show ring. This hall also contained a lot of stalls selling any dog item under the sun, so there was plenty to look at. Upon reaching our corner of the hall I found out that some change had taken place, we weren't going in ring 7 afterwards, Longs would be judged in ring 6. Instead we were next to a door leading to a covered area where the dogs could be walked, and a short walk up a steep ramp soon brought us to an outdoor area that even had little tufts of grass on which to pee.

Judge Jeanine Bandel had only 35 dachshunds to judge, so she had plenty of time to inspect every single one of them in detail, and she did exactly that. Milloup alternated between spells inside the box and outside, but at 1 pm I could feel that he was growing tired of marching on the spot like this. So we took yet another ramble through the show area, and this helped raise his spirit a little.

Finally, towards 2 o'clock, it was our turn. There were two working dogs in this class, and our competitor was a nice, fairly big youngster of a type which - at least in Denmark - is often preferred to Milloup's type at shows. His name was Salino, and according to the catalogue both his parents came from the "Naits" kennels. I think this may well have been a mistake for the Swedish "Nuits" kennels, at least he ressembled those dogs.

Milloup was to go first, and it now became evident that he was not in his best mood. He walked, but on a lead as tight as could be and so far behind me as he possibly could. There was nothing to be seen of his usual, spirited heelwork here.

Then it was Salino's turn, and afterwards both at a time. Milloup still appeared tired and dispirited, and I was beginning to resign myself to the thought that today was not his day. Then the judge announced that since Salino's back was not yet quite firm Milloup was the winner of the class. After this a group of 4 open class dogs was judged, and then Milloup was up against the winner. This brought nothing, but the main thing was that Milloup won his third German CC so he's now only one CC from a German show championship.

That was it, we were through. Now we must only wait for the papers to be handed back, and this would take place around 4, so the officials. In the meantime Milloup and I made yet another walk around the area, this time looking for a place to buy some food. We found a sausage vendor and some sausages and money changed owners. I felt we had earned that, and then we found a secluded corner and sat down to share the spoils.

Walking back to our things we passed the show ring, and I noticed that a group of people from the local branch of the dachshund club was just giving a performance of obedience work. We just had to see that. Many of the things shown are things that Milloup can also do, but others we hadn't seen before. Especially impressive was when all the dogs were marched indian file up a board and onto a narrow plank raised some 30 cm above ground. Then they were told to stand still - and did so. All in all an inspired and neat performance.

After a hot walk of about 2 km we returned to the hotel, and now we could finally relax for good. Nothing remained to be done, until we had to catch the train the next morning. I had bought a couple of newspapers, and there was TV in the room, so we lay arm in arm on the bed and made merry. Just one little walk outside before bedtime, and soon we were sleeping soundly.

28. august
Our train would be leaving the Stuttgart Main Station at 8.11, so we got up already at 6. In order to give Milloup a good walk without me having to toe the line carrying all our luggage as well, we set off towards the field and garden houses at the end of the street. Then we collected our belongings from the room, left the key in the reception and set off up the street towards the tramline. I was hoping that the baker's shop would be open, but no such luck. Instead we took a tram to the central station.

At the station everything was already open, and people were milling about. Milloup waited patiently in his box, while I did some shopping. I always selected shops where I could keep my eyes on his box at all times while waiting my turn to pay. Next item on the agenda was to find a billboard listing departures, so we could find the right platform. For this we had to ascend to a higher level, but then we were there - and with plenty of time to spare.

When the train arrived it turned out that my reserved seat - number 75 - was in the middle of an open compartment and with nowhere to put Milloup's box. And no empty seat next to seat 75, either. Instead I grabbed an empty seat close to the luggage compartment, and when the owner of that seat turned up, I asked him to swap. Fortunately, he didn't have anything against this arrangement. Our immediate neighbours were nice, dog-loving people, so soon Milloup was out of his box and perched on my lap. The trip was not a long one, either, 40 minutes and we were in Heidelberg.

The train arrived, and we found our seat. For the time being there was plenty of room.

The train was filled to overflowing on most of the 3½ hours' leg between Frankfurt and Hannover, so Milloup had to stay under the seat. Despite this he did, of course, receive his fair share of my lunch. Finally, at 13.52, the train arrived in Hannover. Here we had 1 hour for legstretching and purchase of some edibles for the remainder of our long journey. In order to avoid a repeat performance of our troubles on Saturday, I quizzed the train attendant closely as to from which platform our northbound train would be leaving. Platform 7, he said.

Then we marched out to look for suitable places for Milloup to put his mark on the city. We walked around the train station, but I didn't want to get too far away for fear of not reaching the train. So instead we sat for a while outside the station and admired (at least I did) the nice system of fountains set up there. Returning through the station we bought some sandwiches for later consumption, and this led Milloup to walk with his nose glued to the plastic bag containing our new and enticing-smelling acquisitions.

At 14.55 we found ourselves once more seated in a train and rolling northwards. Now we were almost on familiar ground. Celle, Uelzen, Lüneburg and Hamburg-Harburg whizzed by, and then it was Hamburg Hbf. There the train made a 10 minute stop, but as it isn't such a good idea to pee in the railway station, we stayed in the train. Anyway, only 2½ hours remained before we reached Padborg where the train always makes a rather lenghty stop. Padborg offers some very good facilities for dogs right along the platform where the train stops.

As the train gradually worked its way northwards, the weather grew progressively darker, and this wasn't entirely due to the fact that evening was closing in. In Padborg where we stopped shortly before 7 it was still dry. Milloup did what a dog must do, before we finally entered Denmark. One hour later, however, we found ourselves somewhere between Lunderskov and Kolding and in the middle of a horrendous rainfall. No doubt about it, we were approaching home..

In Fredericia there was the usual problem with the onward connection. Arrival at 20.41, but departure towards Århus wasn't until 21.07. While waiting we met a young guy who was homeward bound after travelling by train for two full days all the way from southern Spain. In comparison we didn't have anything to brag about..

Stuttgart travel diary, part 1

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Updated on 14-8-03