I've reached Heidelberg. Never been here before, but my friend Anna used to live here and one of my others now lives here. My mum text me to say she hopes I like Heidelberg. I'm not quite sure how she knew I was here. She told me she'd been here before on a school trip and the bus driver let her drive the coach round the car park. Knowing my mum, she was probably doing donuts with 30 screaming kids in the back. I think I got my mum's gregarious, free-spirited side, and my dad's love of pottering about.
I checked into a hostel after 3 nights on the bounce in the tent. Found one on the Internet that looked pretty cheap. It was above a Lidl, next to the bus station. I had to pass through all the winos drinking the cheap Lidl beers on the steps. One guy waved his can at me so I waved back with my bottle of Yop.
Met an Ozzie couple in the hostel. They were doing a bit of European touring and this was their 2nd night in the city. They were both struggling because they'd been on a bar crawl the night before and had been necking Jagerbomb knock-offs from Lidl. I haven't been on a bar crawl in ages. I'd love a bar crawl right now. When I hit Eastern Europe things are gonna go crazy...
Was knackered after cycling 90 miles so I passed out quite early. There was a very friendly chap called Wen from Thailand in my room, I was trying to sleep but he kept wanting to talk to me about cycling. He said I was a hero and couldn't believe it. Or berieve it. Ahhh...that's..
I'd arranged to meet my friend from my year abroad, Kristina, in the morning for breakfast. We did a bit of sightseeing first and she showed me round the place. Heidelberg is the first place I've stayed in Germany so far I could honestly say I'd spend more time in. There were a fair few tourists but Kristina knew the shortcuts and we ploughed through crowds with our bikes. She was an excellent host and guide and explained the history of the whole place. However she didn't know what type of stone was used for the buildings so it wasn't the complete tour. It was red stone, so I said clay. We never found out...
Saw the huge castle on the hill, and it was beautiful. We had to cycle up a cliff to get there and I started sweating just looking at the slope.
It's a prestigious University town so we also had a look round the university library. It was pretty impressive and much better than my one at Manchester Met. My only real memory of that place was trying to eat a bag of Quavers in my pocket without rustling the bag and the library staff seeing. It's quite a skill. I favour the maize based crisp for this as it makes less noise. My brother was the master at this. We call him Grab-bag because of his love of crisps (FYI they call me flapjack for the same reason). I've been told my brother Dave would turn up for double maths in the afternoon with both blazer pockets full of frazzles, fruit gums in the top pocket and a mr freeze down either sleeve. And I wonder why I was told once by a French teacher not to copy my brother..
So left Heidelberg. Was great to see Kristina and I've missed having a good chat. She's getting married next week so congratulations! Ill drink a Lidl beer in your honour.
I'm heading now along the Neckar river to try and get to Munich and the Danube. It's about 200km away so expect to be there by late Sunday or Monday. It's also started to rain again something rotten. I've been getting wet though in my army jacket. I think there must be a bullet hole somewhere where the previous owner was shot. That's probably why the army wanted to sell it. And that's why it was £20.
So going to ask if I can camp in someone's garden tonight. I'm told if they say yes you're guaranteed a shower, a sit down meal and a cup of coffee in the morning. With this weather ill take that any day.
See you later, Ben
:) ;) :( :D :/
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