Wasserturmhotel Mannheim

... legend of the Nibelungs goes back to the 5th century, and was recorded in a famous epic poem in the 12th or 13th century. The word Nibelungen is transferred from a legendary race of Germanic dwarfs and their treasure, to the followers of Siegfried, and finally to the Burgundians which are portrayed in the poem. I believe I might have enjoyed this museum had I been alone, or with other literature nerds like me. But I was with medical doctors who have no background in ...

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 ...

... to my connection to Dieburg. Luckily for me, this leg of the journey was short and sweet through the German countryside.

All the trees are in full autumn color and the rolling hills are freckled with cottages and small villages. I was impressed at the number of roofs with solar panels. Also loved the charm of the ride.

Arriving in Dieburg i found a cab to my Hotel in nearby Munster.

... 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!

... in German, and I smiled and said 'Danke', being far too friendly so hopefully it annoyed her more. I could've tried out my 'dü bist schlämper' on her (you are a woman who enjoys the company of many men under questionable circumstances), but I think the humour would've been lost on her. She's the stereotypical German angry woman I had in mind ...

... Haus restaurant, where I had taken RT on his birthday in '04. I had Weiner Schnitzel, which was delicious and perfect for what I'd been looking forward to in the way of German food. John, the owner, remembered us because I had accidentally left a wallet with quite a bit of money in it that night at the restaurant. When I went back the next day they had saved it for me, so I gave the waitress a nice "reward". It made going back there during this ...

... and fast, allowing us time at each end of the journey to complete our housekeeping like mailing letters to relatives and stocking up on food suitable to be consumed on a first class train carriage. In Spain it was not considered unusual to eat French bread on the train and leave a few bread crumbs on the way. The northern European trains were more ordered with passengers showing a bit more self discipline. This was not the case however at the Amsterdam rail station. It was packed with ...

... the town is an old Roman settlement along a river. There was not much going on, but I can imagine in the summer it is a nice place to spend an afternoon. Heidelberg was a different story. It is very beautiful, also located on the banks of a river, and there were many people out and about. The city serves a US Army base, and so there are more tourists in town, but overall, it did not feel like a typical tourist trap. I walked the streets ...

... is really just another German city with the charmless storefronts and thousands of people who seem to be permanently on holiday strolling through the streets. Of course, it is a biggish city and therefore has everything on a bigger scale. I saw this fantastic 6-piece Russian band. They all played really weird Russian instruments in a lively Russian music style, wore furry hats (must have been sweltering) and black boots and belts with stars on them. They did Cossack-type dancing and ...