Hotel Ifen Heidelberg

... poetry, so I was rushed through. The truth be told, even I got bored after an hour of Nibelungen lore.

Before heading home, we all stopped at a local bakery to get a hot drink and a pastry. The décor was pleasant, but the deserts left much to be desired. Tracy pointed out the fruit flies covering a crumb cake of some sort in the display case – one to be served to customers. There is no way the employees did not know; fruit flies on food must not be ...

Well...this time honestly I didn´t have time to make travel list or structure my backpack. After finishing my PhD graduation there was time onyl to celebrations and party (since the last months I rarely had much time).
Heidelberg is ...

... be proud; I think time almost stopped in the Christmas store. It was so sparkly and festive, a very happy place.

I wisely saved Philsophenweg for the next day, allowing a little rest from the stair master treatment. The path starts with a monkey guarding the old bridge, which was mobbed by Japanese tourists snapping photos every time I passed by. The mobs thinned to a trickle by the end of the bridge ...

... ourselves a little parking ticket for forgetting to put money in the meter. Luckily we have no idea how to pay it and well we "lost the ticket" so oops!

We got a nice little hotel in Frankenthal which was a little over budget but luckily had a kitchenette in it so it saved us money on food. That night we dined on stir fry and Chris made a great bacon and eggs breakfast in the morning. Worth it!

Then it was off to see my Mum in Mainz! Yay!

... medieval Germany to see castles! umm....change of plans. So after seeing the great cathedral of Speyer this morning (where Martin Luther began his great Protestation), we're heading to Wally World! And we're gonna have so much f**king fun we're going to need f**king surgeons to get the f**king smiles off our faces. (bonus points to whoever knows where that classic quote comes from. Anyway)

cheers all

... into the university library that we passed. We were able to charge the laptop but no Internet…the university building was worth a look, though. Since it was only about 9pm we decided to drive a bit further south along the Rhine River to our next town. Unsure about where we could freecamp, we got off at the next biggish town in hopes of finding a good spot but it was just too busy.

Back onto the autobahn, which was extremely scary as Fred ...

... when it was safe to cross, they had green bikes, too. Cute. So I walked and made note of a grocery store along the way for dinner. I found the old town just where I thought it would be, so I was off to a good start. I decided to just kind of get oriented to the town this night since I still had one or two days (depending on how brave I was on Thursday) to see all the sights. I found the squares and churches. I found the old bridge and walked out on it, and across it. Then I found ...

... she eventually found someone. She did so, and luckily did find someone. I know exactly where I would have told him to shove that idea. A group of us later gathered in a café and watched the interest, all having declared a mutual disinterest in wherever we were. Bad travellers, I know. But by gods was I tired, and just reaching that point where you are either about to reach the zen state of acceptance of all those around you, or you're going to murder them.

... each) in hopes to fit everything. It was a nice thought... but again, we are out of space (go figure) and a third piece of luggage would be ridiculous...but perhaps necessary? NO. Maybe just strategic packing.. Yes. thatis it. Well find a way. ANYWAY. Stuttgart is also home to the (apparently) very cool Mercedes Benz museum... um, which we DIDNT see.. we ran out of time. ... LAAAME. Yesterdays agenda consisted of a trip to Manheim ...which was short ...

... I didn't gain so much weight on this trip, with all the eating we did, but back then I was young and thin, and I weighed exactly the same when I returned home as I did when we left. Laura and I always situated ourselves on the bus where we could look at and discuss Antonio (Francesco.) That morning we drove through a forested region that was the setting for "A Bridge too Far." That seemed to mean something to the other people on our tour, but I had never heard ...