Heidelberg

    Not being an engineer has its perks – we got Friday off this week. So, Avery and I stuffed our bags and headed out to the train station after classes ended on Thursday to head to Heidelberg and Cochem for the weekend. The sole objective was to see as many castles as possible. Spoiler alert: we were successful. The train ride in alone we saw the ruins of at least a dozen castles and several other fully erect ones. After arriving in Heidelberg very late, taking a bus all the way across town, hiking up a hill in the middle of the night, all just to stay in the sketchy cheap air bnb we found… we finally could sleep. Oh, the joys of being a broke college student.

    In the morning we went back into town for breakfast! It was PHENOMNAL! Pretty to look at and even better to eat. However, Avery ordered a hot chocolate, which she insisted was just an espresso shot with chocolate in it which demanded a need for sugar. When she asked our server for sugar, he looked appalled and in the most shocked tone ever responded “is it not already sweet enough!? It is 75% pure chocolate!”. Both Avery and I died laughing as he reluctantly went to go and get the sugar – how much more American could we be.

    After breakfast we hiked up to the castle ruins. The views from the terrace were incredible and the pharmacy museum inside the castle grounds was well put together and incredibly interesting. It’s always a plus when there are good English captions to things as well! Avery and I got hot mulled wine (quickly becoming my favorite thing here) and walked around the castle grounds imagining what it must have been like to live when this castle was in its prime. After the castle we took a cog tram up the side of the mountain to the highest peak to look down on the city below us. There was snow up there! I enjoyed spending time at the station itself learning about how the cog works and the history of this technology and application of its use – maybe I should have been an engineer.

    We went back down in to the city and continued to walk around. Avery and I found just wandering around and popping your head in to various shops and churches is an enjoyable and rewarding past time. As we continued to wander we made our way to University Platz where we noticed red candles, mourning flowers, ribbons and teddy bears lining the stairs leading up to the university. Avery and I stood there staring at it entirely confused not sure as to what this was in remembrance of. We talked for several minutes discussing of any religious holidays going on, the possibility of it being a holocaust memorial, any cultural significance it may play. We were pretty stumped for awhile. Until it finally hit us. Heidelberg was where four students were shot and one tragically passed away just a few days prior to our arrival. We instantly felt awkward about enjoying our day, walking through the town joyfully, carelessly asking for student discounts on tickets all day long… we quickly moved out of the Platz.

    We had a traditional German dinner complete with Reisling from the Mosel valley itself. Best wine of my life. So so so so so good. I would come back to this region again just for the wine – too dang good. Avery and I also had some really fruitful conversation over dinner. Her and I both graduate when we get back and May and are both applying to grad school right now – living out very similar narratives. It felt good to talk to someone who gets it and laugh a little about the mess of it all.