As I quickly found out, there wasn’t tons to do in Heidelberg. It seems the definition of downtown and places you have to visit is “a street with a lot of stores” – and not mostly unique stores, but stores that are in all German and French towns. This made me decide to hop on a train Saturday morning and go to Mannheim.
When I arrived in Mannheim, the first thing I did was go to the tourist office and – I GERMANED UP THAT TOURIST OFFICE!!!! I did really well with my German in that moment. I was able to ask for a map, and also ask what were the “must-sees” if you only had around 4 hours. And even better – I understood the response!
So off I went to see the “Wasserturm und Friedrichsplatz” (Water tower and Friedrich’s Place (park?)). It was nice, but they were setting up for Christmas, so things were a little under construction. It must be great in the warmer months because there are lots of fountains – which are turned off at this time of year in at least northern France and Germany it seems.
Then I walked down the big shopping street….
After that, I arrived at the Mannehim Schloß. As I learned by visiting the Schloßmuseum, “Schloß” doesn’t only mean castle, but also palace, which is much more fitting for this place. The part of the Schloß that is set up as a museum, highlights and displays the museum as, basically, a German Versailles. It was pretty neat. The part that was even cooler… is that the majority of the Schloß is actually used as the Mannheim University! So people actually go to class in this building! --> Well the movie isn't going to load... so if you want to see my little movie of this Palace... shoot me an email and I'll send it to you!
After the museum, it was time for a late lunch and I managed to stumble upon a popular student restaurant. It was pretty cool. They had special deals for students and oh how I love my student ID – discounts at museums and deals at restaurants! I had a nice pasta dish and relaxed.
I headed back to Heidelberg mid-afternoon because I wanted to make sure I got to go up to the castle (or higher) in the castle-tram at night to see the city. This was the first night I wasn’t too tired to do so! And… it was just my luck that the tram was only taking passengers to the castle if they had a ticket for the special event that was taking place there that night. Instead, I went to the Old Bridge and looked back at the castle and city all lit up and then sat on a wall near the bridge to relax (though it was pretty cold!).
I had dinner at what turns out to be a VERY popular restaurant and a bit fancier than I normally go to, but it was my last night in Heidelberg… I had to wait for a place to sit (this never happens) and then sat at a communal table (der Stammtisch!). I had… homemade salmon ravioli baked over a bed of spinach… That sounds great, right? By ravioli, they meant ONE ravioli. It was basically a filet of salmon with a spinach ravioli noodle on the top and bottom, all on top off a bed of yummy spinach, and there was a thin layer of cheese on top… It was very tasty.
After dinner, I trekked back to my hostel and packed up a little since I was leaving bright and early the next day.
Travel and lunch – Sunday, Nov. 13th
I traveled back to Saarbruck without any really problems. The train was a little late, but it arrived only 10 minutes late to Saarbruck, 2 minutes before my ride arrived – perfect. But... Here is the Heidelberg train statue!!!
The big thing of the day was lunch. Françoise and her family had invited someone over for lunch and a second person was joining us for dessert as well. Ben, Flo’s fiancé, did the cooking. He baked amazing Sea Bass and potatoes… it was REALLY good. I did a lot of listening – though not a lot of full understanding. I could understand what was being said, but the topic was always implied and often seemed too personal to ask about… I think lunch officially ended around 4:30... or so… It was quite the event.
Other than that, Françoise and I talked a little bit about planning for the next few weeks of school and I came back to the dorm to find out that Facebook and my MSN weather site have been blocked…
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