After Miya and I had such a great time together when she came to visit me in Berlin back in February, we decided I had to make a trip to see her in Heidelberg in the spring. Her birthday was at the end of April, so it was the perfect time to make my way down south to see the city and celebrate Miya's Geburtstag! My weekend plans quickly evolved into a week long southern German tour extravaganza, with stops in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, and Munich to see friends following my Heidelberg weekend adventures. I was so excited to get out of town and city hop down south!!
Friday right before I left for Heidelberg was super crazy, with so much to do before heading out on a mid-day train. I had to make sure everything was in order before leaving Berlin for 10 days, finish packing, and type up a response to several questions from my professor that was requested late Thursday night. I somehow managed to get most things done off my list and finally out the door with my rolling suitcase in tow. I made it to Lichterfelde Ost, with perfect timing to catch the train straight to the Hauptbahnhof. Within seconds of standing on the platform, a soothing german ladies' voice interupts the silence over the loud speaker to announce that construction was taking place right outside of Berlin, messing up the train schedules. The train would be a few minutes late. Not very phased by the message, I continued to wait patiently on the platform as more and more passengers continued to emerge from the staircase to wait alongside me. 5 minutes later I glanced at my watch, only to hear the same voice echo that now two trains would be late. But the third should be on time. Thank you for understanding. It will only be a few more minutes. Now the platform was nearly full and 25 minutes had past before a train slowly pulls up to the station. Perfect. Now I was going to miss my Heidelberg train at noon from the Hauptbahnhof. I piled into the Regional Express train with everyone else, trying not to be discouraged. But if there is one thing that will really stir up a crowd in Germany, it is having trains not arriving exactly on time. The train schedules are timed to the exact minute - always. So several people were having lively discussions on board of how they were all missing connections here and there. Some soccer fan trying to making to Mannheim were particularly upset. But I was going with the flow, glad that I had not bought my ticket yet and had some flexibility to work with. And I was on my way to start my southern tour!
5 hours later, I rolled into Heidelberg to be greeted by gorgeous weather, romantic views, a charming Altstadt, a winding river, flowers in bloom everywhere, and the birthday girl herself! I dropped my suitcase off in Miya's apartment, met a few of her friends, shared birthday gifts, then set off with 4 other girls for a birthday dinner of pizza and beer at this cute Italian cafe around the corner. Off to a perfect start!
After dinner, Miya and I wandered around the old part of the middle ages city to enjoy the views and see the city by night. Everything was really charming and inviting. We had ice cream cones, continued chatting, and then finished the night with DVDs.
Saturday came early, and we were up ready to run several errands, see more sites, and prep for Miya's birthday party that night. We were dressed and ready by 9 AM, searching for a delicious cafe breakfast followed by shopping. We had the student breakfast at the same bakery Miya had ordered her birthday cake from, and continued our day by foot to see the castle ruins, views of the city, the university, and browsing several shops. Soon enough it was already the afternoon, and we had all of our groceries and the cake back at the apartment for the evenings' festivities. Miya cooked a delicious meal, followed by a fashion show for the best outfit for the party, furniture rearranging, fruit slicing, and music party mix engineering. All was set by 9 PM, and the friends began to arrive. I loved meeting all of Miya's friends and spent most of the night small talking auf Deutsch (I was pretty proud of myself for holding my own in german - small talk is definitely hard in a foreign language!!) Miya lives in a special university owned apartment complex, that is a mix of foreign and german students - so it was also really amazing to observe the interaction of the Europahaus and how different each of the Fulbrighters' experiences vary from city to city. All in all a pretty spectacular evening.
The birthday girl with her cake outside her apartment
Vineyards on the outskirts of Heidelberg
A small fountain
The old bridge on the Neckar
Looking out onto the town from the castle ruins
Enjoying the sites
Miya smiles
The Heidelberg castle was destroyed by the French in the 30 Years War
Always some classic style sculptures
So pretty! I took almost 20 pictures similar to this one : )
The Martha Stewart party arrangements in place
The girls in black
The boys of the Europahaus
Bettina baked Miya a cake
Til wearing Miya's knitted hat and friendsMiya and I shared a relaxing Sunday after such a busy Saturday, strolling the Philosopher's Walk, taking in more views of the city, laying out by the Neckar, drinking a beer together in the square, and making a delicious dinner. Monday followed a similar vein, with more exploring of the university, shopping, and working a little bit over coffees (I brought along an extensive amount of reading...)
Me as a monkey!!
Standing on the bridge by the old gate
So many tourists in Heidelberg - I fit right in
Lots of gorgeous homes lining the river
On Philosopher's Walk
Making our way to the top
Enjoying the view!
