Germany (Finally)

So I have had a computer since Friday but this has been my first real chance to sit down and write in my blog since then as I was too busy having an awesome time in Geneva to write in my blog.

As anyone who has me on facebook knows, I took over 150 pictures on this trip and since blogger only allows me to upload 5 pictures at a time this is only a small sampling of the visit.

Friday
On Friday September 11, I caught a 9 am train from Geneva to Basel. I quite enjoyed this leg of the journey as it took me through the Swiss mountains which are very beautiful and I saw some additional Swiss cities. At Basel I transferred to a train which took me to Mannheim. Unfortunately this train was running very late due to someone who jumped in front of another train. Most everyone in Basel appeared only to speak German so I had to find someone to translate. Eventually I paired up with a Swiss woman who was talented in many languages who was on the same train. They told us to take a different train, however the woman remained very wound up for most of the trip, sure that we were going to be thrown off the train. I was fine though. The most exciting part of this trip was ordering a sandwich in German which I apparently did correctly and I attribute to my knowledge of Dutch.
Upon arriving in Manheim I was greeted by my friend Lukas who I met on exchange in Rotterdam. We drover back to His home in Leimen where he proceeded to get an impossible number of phone calls related to his job. He was very distressed as the situation took 1.5 hours to sort out but again I was quite fine, just happy to be in Germany.
That evening Lukas showed me around his town Leimen where apparently 12000 people live, although he is quite convinced there couldn't possibly be more than 2000. It is a very picturesque little town.
We then went to Heidelberg for a traditional German dinner, a little bit of sight seeing and then had a couple of drinks at one of Heidelberg's many bars. It was a very good night.

My Traditional German Dinner with Egg and 3 kinds of meat.

Saturday
Saturday morning Lukas got up early to go out and pickup breakfast for us. He was most distressed when he tried to wake me before he left and I slept right through that attempt, in addition to his shower and I was barely drawn out of sleep on his third much louder attempt. I must have been quite tired because sleeping this soundly is extremely unusual for me.
After breakfast Lukas and I headed back to Heidelberg for some sight seeing which involved more hills and steps then I ever want to see again! First we climbed halfway up a hill (although it looks more like a mountain) along a path called philosopher's way where a number of German Philosophers reportedly used to go to think. From the top one could see why as you got an excellent view of the city of Heidelberg and you are surrounded by beautiful wildlife.

Lukas on Philosopher's Way pointing to Heidelberg Below

Heidelberg

We then descended the hill and had lunch after which we climbed ANOTHER hill to get to Heidelberg Castle. Although parts of the castle are in ruins most of it continues to function as a tourist attraction in addition to the office of some private businesses. This also offered an excellent vantage point of Heidelberg and the Neckar river which runs through it. The castle itself is quite amazing both in size and its appearance. Again it was worth the climb.
The trip to the castle was followed up by a shopping excursion. We then retired to Lukas' house where he fed me another traditional German dish of pasta shells filled with meat and potatoes in a broth and we consumed a bottle of wine from one of the local wine yards.

The view of Heidelberg from the Castle
Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle

Sunday

On Sunday Lukas took me to see his place of work, a technology solution company called SAP. The company is multinational but at this location 12,000 people come to work daily. It is quite large has full service cafeterias, tennis courts and exercise rooms. It also has beautiful gardens.
Following our visit to SAP Lukas and I went to Schwetzingen castle which also boasts beautiful gardens. Exploring the gardens and then eating lunch took up all of our time for Sunday and then I had to get on a train and head back to Geneva. Your already know the sad story of what followed with me missing my train. However I really had a wonderful time in Germany and can't thank Lukas enough! Below are pictures of SAP, Schwetzingen and the gardens that surround it.

This afternoon I am getting on a plane and going to South Africa. Im not going to lie, I am extremely nervous, but the next time you hear from me I will be in South Africa!

Cheers!