Heidelberg

It is very late. I have to give a presentation next Thursday and I have homework to do but my brain is doing everything it can to avoid productivity thanks to fatigue caused by oversleeping, something I never thought would be a problem.

Normally this one would be a video entry, given its location. I don't have time for anything other than a brief narrative and some pictures.

Saturday, the day between debitcardeatenbyanATMday and getnothingdonedespiteahugeworkloadday, consisted entirely of a trip to and from Heidelberg. The group that left Freiburg consisted of three IU students, a Minnesotan, and an Australian we met through the Language Institute pre-session courses. Arrival took three hours (between 9 and 12am), which passed by quite quickly thanks to our complementary senses of humor.

This is my happy face.

We met up with another Minnesotan at the train station and headed straight for Hauptstraße, which runs through the Old City and is a major artery in the city's shopping district. Our first stop was a cafe just off the main street, where we consulted the map and prioritized the sights we wanted to see.

We all agreed it is manly to engage in map-based debates. 

A funny thing happened on the way to the schloss - we ducked into a cathedral to escape the cold and spontaneously decided to climb the spire. It wasn't necessarily an unusual event, but it struck me as such because the whole procedure was eerily similar to my thought process when I climbed a church spire in Munich. I was left considering how much freedom is sacrificed when one travels in groups - in the case of this group, none.

Even though Heidelberg doesn't have a particularly pretty skyline, the view did not disappoint. There's something hidden in this next picture. Can you guess what it is? Look closely. Click the image if you can't see the whole thing clearly.

There's nothing creepy about this at all. 

Hint: it's the massive ruined castle. There is a ruined castle dominating the city of Heidelberg. Now, I think well-preserved castles, cathedrals, and abbeys are always awe-inspiring, but seeing a dilapidated hulk sitting halfway up that hill during an oppressively cold winter day is just too cool. And you know what's even better? There's a ruined castle dominating hundreds of Germanic cities. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love this place.

There was some kind of Christmas celebration going on in the castle. People had set up dozens of tents that advertised all kinds of things, and the air smelled like burning wood and glühwein, which is just about as festive as one could hope for. 

Up close it was very obvious that the castle was in pretty bad shape, which did nothing to make it less interesting. Actually ruined ruins have their own aesthetic standards, and this one did quite well on multiple levels, especially at punctuating the drained colors and generally muted look of Heidelberg in Winter. 

Germans take soul-swallowing bleakness very seriously. 

Astoundingly, we spent almost no time at the Weinachtsmarkt, which was our intended destination from the start. After the castle we were cold and tired and just wanted to relax somewhere, so we found a little pub on Hauptstraße and ordered some traditional German food.

I LOVE THIS COUNTRY

We ran to catch our train and left Heidelberg, arriving in Freiburg at midnight; simple as that. I could talk about our approach to solving riddles and everything we saw and discussed on our way back, but you really had to be there to get it.

I'll leave you with this: it is absolutely essential to travel with like-minded individuals, and by "like-minded" I mean "the same kind of crazy." There was nary an awkward moment, and everyone seemed naturally predisposed to being generally awesome in every regard.

I've included some extra pictures; depending on which blog you're reading this from, they could be either at the bottom of the post or scattered throughout. Click to view full-resolution.

-Jared Boze