Day 3: Heidelberg (Eric)

Day 3: May 30th, 2019. Well, I lost steam to blog about our day in Heidelberg last night, but we’re on another train to Rudesheim, so I have a few minutes to write now. 

We got up early to catch a train to Heidelberg. I highly recommend a EuRail pass if you’re going to do any decent amount of train travel in Europe. It’s far more cost effective and convenient. You simply hop on the train to your destination with no need to purchase tickets, and as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, it can be tricky to navigate at times. 

Anyway, we arrived in Heidelberg and started walking towards the old town. We should’ve looked at taking local transportation because the walk to the scenic part of the town ended up being over a mile. This doesn’t sound too bad, but then our walking day really began. We walked along the longest pedestrian walkway in Europe (which is also about a mile or so I would guess). Then to see Heidelberg Castle, we had to climb a steep trail some 300+ feet. After that, we climbed another 300+ feet to get to the Philosopher’s Way Path (a paved walkway where you get some amazing panoramic views of Heidelberg). Despite being exhausted by the end of the day, I highly recommend a trip to Heidelberg if you’re anywhere near the area. It’s a magical place. 

Now, a few more details about what we saw on our journey through Heidelberg. Our first stop was at Heidelberg University where we visited the student prison. Yes, the University had it’s own prison for 200 years (1700 until 1914) which was used for unruly students (being drunk in public, releasing pigs into the streets, etc.), and a student could be assigned a day up to an entire month. It became a rite of passage for students to spend at least some time in the prison, and the students would leave their mark by drawing on the walls. Included in the visit to the prison was a visit to a lecture hall and a university museum. Both were interesting. I recommend the whole experience. Now pictures,

Next, we climbed the steep trail to Heidelberg Castle. There is also a funicular train which you can use to get there if you don’t want to walk. The castle’s grounds and structures are awesome, and the history of the place is amazing. I’m not going to go into detail, but if you’re interested, it’s worth reading about online. But I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves:

Our final leg of the trip (after lunch) was to cross the Old Heidelberg Bridge and climb to Philosopher’s Way. Both destinations are worth seeing and extremely picturesque: 

We found a bus to take us back to the train station which was a smart way to end a fabulous day in Heidelberg. I’m up to date for now. I’ll try to blog about today’s adventures a little later. We’re off to Rudesheim and a ferry ride up the Rhine. Take care. 

Day 2: Mainz and a night in Frankfurt (Eric)

Day 2: May 29th, 2019. We had a relaxing morning (still adjusting to the 7 hour time change). Once we got moving, we walked back to the train station to head to the town of Mainz.

This is where we encountered our first drama of this trip. We purchased at one of the automated ticket machines what we thought was a two-way ticket to Mainz and got on the train. Part way through our trip, we had our tickets checked by a rail line employee, and much to our chagrin, he informed us that we did not have the correct ticket. A second employee joined the conversation and a local was also trying to help, but he told us it would be 60 Euro fine for violating the law (not sure if that was per person). In either case, things got a little emotional, but we managed to talk the guy into simply allowing us to purchase the correct ticket from him for a little less than 30 Euro, avoiding the fine entirely. Crisis averted. What this incident taught me was that no matter how experienced a traveler you are, you can still make mistakes. 

On to Mainz, this town more than made up for the dramatic morning. We stopped at Adam and Eden, a breakfast spot near the railway station and had a relaxing breakfast. We arrived at the restaurant at 10:15 and realized they stopped serving breakfast at 10:00, but luckily, the hostess was kind to us and let us get the buffet. Jenny and I are not huge fans of buffets, but it was nice to sit and relax. 

Then, we moved on to the explore the town. We stopped by an interesting fountain on our way to St. Stephan’s Church. It was was designed to celebrate the Carnival Season and is “comprised of 200+ whimsical bronze figures.” Europeans love their fountains, and I must say, I throughly enjoyed this one too. 

Our next stop was St. Stephan’s church. We’ve visited a number of churches over the years, but both Jenny and I agreed that besides Notre Dame this church had to be the coolest church we’d been to. What makes this church unique is the interesting blend of traditional and modern design. Parts of the church are fairly old while more contemporary flourishes like the stained glass windows, designed by the artist Marc Chagall in 1983, created one of the more unique atmospheres in a church setting. This is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. 

Mainz is the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg, and so we had had to visit the Gutenberg Museum. This was a fascinating museum that had numerous exhibits about the history of the printing press as well as one of the famous Gutenberg Bibles. We could not take pictures inside the museum, but it was worth the 5 Euro admission cost to see the ingenuity of not only Gutenberg, but the human race. 

The trip to the museum was followed by a walk through the old town and a visit to Mainz Cathedral. The old town was charming, and even though the cathedral was undergoing renovations, it was still an architectural marvel. 

After an eventful and enjoyable day in Mainz, we returned to Frankfurt for several additional experiences. First, we went to the observation deck on the 56th floor of the Main Tower. This provided a 360 degree view of all of Frankfurt. It was interesting to see all of the sights we had visited the day before from a bird’s-eye view. Then, we went to an amazing restaurant called Bidlabu where we proceeded to have an exquisite four-course meal over the next two hours. The food was unique and absolutely delicious. While on our way to the restaurant, we ran into a lively street party with a huge crowd and DJ’s playing music. While not entirely our type of scene, it was cool to see, and the excitement was infectious. We thought it odd that so many people would be partying on a Wednesday night, but we later learned that the Ascension holiday is celebrated in Germany on Thursday, and it’s a national holiday. Anyway, I’m going to post some finals pictures and cut this short. We went to Heidelberg today, Day 3, and I’d like to create a post about that experience if I still have the energy. It’s fairly late local time. 

Day 1: Frankfurt (Eric)

Day 1:  May 28th, 2019. After a 10 hour flight, a train ride, and a short walk to our hotel, we had finally arrived at our first destination, Frankfurt. 

Considering we arrived at our hotel, the Adina Apartment Hotel, at 11:00 am local time, we were pleasantly surprised that they not only had a room ready but gave us a free upgrade. The room is very nice with the exception of the air conditioning unit which we’re not even convinced works. Luckily, the weather here is fairly temperate, so we’ve taken to opening our windows instead. 

After unpacking, we decided to explore our local surroundings, and Jenny as usual found an ideal location for this. Not only are we only a 10 minute walk from the train station, but we are a short walk from a number of the interesting sights in downtown Frankfurt. I’ll post pictures at the bottom of some of the highlights, but I’m happy to report that Frankfurt is another amazingly vibrant city that I’m glad I get to explore with my best friend, Jenny. 

We’re always joking with each other how we seem to find a new favorite place everywhere we go. I think it’s because we both embrace new experiences and cultures wherever we go. I’ve come to appreciate life’s little wonders and love being in vacation where we just wander and see what we see. It has been a fabulous trip so far. It’s 10:30 pm local time here, and we’re getting up early tomorrow to venture to Heidelberg, so I’m going to cut it short for now, but day two was even more amazing than day one. I’ll try to write about it tomorrow on the train ride. Hope everyone is doing well.