Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Around the World: Mannheim

April 3, 1992



I left Freiburg today thinking I was headed for Frankfurt, but I got on the wrong train and ended up back in Basel, Switzerland.  The mistake ended up giving me more choices.  There's a place called Mannheim which is half an hour from Heidleburg, and the hostel in much cheaper.  Frankfurt and Stuttgart are only an hour away.

The hostel in Mannheim is only a ten minute walk from the train station, a short distance from the US military base.  While I waited for the midday lockout to end, I wandered around the hostel grounds and found a kitchen, complete with a stove!  It's such a treat to be able to cook my own meals instead of searching for cheap places to eat or living off sandwiches.  My hopes were dashed when the doors unlocked and I learned the kitchen is only used by the staff.

There's just enough time to get settled and maybe try some wiener schnitzel from the vendor at the train station.

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"People are lucky and unlucky not according to what they get absolutely, but according to the ratio between what they get and what they have been led to expect."
~ Samuel Butler