Around the World: Heidelburg

April 5, 1992

Everything seemed to be going well this morning.  Enjoyed a filling breakfast and then caught a train headed to Luxembourg, which is opposite the direction I need to go to get to Heidelburg.  The detour wastes a little time, but rewards my mistake with some beautiful scenery.

Heidelburg is a picturesque place to wander through on my way to the castle.  The enormous castle is easy to find, situated upon a hilltop.  The ruins of the castle walls and turrets are decorated in foliage that make it difficult to take a terrible picture.

The castle was spared destruction during WWII because the city itself held no strategic significance other than the possibility of becoming an ideal military post after the war.  Built in the early to mid 13th century, the castle has been repeatedly damaged by lightning strikes, fires, war and time.  Work to preserve the castle was completed in 1890.  Finances limit ongoing restoration efforts to maintaining the castle in its current condition.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Creative Commons

From Heidelburg, I caught the train to Frankfurt.  On the way, I realized I had forgotten to collect my hostel card from the reception desk back in Mannheim.  This oversight means I'll be staying in Mannheim one more night.

I don't know why I'm having such terrible luck getting around lately.  Mannheim has this auspicious quality to it that keeps drawing me back to it, like a magnet. 

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"Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly."

~Edward Albee

Around the World: Stuttgart

April 4, 1992

I didn't sleep very good last night.  The wiener schnitzel from the train station vendor lost the war it waged against my stomach and was ejected quite effectively in the early morning hours.  Once digestive peace was restored, I was able to get some sleep and dreamed about being home and receiving gift wrapped pieces of chicken.

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My luck with trains strikes yet again as I start out for Stuttgart and end up back in Freiburg.  As soon as the train pulls into the station in Stuttgart, it starts pouring. To make the trip worthwhile, I seek shelter in a nearby pub and order "gulashsuppe" which makes me and my tummy very happy.

Not much else to do on this soggy day but head back to Mannheim.  Coincidentally, not only does the rain stop as soon as the train arrives at the station, but the sun starts to peek out from behind the clouds.

I met another hostel mate. John from Oregon is a food science graduate now working in Germany.  John knows of a pub and invites me to join him for dinner.  We join another group of three people we recognize from the hostel.  The music is good, the beer is great and the pub food is delicious.  Mannheim, where have you been all my life?

Made it back to the hostel exactly four minutes after evening lock out, but John and I were able to catch the desk clerk's attention and he very kindly let us in.

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"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered."

~William Shakespeare

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