Although I planned on sleeping during the
flight over, I was way too excited to even consider it. I flew over with some other UMass exchange
students, also studying abroad, and who got immediately lost with me upon entering
Frankfurt airport. We finally navigated
our way through customs and towards the train area where some locals kindly helped
us purchase our tickets. Taking a rest
to get some breakfast, we each got Schinkenbrötchen
and beer, because what else would we want for our first German meal? We felt a little weird about the beer, but
when we sat down we realized we weren’t even close to the only ones drinking
beer at 7:30 in the morning, and I knew I was at home.
Heidelberg is the perfect mix of
fairy-tale township and modern small city.
It is incredibly scenic and historic, yet has all of the conveniences
and stores for comfortable everyday living.
I’ve realized that the magic of Heidelberg is not just experienced by
tourists, and I’ve found that many Germans, Heidelbergers or not, find it to be
a special city. A trip to the famous
Heidelberg castle or “Schloss” or up Philosopher’s Way will provide you with
stunning views of the city. The castle
can either be reached via a quick few euro tram ride, or a slightly arduous yet
doable walk. Philosopher’s Way is also a
great, steep, walk or run depending on how much you’re trying to sweat. Its name is such because of the many
professors, philosophers and poets that strolled the footpath enjoying the
peacefulness of its natural beauty. At
the top there is also a cool World War II era amphitheater that has fallen into
disarray, and the old St Michael’s Monastery.
Although some internet research could give you some good info, looking
up a cheap tour guide might not be a bad idea.
Although it’s not totally necessary, someone that knows the area can
have some really interesting tidbits that you might not find online. Some of my Sprachkurse peers and I were
fortunate enough to have a free tour of the Altstadt and the castle.
View of the Altstadt from the castle.
The Schloss in all of its glory.
Heidelberg already feels like a hometown,
but my first few days here were only manageable with a multitude of maps and
the combined brainpower of four traveling college students. After getting off the train in Heidelberg we
decided to try and walk our way to the “Jugendherburge” or the youth hostel,
since we couldn’t really figure out the bus.
We got there, put down our stuff and immediate all fell asleep. That night we went out to explore the town
and ended up getting some food at the first bar we saw; an Irish bar called the
Dubliner. We didn’t do much exploring
after that because it was a Sunday and the area was dead so we headed back to the hostel. When
we got back we heard music and laughing outside so we ventured over to what was
the rugby clubhouse for the famous SC Neuenheim team. They kindly offered us beers and food and we
listened to Spanish ska music while we talked and grilled. Only two out of the group of people could
speak English because most of the other players had been recruited from
Paraguay. I got to practice some Spanish
and was amazed how the two English speakers were multilingual. I figure that must be the most convenient skill to acquire.
Messy room, but that light!
The next night was rather uneventful
because we had our German language class placement test in the morning. After the placement test I decided to try and
do some food shopping and general exploring of the city. I got off the bus at Bismarckplatz in the
center of town, only to find that all of the stores were closed. Then it dawned on me that today was Carnival,
the German equivalent to Mardi Gras. Not
wanting to just turn around and go home, I followed the music and crowds down the
main street, or Hauptstraße. It was
pandemonium. Music and cheering seemed
to come from everywhere and you couldn’t travel against the flow of people even
if you’d tried. Still barely knowing
where I was in Heidelberg I managed to find some friends and acquire some
beer. As a side note, the fact that you
can legally publicly drink in Germany is a huge game-changer, and one of the
most underappreciated difference between Germany and the U.S. That day I made some new friends and at night
we explored what we would later come to know as Unterestraße, a small street
off of Hauptstraße that is almost entirely made up of bars and small clubs. The area was packed with people in costumes
and face paint. Needless to say, it was
a good way to kick off my German experience.
Hanging with some Carnival folks.
The next day we found out which language
level class we tested into and we began our first day of Sprachkurse. I tested into the beginner level which was
A-Okay with me considering my super limited German language skills. Sprachkurse was one aspect of the Heidelberg
study abroad program, which I completely underestimated how great it would
be. It was essentially a four weeklong
crash course, meant to give students instruction on the German language. It was great to refresh my German skills, but
possibly the best part was Frühstück,
breakfast served every day during our language courses. It was great, not just for the obvious reason
that it was a break in class to get food and coffee, but it was the perfect
opportunity to meet people from around the world who all wanted to meet other
exchange students. I realized that other
programs’ Sprachkurse didn’t have this so I’m thankful, as many of my good
friends here I had met during Frühstück.
In one of my first weeks in Heidelberg, I
went to a classical music performance in the Alte Aula. The group placed pieces from Wolfgang A.
Mozart, Antonin Dvorak, and Max Bruch with a short intermission before the last
symphony. One of the key performers was
piano player Wolfram Lorenzen, who was unbelievable, and was my favorite part
of the act. My mind was blown. In such a beautiful old venue, I felt like an
18th century nobleman sitting, listening to the best performers the
region had to offer. The music added
with the historical charm of the auditorium made one of my first events in
Heidelberg a truly memorable experience.
Pre-performance shot in the Alte Aula.
The Maestro himself.
A big reason why I decided to study
abroad in Heidelberg was to do a lot of traveling. One of my first trips while abroad was to
Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is only a
2-hour bus ride from Heidelberg, and with 10 Euro bus tickets it’s definitely
worth the trip. The first objective of
our Strasbourg trip was to see the cathedral.
Pictures do not do it justice. It
is still one of the most breath-taking sites I’ve ever witnessed. The amount of attention put into
every corner of a building that size is astonishing. Every square foot of it is covered with
detailed sculptures and engravings. The inside is equally amazing, and for a
couple more Euros you can climb to the top for an amazing view of the Alsace region. Just be prepared to break a sweat. It was the tallest building in the world for
almost 230 years and it’s a bit of a workout to climb it.
Behold.
A pipe organ fit for a villain.
One of the alters, I believe caged in because of all the golden trim.
Just walking around Strasbourg and taking in
the old architecture was interesting. After a day taking in the sights, we headed out at night to a couple pubs and eventually found ourselves on boat that doubled as a bar. The next day we had a lot of time to kill so we did some more exploring. I
visited the Alsace museum with a few people and learned a bit about the lives of Strasbourg
residents, going as far back as the late middle ages. After we got our fill of the museum is it was time to head home.
Rhineland style timber-framed buildings.
Resting at the museum.
Stumbled upon some French paint.
My second trip was a weekend spent in the
Black Forest with the other German exchange students from UMass. We stayed in a comfortable lodge-type hostel
in the beautiful hills of the Schauinsland. On
that Saturday we went over classes, and then walked to an old cabin, first
constructed in the 1400’s, that had since been converted into a museum. The cabin had been a farm for hundreds of
years, isolated among rolling hills, its inhabitants living a life of nonstop
work, just to survive and maintain their property. The wood pillars were black from smoke, which
was a reinforcing agent that allowed them to be so preserved and remain so
sturdy after hundreds of years.
After
the museum, we traveled back for the night.
We had a nice meal followed by some beers and got to talk with each
other about our different programs. This
was where I really learned to appreciate Heidelberg for what it is, and I
realized I had made the right decision in studying here. Some other students and I got up early the
next day to watch the sunrise. Although
few of my photos came out well the experience was not disappointing. We later took a bus back to Freiburg and
all got our respective trains home. I
returned to Heidelberg happy with a successful first month and excited for the
next four to come.
View of the Schauinsland mountains.
The farmhouse's main room, just as it was back in the day.
Sunrise in Der Schwarzwald.
Auf Wiedersehen!
