switzerland- here we come!

After a whirlwind last day at work (which included a stressful presentation in front of 30-40 people) madre rescued me right on time and then helped Brian and I load the car with our excessive luggage. We convinced her to drive the 76 route instead of SW Philly back streets (can you blame us for just wanting to get there as quickly as possible?) and soon we found ourselves at Gate A19 in the international terminal of PHL. Our gate was conveniently located next to Chickie and Pete's so we stopped in for lunch where I had to field a few more work calls before vacation could officially begin.

Our flight to Frankfurt was delayed about an hour...once in the air it was relatively smooth - minus the 2 screaming babies a few rows ahead of us! I watched "Tree of Life" (so strange) and Brian watched "The Descendants"...we tried desperately to sleep but the babies and the guy behind me studying with a spotlight over my head prevented us from getting any more than an hour. It was around 7 am when we landed in Frankfurt Germany to 42 degrees overcast, cloudy weather...

We made our way to baggage claim, breezed through customs with the official Polizei and found an ATM to withdraw some euros...headed over to the train station and luckily the next one to Heidleberg was leaving in 8 mins...we hurried over to the 'long distance train' tracks and climbed aboard. (mental note- don't bring more than one rolling suitcase next time). We had to switch trains about 20 mins later, thank God Brian was paying attention! And then we accidentally got off the train one stop early...caused a minor delay but we were able to catch the next one in less than 10 mins.

We got to the Arrival Hall in Heidleberg and Brian bought a fresh cinnamon croissant for us to share while we waited for Patrick- Yetta's boyfriend who kindly took off from work to pick us up and show us around town. He arrived a few minutes later in the tiniest car I've ever seen. He put us in a cab and we followed him a few blocks to his place...a very bright apartment on the 3rd floor of a spiral staircase (mental note- next time bring a backpack).

His apartment was big with hardwood floors, high vaulted ceilings, a cow hide rug (that matches the one in Yetta's place we would later discover) and every door had an old fashioned key lock contraption. He got us settled in and gave us "blankets" (towels really) for a shower. Each sink in the apartment had its own mini water heater. Patrick brewed us some coffee with freshly foamed milk and then ran out to the organic market (with the very organic people he would later complain about) to grab breakfast foods...

The shower was hot and lovely. By the time I was finished Patrick was whipping up scrambled eggs (they come in crates of 10 here) with sheep's milk cheese, grape tomatoes, and German poppy seed bagels...delicious. I tried to help clean up but he wouldn't let me so I beat Brian to the couch for a quick nap...

We woke up at 1pm and loaded his friend's car (he exchanged his miniature one for the day) with our luggage. I squeezed into the back seat and we drove off to Heidelberg Castle. The houses were large with external blinds that come down and completely darken the rooms(Jul- you would love them!). The best way to describe the architecture here would be to imagine those Christmas village houses that light up...I felt like I was in one of those scenes surrounding Santa at the mall :)

Many people bicycle here and the bike parking lots seemed larger thancar parking lots! The castle was built in the 1200s and Patrick informed us that some of the stone in the crumbling sections was actually purposefully removed during WWII...check out Brian's photos. More tomorrow. I am up for 36 hours now and need a real night's sleep!


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Location:Heidleberg, Germany