In Old Bavaria

It’s that time again!

Sorry it’s been so long since the last blog, but things have been quite busy. I think I have about 3 weeks to catch up on (including Spring Break). So, let’s go!

Week 1:

One reason I have 3 weeks and not just two is because there really wasn’t anything worth blogging about going on this week. It was mostly just trying to finish up mid semester essays before Spring Break. Which mostly worked (Got 2 out of 3 done!). Other than that, nothing really to note happened. Just lived in the library, as often happens during these times. On to week two!

Week 2 (Spring Break Week!):

So for Spring Break, my plans went as thus –

Saturday:

Morning – Leave Edinburgh airport

Afternoon – Arrive in Frankfurt Hahn airport in Germany

Find Quincy and go to Heidelberg, GermanySaturday to

Monday: Spend the time with my friend, Quincy, from Redlands, as he is studying abroad at the University of Heidelberg.

Monday: Leave Heidelberg first for Munich, then a 5 hour train layover, then an overnight train ride from Munich to Rome, Italy.

Tuesday Morning: Meet friends from Stirling in Rome

Tuesday to Thursday Morning: Roam around Rome

Thursday: Train to Perugia. Spend the day and night in Perugia

Friday: Train to Bologna. Spend the day and night in Bologna.

Saturday afternoon: Flight back to Edinburgh.

So, as you can tell, it was quite the busy time, wandering from city to city. Or, at least, that’s what was SUPPOSED to happen. But we will get to that later. First, let’s start at the beginning.

The plane from Edinburgh to Frankfuhrt hahn was early in the morning, so I ended up staying the night at Edinburgh airport. This ended up working out alright, as I found two friends from Stirling who also had early flights leaving, and sat and talked with them. It was also convenient because one of them had a large travel book of places across Europe, and the travel book had a few phrases in different languages that were good to know. Needless to say, I immediately found German and Italian and wrote some phrases down in my notebook.

The flight itself was uneventful, however, upon arriving in Frankfurt, I did have a small panic attack, as I realized that I would be very limited in communicating with people. But I was lucky, as many of the workers in Frankfurt Hahn airport spoke English and directed me to the correct bus stop into Mainz, where I would be meeting my friend at the Hauptbahnhof (central railway station), and we would continue our journey to Heidelberg. Heidelberg, and apparently most of Germany, is well known for it’s environmentalism – so everyone rides bikes. It was really quite insane to see the number of bikes on the road and outside of buildings.

Bikes outside of the Hauptbahnof

Upon arriving in Heidelberg, we wandered around Altstadt (Old Town), which was absolutely beautiful – the classic, picturesque German town. Since I was determined to have a wurst of some sort while in Germany, Quincy brought me to a cute restaurant down a street just off the main square, where we indulged in Bratwurst and beer. Both were quite delicious, and I was most satisfied.

After dinner, we wandered up to the Heidelberg Castle. For some reason or another, no one was at the main gates, so we got in for free! The castle itself is quite stunning. It was first thought to be built around 1214!

Quincy and I also got a chance to wander around the gardens of the castle, climbing around the ruins like it was a giant playground. Almost makes one want to live in a Castle someday. We then headed back into Altstadt and ate this desert called Schneeballentraume. I’m pretty sure there is absolutely no way to possibly describe this desert – so here is a definition I found online which seems to suffice:

Schneeballentraume – strips of dough glued together in the shape of a ball and fried.

So there ya go. Then they add all sorts of delightful toppings, most notably, chocolate. They are quite delicious and filling. However, after a very long day, it was time to head back and be off to bed, so we could be rested for the next morning’s adventures.

Day the second!

The next day, we wander to the Zoo! Apparently the University of Heidelberg has a Zoo! And they draw people in by having an exhibit of White Brown Bears outside. Not polar bears. White brown bears. I didn’t know they existed, either.

After seeing those, though, we were sold and into the zoo we went. They had many animals that most zoos had, including farm animals, like donkeys and chickens and roosters. Apparently they like their farm animals. After the Zoo, we decided to hike up Philosophers Way, a giant hill/small mountain across the river from the castle and Altstadt. At the top, there were two ancient monasteries (or, well, the ruins to them, at least). One was St. Michaels, and I believe the other was known as St. Stephens.

St. Michael's Monastery

In between the two Monasteries is an amphitheatre that was apparently used throughout WWII, possibly for Nazi Youth Rallies, though I’m not 100% on that one. The views on the way up and at the top near the monasteries were really quite lovely, as we could see all of Heidelberg sprawled out before us. After this, it was time to wander back down the mountain, as Quincy had a test he needed to study for, that would be the next day.

Travel Day

Monday the 28^th – travel day! This was the day that I left Heidelberg. I first took a train into Munich and was able to spend a few hours wandering around Marienplatz – the main square, with the gorgeous town hall.

I don’t know if it is like this every day, but there were carts and stands EVERYWHERE along the road, selling nuts of every type, vegetables, fruits, and other things. It was almost like a giant Farmer’s market, but it seemed to natural that it may just be like that all the time. But then it was back to the Hauptbahnof to catch my overnight train to Rome! It’s off to the fatherland!!