Our trip to Deutschland is fast approaching! Lisa got her "informations" from Heidelberg that instruct her on where she needs to go and what she needs to do when we touch down, and that also included a nice map of the city. We decided to book a room at a nice little hotel in north Heidelberg on the day we arrive, rather than go straight to the University office for room registration. That way, after the ten-hour flight, trip through Frankfurt airport, and one-hour train (or bus) trip to Heidelberg, we can just crash, fall back and regroup. Then Lisa can be a bit fresher when she goes through the ordeal of getting her room assignment, room keys and other associated bureaucratic rigmarole. After reading about Heidelberg, I already feel as if I want to live there. We'll see how I feel when I see it in person!
My German studies are going well. I'm getting an "A" in my class, and can speak complete sentences and make myself understood...mostly. It's exciting but I still have many rough patches. For example, Lisa and I were out in a local cafe last Tuesday talking German with some of her classmates. They were asking about us and I said, or attempted to say, "Our life is boring." ("Wir leben ist Langeweile.") However, instead of pronouncing "leben" like this -- "lay-ben" -- I pronounced it "lee-ben" which is actually "lieben," or "love." Thus, I said, "Our love is boring." Lisa reacted suitably aghast and much fun was had at my expense. Oh well, I'll get better.
Once Lisa gets her room, (which should happen on Thursday, the day after we arrive) we'll have a few days before her classes start and we should be able to tour Heidelberg together. Part of the appeal for me will be to see many of the same sights Mark Twain describes in "A Tramp Abroad." Lisa will likely start classes on the following Monday. I'll be coming back the following Thursday, which will give me lots of time to poke around the town.
Then it will just be me and my brother in Portland until August. And THAT will be a whole other adventure!
5 comments:
Waitwait -- please do not say we are going to "crash!"
from Devon:
EGADS! My brothers on the loose in Portland for the summer. Don't worry argotnaut-- I'll chaperone. . .
Not sure how I came across your blog, but here I am.
The quickest way from the Frankfurt Airport to Hberg is to take the train to Mannheim and then the S-bahn 3 to Hberg (according to bahn.de.
Welcome to Germany.
Hallo, J,
Thanks for the tip. Lisa and I definitely planned to let Bahn do the driving to Heidelberg. It didn't seem like a good idea to try to drive there on the Autobahn at 140 kph in an unfamiliar rental car after a 10-hour flight and with no idea where the hell we were going. I hope we have a chance to take one of the superfast "tilting on the curves" trains at some point during our stay!
You probably mean the new generation of ICE trains, but I didn't know that they tilt on the curves. Riding them is great, you don't even get the feeling that you're going 200+ kph.
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