Day 2: Heidelberg

After breakfast we drove to Heidelberg, about 20 minutes away. We went first to the Schloss (castle), built in the 1300s and occupied until the 1600s when the French destroyed it. The castle was partially restored in 1934. We took a guided tour which was conducted in English by a woman with a rather thick German accent who tried to be funny, but it was the kind of humor that makes you want to say, "That was so funny I forgot to laugh," if you know what I mean. Still, we enjoyed seeing the castle's royal sitting rooms, "Elizabeth's Gate" (an arch built for Elizabeth Stuart overnight as a birthday surprise), the private chapel, and the banquet room which is still in use today for parties and weddings. On our own Peter and I saw the schlossgarten (castle garden), the Grosses Fass (Big Barrel) which at one time held over 221,000 liters of alcohol (~60,000 gallons!), and the Apothekmuseum (Apothecary Museum) which was not very impressive.

After the Schloss we walked down the hill to the Hauptstrasse, the main walking street in Heidelberg. We had lunch at Cafe Journal, a French restaurant known for its collection of newspapers from around the world. Spargel (white asparagus) is in season in May, and the Rhine/Neckar Valley is a prime spargel-growing region, so the cafe had a special menu of items made with spargel. It reminded me somewhat of strawberry season in California. Peter and I each enjoyed a slice of spargel quiche, and I tried a Pilsner beer. I found out I don't like Pilsner; it's too hoppy and thus too bitter for me.

We sat and ate and talked so long that soon it was time for the 4:00 coffee. Peter had his coffee at the cafe while I continued nursing my beer, and when we finished we continued our walk down the Hauptstrasse. We stopped in a couple of bookstores and shops selling humorous t-shirts and cards which Peter translated for me. I love "bumper sticker" humor in America so it was fun to see the same thing in Germany. Still, Germany has its differences. For example, we stopped at a Bäckerei for some Amerikaner (Americans), rolls with either a white (weiss) or chocolate glaze on them. So you could get either a weiße Amerikaner or a schwartze (black) Amerikaner. Tasty but not politically correct.

From the Hauptstrasse we found our way to the Alte Brücke (Old Bridge), which provides a beautiful view of the Schloss. We crossed the bridge and walked up the stairs to the Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Walk), a road that in previous times was traveled by great thinkers like Goethe and professors from the university in Heidelberg. I could see how the eye-popping view of the Schloss and the city and the greenery along the walk would inspire deep thought. We sat down in a little park off the walk and talked about language and politics and I have to admit I felt so comfortable that at one point I said "here" when I was actually referring to Washington. Peter thought that was funny.

Eventually we went back down the hill and over the bridge to a bar usually frequented by university students, but it was early evening on a rainy Monday so the turnout was low. Still, it was a nice bar and I got to try Rieslingschorle, a glass of wine with water added. The idea is to drink it if you are thirsty so that you quench your thirst for water and alcohol without getting drunk. It was all right. After the bar we went to a small restaurant on the Hauptstrasse for schnitzel (fried pork cutlet) and potato salad. The atmosphere was very Old World German pub, but Peter said the food could have been better. Oh well.

After dinner we drove back to Mannheim and before bedtime we flipped on the TV and saw "Homicide." Dubbed. Do you have any idea how strange it is to see an inner city African American cop speaking German? Not only is it strange, but dubbing foreign films and TV shows robs people of the opportunity to learn the language and to hear or see the work with the original actor's affectations. End of lecture.

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