Today started like any other day with a mission to find a new pair of Havaianas of course. As I was walking around yesterday, my favorite go to flip flops decided to finally give out. Needless to say, this made for a lovely barefoot walk along the streets of Stuttgart, Germany.

I chose to take myself on a little walking tour of the city to get a feel for the lay of the land and scout out some sights for the upcoming days. I enjoy getting lost in a city and seeing what one can stumble upon.

I did not find any shoes (I found shoes but not my Havaianas) but I did stumble upon city center where the New Castle is undergoing some construction but offers a great park area. I sat down to enjoy my coffee and had the following things happen:

– A crazy girl started yelling at me in German

– A nice Italian gentleman sat next to me to protect me

– The same Italian gentleman asked me out for drinks which I politely declined

– The crazy girl slapped an unsuspecting girl walking with her boyfriend

– The couple reported her to the police and the crazy girl was arrested

I continued walking to enjoy the beautiful weather and came across St. Maria Kirche. I did not go in but the architecture of the building was absolutely stunning!

Finally, I ended my day by fully getting lost but coming across a bookstore that sold books in English and picked up two new novels. I am plowing through my books and my hostel only has books in German.

Part of making travel easy and hassle free is not having to worry about huge bills or international transaction fees. I chose to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Since my entire next year is traveling abroad, this credit card offers no international transaction fees and double points on travel related expenses and restaurants. I will be racking up the points and cashing them in for some airfare in no time! The only downside is an annual service fee, but I decided the benefits outweigh the negatives by a zillion to one!