One of my sisters told me that she had a friend staying in Heidelberg. After some chit chat on facebook, Melissa and I decided to meet up for a day was wandering around the castle. I was a little bit worried about finding each other at the train station, but it turned out not to be a problem.
We went to the Heidelberg Castle, which overwhelmed me. Sean told me that after seeing Heidelberg, he just didn’t really want to see anymore castles after that. I have to agree. Even after meandering for a spell, the jaw-drop factor didn’t really dissipate. (The rest of the pictures can be seen at the link at the bottom of the page.) And it kept getting better. Turns out that concerts are held there and even (I’m excited about this) Nosferatu.
*Nosferatu is one of my favorite films. It is a rip off of Dracula, with a few minor differences. A live orchestra provides the music for the movie,
After touring the castle, Melissa and I went for lunch and beers. Heidelberg is a nice place just to walk around. There are dozens of interesting shops, almost as many places to grab a bite, and street performers. After discovering that we both had a love of hookah, Melissa and I found a cafe where we could enjoy hookah, beers, and the music of the nearby band. We got to do some people-watching and talk with some other Americans who sat next to us (they were military kids who did NOT was to leave Europe)
Later, we purchased some pastries and went down to the river. I cannot imagine a more relaxing place. I made a mental note to return and rent a kayak.
Then I hopped on the train back to Ramstein. In Korea, I’d picked up the habit of falling asleep on the subway. However, falling asleep on the high speed train is not a good idea. I missed my stop (woke up just after we were pulling away from my stop) and ended up a stone’s throw from the French border. All that would have been okay, except for the fact that I’d left my passport on the dresser. As I got on the train going the right direction, I noticed that the police were coming by checking everyone’s passports. Funny enough, I didn’t really worried about getting hassled by the German police (who do NOT have the reputation of warm and fuzzy kittens), but rather the phone call that I’d have to make to Sean. I imagined hanging out with 
friends years down the road and the story getting brought up again and again and again. Fortunately, the train served, causing one police officer to fall into the seat across from me. He got up laughing, his buddy teased him. And while they were bantering, they completely overlooked me. I peeked over the seat after they had passed. Everyone’s passport had been checked, save for mine.
After that, I just wanted off the train. Instead of waiting for the train to take me to Ramstein, I decided to get on one that would take me to the next town over and walk it from there. There are bike paths between the towns and the walk was pretty. Overall, still an awesome day.
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| Heidelberg, Germany |
Honestly, now. 