Stuttgart 2004 showreport

After a 7 hour drive we arrived in our hotel Waldgasthaus-Glemstal which is located in a very nice environment. It was a beautiful warm day and after checking in we could relax and enjoy a couple of Weiss Bier together with Benno and Charles (those Dutch guys 8)). We had dinner in the hotel and later met with LTC. Johnson, his wife Tink and Ken. Old stories were picked up again and we had a great time (and not enough sleep).

Saturday we were off to the show (15 min. drive) and were soon ready to find some gems...As always the show was very busy and fakes were omnipresent. Anyway, it's nice to walk the show and look at what the dealers had for sale (good AND bad). It  was the first time I saw Kai Winkler at a German show and he had some major stuff for sale. The last bits of Otto Baum were still for sale (cased Eichenlaub, cased Swcherter and Soldbuch). He had thé most DKiG for sale on the show. As always Weitze had a big stand near the entrance but didn't have big items for sale. Anyone noticed the Governemental dagger ?

Talked to a very nice guy from the UK, Peter Jenkins, who had a booth on the upper floor. He showed me a named SS pair of trousers he aquired recently to complete a uniform (should look amazing). Also had a cup and saucer for sale for 5000 euro, so it must be rare ! It was the coffee cup he ordered  this morning from the cafe next door... Very funny guy and what a great story. Talked briefly to Keith Cornford (he seems to be at every major show with his backpack).

As always a lot of guns (new and old) were available, Böker had a stand with pocket knives for sale (asked for a SS dagger but got a very funny look). Bought a small pocket knive instead and got a discount and a beltholder for free.

Soon it was evening and we drove back to the hotel (45 min. this time, got lost due to the failing GPS system..). Had dinner with TJ and company and went to bed a bit earlier than the day before.

After a six hour drive we arrived back home tired but glad to be back.