I’ve finally made some time to write about my trip to Europe. It think I’ve been procrastinating on it because I’m preoccupied thinking about my next trip in the Spring.
The trip I took late last summer was for the purpose of my college friend’s wedding in Spain. I decided to go for about two weeks, and made my brother’s house in Heidelberg (Germany) my home base. My best friend, Diana, took advantage of having a free place to stay in Europe (along with the world’s best tour guides) and came with me! So we arrived in Frankfurt the morning of Thursday Sept 25th. I take full credit for our flight across the pond being the gateway drug to Diana’s newly found First Class addiction. I insisted we upgrade our seats and Diana loved it. She also instantly agreed that screaming children shouldn’t be allowed anywhere but coach class. After she experienced a spacious, peaceful transatlantic flight, there was no turning back. Traveling “Pig Class” would soon be a distant memory for her. (I should note that “Pig Class” is something we made up to make fun of ourselves, not others.)
D loved Heidelberg. I was nervous how she and Dave would get along, but she was a champ. She rolled with his punches and was able to give it right back to him. Where anyone else would fail and succumb to Dave’s antics,
Diana soared. Hence our trip was such a glorious success.
We spent several days wandering through Heidelberg on our own, stopping at any café that looked welcoming (which were many) and browsing eclectic collections in the shops along the main streets. We hiked up Philosophenweg (translates to Philosophers Walk), a huge winding trail with stunning views to reward you at the top.
The trip I took late last summer was for the purpose of my college friend’s wedding in Spain. I decided to go for about two weeks, and made my brother’s house in Heidelberg (Germany) my home base. My best friend, Diana, took advantage of having a free place to stay in Europe (along with the world’s best tour guides) and came with me! So we arrived in Frankfurt the morning of Thursday Sept 25th. I take full credit for our flight across the pond being the gateway drug to Diana’s newly found First Class addiction. I insisted we upgrade our seats and Diana loved it. She also instantly agreed that screaming children shouldn’t be allowed anywhere but coach class. After she experienced a spacious, peaceful transatlantic flight, there was no turning back. Traveling “Pig Class” would soon be a distant memory for her. (I should note that “Pig Class” is something we made up to make fun of ourselves, not others.)
D loved Heidelberg. I was nervous how she and Dave would get along, but she was a champ. She rolled with his punches and was able to give it right back to him. Where anyone else would fail and succumb to Dave’s antics,
Diana soared. Hence our trip was such a glorious success.
We spent several days wandering through Heidelberg on our own, stopping at any café that looked welcoming (which were many) and browsing eclectic collections in the shops along the main streets. We hiked up Philosophenweg (translates to Philosophers Walk), a huge winding trail with stunning views to reward you at the top.
One day we took a trip to Speyer, Germany- one of the country’s oldest cities. This day is the source of many jokes for us still to this day. Rob had to work, so he gave us very clear instructions on how to take the train, read the signs and have a pleasant day. He told us the main thing to see in Speyer was the church. It was apparently beautiful and enormous. He assured us that the train station in Speyer would have maps. So Diana and I disembark the train and realize, that no, the train station did not in fact have ANY maps. So we walk out the front door and find ourselves in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. There was no town center to be seen, no clear direction for us to head. Fortunately, Diana recalled seeing a tall church steeple as the train pulled into the station, so we headed in that general direction. We found ourselves walking through a residential neighborhood, feeling like we were not at all in the correct place. We came across a large church and remembering what Rob told us we wondered if this was the one. So we went up the steps and found a large garden area and some wooden play things. So naturally, unsure of what else to do, we played.
After deciding this couldn’t be the right church Rob told us about, we continued to walk. And along the way, we stopped in every. single. church. I’m quite sure Speyer can also be famous for having more churches than anywhere else on earth. None of them seemed nearly impressive enough so we carried on. Finally, after about 2 hours, we found what looked like a main street. We found the first café and sat down and ordered two carafes of red wine. The server looked at us quizzically and then at his watch. We realized it was 10:45 am. On a Wednesday. We shrugged and figured we were on vacation; we can start drinking in public at 10:45am if we damn well pleased.
After finishing our wine, we decided we were never going to find this elusive church. We got up to explore the town a bit more and in doing so, turned a corner only to find a magnificent church, crowning the end of the main road through a bustling town. How on earth we spent so much time in the wrong part of this small town still remains a mystery.
After deciding this couldn’t be the right church Rob told us about, we continued to walk. And along the way, we stopped in every. single. church. I’m quite sure Speyer can also be famous for having more churches than anywhere else on earth. None of them seemed nearly impressive enough so we carried on. Finally, after about 2 hours, we found what looked like a main street. We found the first café and sat down and ordered two carafes of red wine. The server looked at us quizzically and then at his watch. We realized it was 10:45 am. On a Wednesday. We shrugged and figured we were on vacation; we can start drinking in public at 10:45am if we damn well pleased.
After finishing our wine, we decided we were never going to find this elusive church. We got up to explore the town a bit more and in doing so, turned a corner only to find a magnificent church, crowning the end of the main road through a bustling town. How on earth we spent so much time in the wrong part of this small town still remains a mystery.