lisa_goldstein: (pic#11299236)
We walk some more around Heidelberg, trying to find Philosophenweg, Philosopher’s Way.  We miss the first turning and when we finally get to the right path it’s very steep, and halfway there we decide that we’re not philosophers anyway.



A newer part of Heidelberg Castle

In the evening J. and B. take us out for something called Flammkuchen, flat bread with a wide variety of toppings.  Three other members of the Discord group show up so we’re able to try lots of different kinds: with cream, peppers, wurst, tomato, speck, garlic, etc.  Then there’s Flammkuchen for dessert, with apple and cinnamon.

One of the new people is from the US but has lived half his life in Germany, and he introduces us to something called a Radler, which is Sprite mixed with beer.  It’s better than it sounds. 

lisa_goldstein: (pic#11299236)
Doug and J. post a picture of them eating doner kebab to the Discord group, and they are immediately dubbed the Doner Twins.

Heidelberg

The next day we wander around Heidelberg, which is charming, bordering on quaint, nearly tipping over into twee.  A lot of houses are half timbered, with gables and black-tiled roofs and spires, and ruins are standing around all over the place, ancient walls and arches and towers.  Rick Steves avoids it completely in his guidebook, which I think is a mistake.



I’d mentioned I wanted to see castles, so in the afternoon J. takes us to the funicular that goes up to the one in Heidelberg.  One thing I’d learned visiting castles in Eastern Europe and reading about them in preparation for this trip is that very few of them are still intact.  Most have been overrun and destroyed or just left to decay, and this one is no different.  A few walls are still standing, and there is a basement with what is billed as the biggest beer barrel in Europe, a claim that is almost certainly true.



Doug says that so far he likes German food, and I point out that he hasn’t had any yet, that it’s all been Turkish.  So we go out for Italian food after the castle.

lisa_goldstein: (pic#11299236)
Back from a vacation in Germany.  We went partly to visit friends, partly to see the town of Krefeld, where my father was born, and partly just for tourist stuff.

Doug is on a Discord server — no, not the one that posts top-secret documents — it’s for discussions about playing musical instruments, and to me it seems like a small spot of utopia in the savage wilds of the internet.  Everyone there is encouraging and supportive and sympathetic, about playing music but with other life problems as well, and if that doesn’t help they also tell jokes.

One of them, J., offered to show us around if we came to Germany.  He did a lot more than that, though.  To start with, he picked us up from the Frankfurt airport and drove us to Heidelberg, where he lives; then he and his partner, B., took us to a place that served doner kebab and pizza.  This seemed like a strange combination, but there are hundreds of restaurants like this all around the country.  I don’t know what the connection is.  The doner is usually pretty good, but if you want my advice, NEVER eat pizza in Germany.  No, not even in an Italian restaurant.  Their pizzas are made of crust and a liberally applied carpet of cheese.

We’re jet lagged, of course, so we go to our hotel and go to sleep immediately.

Profile

lisa_goldstein: (Default)
lisa_goldstein

January 2025

S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
192021 22232425
262728293031 

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 16th, 2025 12:37 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios