Hurrying to Heidelberg

Well before I commence the telling of a great day in Heidelberg, I have to tell of a horrendous night. Once again, the faster these next sentences are read, the more stressful the situation becomes even to the reader. So here we go. We arrived by boat in Bingen at 8pm and in the dark had to locate the train station. Once found, we were supposed to take a train from Bingen to Heidelberg (according to Rail Europe). No trains to Heidelberg. After confusedly asking for help, we had to take a train to Mainz. From Mainz we had to take an additional train to Darmstadt where in three minutes and to change platforms to catch the last train of the night to Heidelberg. That train put us into Heidelberg a little after midnight. Now for the Heidleberg Bus system. We were told to take Bus 33. Looking at the map, the Karlsplatz stop was the closest to our hostel. Yet after 20 minutes of bus driving and the city of Heidelberg behind us, we realized that the bus line did not stop there and all of a sudden we were pulled into a 45 minute loop, and we desperately tried to ask our German-only-speaking bus driver for help. He dropped us of somewhere near the vicinity of our hostel on the way back and pointed us in the right direction. The streets were completely empty and most of the buildings dark. We finally found our hostel, by now it was almost 1:00 am, and it was closed. Although we banged on the door, nothing. An older man on his bike road by and asked if we needed help. We explained the situation, he suggested us taking a taxi to the youth hostel across the river, which was open 24 hours. I was already on the verge of tears, exhausted, and did not want to pay for another hostel when we already paid for the one we had. As we were walking away, a man with his dog approached, asking us if we were looking for a place to stay. We said we were supposed to be staying at the Sudpfanne Hostel, but we were so late that it had already closed for the night. He said (in English—yay) that he was the owner of the Sudpfanne. My fervent silent prayers ever since the painful bus ride were answered. Gino, the hostel owner, unlocked the hostel, retrieved keys for us, and then carried my suitcase to our room, which was located in a cute building a few blocks away. Definitely believe God sent Gino to us. We went back to the main building twice during our stay in Heidelberg to look for him and say thank you, but both times, no Gino. I told Jason that of course he wouldn’t be there since he was probably an angel ;-). (I am only partly kidding). Ok, ok, enough of the rambling..

Waking up the next morning to get free (delicious) coffee and a butter croissant from the Café below our bedroom was a great start to what turned into a perfect day. The weather in Heidelberg was freezing, but the sun was out and it was beautiful. After viewing the magnificent Heigelsgeistkirche (located about 50 steps from our front door), we proceeded to the Alte Brücke and took some incredible pictures (or at least every picture where Jason and my cameras share the same subject matter, his pictures will be the incredible ones. Stupid Rebel XSI lol) All we did that day was walk the whole city of Heidelberg—from viewing the steeples and stone facades of the Jesuitkirche and Peterskirche (oh, the word “Kirche” is “church” in German) to walking the Hauptstrasse and making a few purchases (I bought boots!!!) to climbing the forest-laden hill behind the Altstadt (old town) and reaching the infamous Heidelberg Castle for a perfect view of the entire city at sunset. After a delicious dinner at Schmidt’s, where I consumed Estragonmistkratzerle (trying saying that ten times fast… or even once, for that matter) which ended up being white chicken and baby mushrooms sautéed in a creamy tarragon sauce over pasta and was delicious, Jason and I went on a long walk on the other side of the river where we were given a beautiful view of the cityscape at night. All said, that day rectified the previous night ☺.

Guten Abend everyone!