Ladenburg

Last Friday, March 8, we took a day trip to Ladenburg, which is about a 15 minute train ride from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in Heidelberg. Andrea met us at the train station in Ladenburg, and from there we walked two minutes to a path along the river.

Panorama of the river

Ladenburg is where Carl Benz, the inventor of the car, is from. Andrea told us that he built a car and he and his wife then improved upon the design. He partnered with someone else (whose daughter's name was Mercedes), and created the Mercedes-Benz. Because they were the first, there was no one else (initially) who knew anything about automobiles, so Benz had to get a loan from someone completely unrelated to automobiles (like a baker or something like that). I don't remember exactly who he got a loan from. Anywho, we saw the first car-garage ever...

Our great-looking group, in front of the first car-garage.

...And we saw (through glass) a model of the first car.

Funny story about this photo. As you can see, I took the photo through glass. It sits inside the Carl Benz Haus, behind glass and a gate (which you cannot see). One would think that because of it being the first car, the beginning of something we all rely so heavily on, that the museum would have normal operating hours. Not so my friends! The Carl-Benz Haus in Ladenburg is open for three hours on Sunday afternoons. So if you ever are in the Mannheim-Heidelberg area on a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do, you could hop over to Ladenburg and see the Carl-Benz Haus and the first car.

After the Car Benz Haus, we went to the library and a museum (which we didn't enter, we just looked at). Ladenburg has been around since forever, and there are Roman ruins all over the place. Rather than tear the ruins down, present-day Ladenburg has been built up around the ruins, often incorporating the ruins into building structures. We walked around a bit, seeing ruins and signs of spring everywhere.

Because it was so warm, but wasn't quite lunchtime yet, we got ice-cream! (Of course! What else would one get!?) The funny part was that each school got nearly the same flavor. I got chocolate, and then Kristen got the same. Phillip and Chris (from Biola) got cookie, and Nattie and Andrew got raspberry(?) (from Westmont). The only exception was Megan (who is also from Westmont), who got citrus. It wasn't planned at all. We simply got what we wanted and then realized that each school had the same flavor.

After that we walked over to St. Martin's Gate and the Witches Tower. The Tower is where women who were believed to be witches were put until they either died or were executed. Martin's Gate is the gate under another tower on the same building, under which St. Martin walked once, so now the tower bears his name. I don't remember who St. Martin is, or what he did, but he was there. This gate used to be the outside of the wall of the city.

St. Martin's Gate

We had lunch in Ladenburg, half of us at a Chinese buffet and the other half at an Italian cafe. I went to the Chinese buffet, which was quite delicious. After lunch we were done in Ladenburg, and Andrea encouraged us to use the train tickets we had to explore the area. The tickets we had were day-tickets, which were purchased based on the zone we were traveling to. On those tickets, you can travel anywhere within the tariff you purchase, using any of the buses, streetcars, or slow trains. We wanted to go to Weinheim, but Andrea was pretty sure Weinheim was outside of the tariff we had, so she suggested we go to Schriesheim instead, because there was a ferris wheel there that we could ride. We decided to do that instead.

It was easy to get to Schriesheim, although once we got there we were a bit confused. Andrea said that we would see the ferris wheel from the streetcar stop, but we didn't see it when we got off. We picked a direction and went that way to cross the street. Nattie had to be back at the Heidelberg train station, so she ran down the track to figure out what times the streetcar left from there to go back to Heidelberg. While we were waiting for her, we looked around at our surroundings, and in the direction opposite that which we were about to go, we saw the ferris wheel past the rooftops. After Nattie figured out the streetcar schedule, we headed off in that direction, and before too long we found the ferris wheel. We discovered it wasn't just a ferris wheel, but a full-on street carnival. There were lots of other rides as well, and vendors on the streets. We headed straight to the ferris wheel before deciding on anything else and purchased tickets. 

This ferris wheel was quite different from any other ferris wheel I have ever been on. On a ferris wheel in the US, the gate locks and the sides are usually pretty high. At Disneyland, it is completely enclosed. Not here. Here the door opens easily and doesn't lock, and the sides were not very high. The first go-around, that was quite alarming. The view from the top was amazing. Since the sides weren't incredibly high, you could see all around from the very top, instead of only from one side. And we didn't just go around twice and then get off. Oh no. We went around five or six times, leaving plenty of opportunities to take photos of the surrounding area. 

Megan Andrew, Chris, and Kristen on the ferris wheel.

 After that adventure was over, Nattie, Phillip, and Kristen went on Der Burner, which we walked past on our way to the ferris wheel. It was like a big hammer that spun up and over, like the ones that can be found at carnivals in the US, but its base spun and the seats spun too. Plus, it wasn't one of those whimpy 30-second rides like in the US. No no. This was a solid 3-4 minute ride that just kept going. Halfway through it looked like it was slowing down, and then it picked back up for another round. Nattie, Phillip, and Kristen had a great time, and were pretty excited when they got off.

Kristen, Nattie, and Phillip. Phillip could see me, so he waved.

After the rides, we walked the streets for a while, looking at what the vendors had to offer. Nattie and Chris left shortly after that, and then the rest of us followed about 40 minutes later. We were so tired on the way back to Heidelberg, and I think most of us had a hard time staying awake. It was a fun day though. We plan on going back to Ladenburg in one of the coming weekends, because it is a beautiful small town. Andrea said that it is a do-able bike ride from Heidelberg, so we will bike out and have a picnic or something.

Grace and Peace!

Suzannah

Photos

I have been taking lots of photos while I have been here (obviously), but the number I am able to post here on the blog is limited. I have been posting a good majority of them on Facebook though, which I think fixes the dilema I have found myself in. I know there are some of you who aren't on my Facebook, but I have found a way to post the links here so that the photos can be seen, even though we aren't connected through Facebook.

So, here goes...

Here is the link for my first album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200467785881002.205217.1347655831&type=1&l=f784df2631

Here is the link for my second album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200658488088438.206569.1347655831&type=1&l=bd25e391f9

Here is the album for the weekend I spent in Kandern:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200730009596431.207406.1347655831&type=1&l=8890ad6489

Here is the link for yesterday's trip to Ladenburg (Which I have yet to blog about. That's coming, I promise):
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200828076448041.1073741826.1347655831&type=1&l=7d3337e676

And finally, here is the newest album, starting with a hike we took today up Philosopher's Way:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200828534619495.1073741827.1347655831&type=1&l=e1818c30f4

I know it's a lot of photos to look at. I wish I had thought of this sooner. Have fun!

Grace and Peace,
Suz :)

Mannheim

On March 1, we went to Mannheim. The train ride was quite short, about 15 minutes from the old train station close to our Pension to the main station in Mannheim. The night before I developed a migraine at the joint where the neck meets the skull, so I took some medication before bed. It helped a bit, but in the morning I woke up with a different headache that quickly developed into a migraine before too long. There were sounds on the train that would cause a sharp pain that lasted several seconds each time it happened. I did take medication that morning before we left (not migraine medication though, because that causes drowsiness), but it took several hours to start working.

In spite of my migraine I tried as hard as I could to have a positive mood and a good time. I fear I may have had a short temper at times, but I hope not. I was trying not to let it affect my attitude towards everyone else. I didn't want to make them suffer just because I was, because I hate it when people do that.

When we arrived in Mannheim we took a street car to the Mannheim Palace, which was built in () by Karl Philip. He moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim and built himself a palace there. His successor was Karl Theodor, whose children Mozart taught while in Mannheim. Karl Theodor had several children, but they weren't the children of his wife, so he built another house for them next to the palace, and had Mozart teach them. Mozart went to Mannheim to try to get appointed as a court musician, but by the time he got there, the court had been moved to Munich. While in Mannheim, Mozart met his wife, Constanze Weber, who he married several years later.

Panorama of the Mannheim Palace

Chapel at the Palace

Inside the chapel

Mural on the ceiling of the chapel

This is the house where Karl Theodor's children lived

We were supposed to go to the art museum in Mannheim, but it ended up being closed. Instead, we had time to explore the area a bit. We ended up splitting into two groups: the girls, and Tim, Andrea, and the boys. We girls went to a restaurant to have smoothies and warm up, which is contradictory, but it was nice to sit for a while.

Mannheim water tower

 After our free time, we went to an early dinner at a nice restaurant called Kleine Rosen Garten, which was quite delicious. I had crème brûlée for dessert, which was the biggest crème brûlée I have ever seen...

It wasn't only a wide dish, but it was also pretty deep, so it was bigger than perhaps it looks.

After dinner we went to the Mannheim opera to see Lucia de Lammermoor. It is a tragic opera Gaetano Donizetti about a woman who falls in love with someone from a rival family, has to marry someone else, and then goes crazy and kills her new husband. The performers were amazing. After the opera we were all exhausted, but luckily Mannheim is close to Heidelberg, so it didn't take long to get back home.

Grace and Peace,

Suzannah

Weekend in Kandern

February 22 to 24 was our first free travel weekend. A group went to Munich and Füssen to see Neuschwanstein, one other student went to County Cork, Ireland, and I went to Kandern, a small town in the Black Forest, to the house of my roommate's parents.

I left on Friday morning from the train station in Heidelberg. We rode the train as a group the weekend before, but that was fairly easy. This trip, I had 2 train changes, and the trains arrived and left usually about 5 minutes apart. I was a tad nervous about making all of my changes. The first change was in Mannheim, which is about a 9 minute train ride from Heidelberg (on the line that I took). In Mannheim I changed to a train going to Basel, and when I arrived in Mannheim, that train had already arrived and was boarding. Oh, and another thing... none of my trains, on both journeys, were on the same platform. I had to change platforms every time, which only made it more stressful. Also, a note on German train-riding: You can reserve a seat on the train, but you don't have to, and to do so you have to pay extra. I didn't reserve a seat, so I had to find one when I got on the train. But the thing is, a lot of seats are reserved. Which is fine. You can sit in a seat that is reserved until the person that did reserve it comes along and tells you to move. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Unless you don't like confrontation. Then, this whole process makes you pretty nervous. So not only was I trying to catch the right train at the right time, I was also nervous that I would get asked to move by an impatient German. But don't worry, I caught all of my trains, I wasn't asked to move, and Diane Kraines was waiting for me on the platform when I arrived in Schliengen.

Diane took me to a cafe for tea and scones for lunch, since it was quite cold and snowing a little bit when I arrived. The cafe had a gift shop and rose gardens that are beautiful in the summer. The scones and jam were delicious. I'm pretty sure the jam was homemade. I couldn't get enough of it on my scones.

After we finished our tea/coffee and had warmed up a bit, we went the rest of the way to Kandern, which is about 20 minutes from the train station in Schliengen. Diane pointed things out along the way and asked me what I thought so far of Germany. Even though it was cloudy and sort of snowy, it was beautiful. Kandern is nestled right on the south side of the Schwarzwald, so it is in the country-side, away from big cities. It is beautiful. There are hiking trails everywhere. Diane took me to Black Forest Academy, where her husband teaches a World Views class. Their son Carl is a junior there now and Hannah (my roommate at APU) graduated from there. We got to BFA near the end of Russ's free period, so he was able to walk me around a bit and show me the school. I met the string teacher and the principal, and was told several times that when I graduate I should go teach there. I can't imagine how much fun that would be. It would be a wonderful reason to live in Germany :)

During our tour I saw a girl that I met at home over the summer, Melodie. She goes to BFA, but during the summer her dad somehow got a job in Ridgecrest and while they were there, they went to our church. When I first met her and asked her where she was from, we soon discovered that we had people in common, which was funny to both of us. Anyways, I was walking past the ceramics classroom and looked inside, and there she was, so I went in and said hello.

After the tour Russ went back to class and Diane and I went to Penny Mart and then to their apartment. Diane checked some work emails, and I did some reading for a class. I had intended to start studying for a World Civ test, but silly me forgot to take the study guide with me, so I couldn't study very effectively. Instead I read for World Civ, which was a dangerous endeavor, because I nearly fell asleep on the couch. After Russ got home, when it was about 9:10 AM California time, we Skyped with Hannah, which was so wonderful. I haven't yet Skyped with my roommates since being here, so I was so happy to see her lovely face. For dinner we had homemade lasagna that Russ made. It was so good. It was wonderful to have a homemade meal and not have to worry about finishing my drink (because in German restaurants, you don't get free refills). Dinner conversation revolved around Germany, Hannah, and families. Carl and I are both taking German 3 right now, so we talked about learning German for a bit. Spending time with the Kraines' at dinner that night and the next night put Hannah in a bit more of context for me, because I was able to pick up on where bits and pieces of her personality come from. After dinner we decided that on Saturday morning we would check on the weather and then decide where we would go, because we had several options. After that we watched a movie and then headed to bed.

Saturday morning Russ made sausage and French toast for breakfast, which was delicious. I think I had Müsli in addition to that :) We check the weather for the different places that we could go, and found that the town in the Alps they had been thinking of was supposed to have sunny weather, so we decided to go there. Carl had a middle-school drama rehearsal all day, so we dropped him off at BFA on our way out of town and then drove to Adelboden, Switzerland. It was, of course, beautiful. It was about an hour drive to get there, and when we got there the sky was clear and sunny, and the snow glittered all around. It was pretty much exactly what you would expect a town in the Swiss Alps to look like. It was freezing, but it was beautiful. I didn't take my boots with me to Kandern because I wasn't sure what I would be doing and I didn't have room in my backpack, but luckily for me Diane had an extra pair that I was able to borrow. We ate lunch outside of a church with a painting on the outside wall that predated Christopher Columbus. We had simple sandwiches on ciabatta bread, but it was delicious. I had the best pear I've ever tasted. After we finished eating we decided to take a hike up a trail that led up the mountain, behind the city, and then back down. They view of the Alps from there was amazing.

First panorama on the way up the mountain.

Second panorama, up a bit further. That, my friends, is the Swiss Alps.

The hike took about two hours start to finish, mostly because we stopped several times to take photos (how could we not!?). It was pretty cold. My feet went through numb and un-numb phases. When we got all the way up above the town it started to gently snow, like we were in a snow globe.

Russ and Diane Kraines. Their beautiful marriage inspires me.

The ski gondola heading back down the mountain

It was honestly a winter wonderland

By the time we got back down into Adelboden, we were quite chilled and very ready to be back in the warm car. On our way back to Germany we stopped at a gas station so I could buy a CH sticker. I decided before I came to Germany that for every country I go to, I want an abbreviation sticker to put on my cello case when I get back. I already got a sticker for Germany (D), and we found a Swiss sticker too. Before we left Switzerland we stopped in the town of Spiez, where there is a small castle on a lake. This area was very pretty too. There is a vineyard on the hillside next to the castle, and I can only imagine how beautiful it is in the spring.

Vineyards on the hillside. You can see the lake to the right.

The chapel at the castle was originally built in the year 700, and additions were made to it in 1000. I think so far, this is the oldest building I have visited.

Inside was small, but well lit with natural light.

The surrounding town of Spiez

 That night when we got back to Kandern we fixed cheese fondue for dinner, which was so good, and had a cherry pie/tart for dessert. We watched another movie that night, but headed to bed pretty soon after that because we were so tired from our hike. The next morning Carl wasn't feeling very well, so we went to church without him so that he could recuperate. My train back to Heidelberg left Schliengen at 1:16, so after church we ate lunch and then headed out.

The trip back to Heidelberg was similar to the trip to Kandern. I had 3 trains, and each time the trains arrived and left from different platforms. On the first change, the stairs going down under the tracks to switch platforms were slippery, and I nearly fell. Luckily I caught myself and there was no fall, but it was a moment of fear. That train hadn't yet arrived when I got to the track, so I had a minute to compose myself. At the next exchange, the train came in on time, and I got to the correct track to find a train there, but it wasn't my train. I figured I had a bit of time, since that train wasn't yet leaving, and my train was supposed to arrive there. I read the screen that gave the information for that train, and it said that that train was running 45 minutes late. I wondered how that was possible, since my train was supposed to be leaving from that track in 10 minutes, so I waited a couple minutes to see what would happen. When I looked back at the next screen, it had changed to say that my train was to be leaving from a different track, which of course was not on the same platform as I was. At this point I had about 2 minutes before the train was scheduled to leave, so I quickly (but carefully, I didn't want a repeat of earlier) made my way down the stairs to get over to the platform, and got on the train that was waiting there, hoping it was the correct train. It was, and about 30 seconds after I got on, it pulled away from the platform. That was my last train, about 10 minutes from Mannheim to Heidelberg. I was so glad to finally be done worrying about connections. The only thing left to do was catch the bus from the train station to the nearest bus stop to the Pension, which was much easier. When I arrived, the big group that travelled to Munich wasn't back yet, so I had time to relax from my trip.

I had a wonderful weekend with the Kraines, and I was so glad that I made the trip. I feel now that I have conquered the train system, and that I can do anything! Hopefully for the remainder of my stay here I don't have trips with such hectic connections!

Grace and Peace,
Suzannah