Trip to Heidelberg, Germany

Today is my first time to travel to a place a little bit far from home. I went to Heidelberg, famous for it’s centuries-old castle. And the famous thing is that it’s in ruins, and the government decided to maintain and preserve the ruins, and that is what makes it so beautiful. To start off, today’s trip wasn’t planned. First of all it’s a Wednesday and it’s a work day, but since the weather today is good, it seemed like the perfect day for a day trip to Heidelberg. So I traded a weekend to work, instead of today. In Germany, weather is just so inconsistent. It is predictable, but inconsistent. Today it can be sunny, and tomorrow freezing cold. Or in the morning it’s bright and sunny, come lunch time dark clouds form and by afternoon a hail storm. Today it just seemed like the weather’s gonna be perfect, so a trip to Heidelberg came into mind. Since it’s a spur of the moment trip, I have nothing planned. And since my boss is leaving for a meeting, he said he could drop me off somewhere along the way. I had been actually researching since last week all about Heidelberg, so I have an idea about it already. But still, going unprepared is not my thing, plus it’s my first time, so I was a little bit scared. The connection from Frankfurt to Heidelberg can only be made at the Frankfurt International Airport. From there, there are 3 options, 1st is to take a Lufthansa airport bus to Heidelberg, it costs 35 euros round trip. 2nd option is to take a private shuttle by TLS, but it’s 29 euros one way. And the third is to take public transportation via S-Bahn and InterCityExpress, but this isn’t even a direct route. I am supposed to get off at Mannheim Main Train Station and take another bus going to downtown Heidelberg. Since I don’t have a map and don’t know at which point I can get one, I opted for the Lufthansa airport bus. My boss was late, so I missed the 11:00am bus. I went around the airport, looking around and familiarizing myself with it since I had time to kill anyway, and 15 minutes before 12noon, I waited for the next bus. I bought the ticket from the driver, got stamped for the 1st way and took a seat. As I sat on the bus, I couldn’t believe I’m doing it. Taking a trip by myself, to somewhere far from home, unable to speak German, and not knowing how to go about the trip, it was not something I’d ordinarily do, but then again I thought I did a little research already, I just don’t have concrete materials with me like maps and stuff. Whatever happens, I’ll just charge it to experience. The bus ride lasted 1.5 hours, and I have to admit, I slept in the bus. See this is a big problem of mine. Every time I ride a car, plane, bus, boat, and the trip lasts more than 20 minutes, I guarantee you I fall asleep. No matter how hard I try to control it, or keep my eyes open, I will fall asleep. Whether it’s a sickness or something else, I have no idea. My boss and I travel 3 hours minimum to go to a meeting, and on the 10th minute, I am already fast asleep. At first I felt so embarrassed, I tried to stay awake, but for a 3 hour drive and you’re already yawning during the first 10 minutes, please, tell me how to keep from falling asleep. I get headaches trying to stay awake! Anyway, in the bus, I didn’t even take 15 minutes and I was fast asleep. But, before I slept, I made an alarm on my mobile, since I know what time the bus will arrive the destination, I made an alarm to wake me up 10 minutes earlier. I listened to my iPod, and hummed myself to sleep. Next thing I know, I’m seeing signs of Heidelberg already. I slept so well! It’s funny because no matter how scared I am, riding a car or bus or whatever just puts me to sleep, it’s like my defenses are always down whenever I ride a means of transportation. Anyway, the bus stopped at the Crowne Plaza Heidelberg. And I was the first one to get off since I have no luggage with me. My “luggage” is my heavy bag. Here in Europe, people are used to carrying big bags. In Manila, friends would always say I’m like a mommy or an oldie for always carrying big bags, but what can I do I have a lot of stuff! I tried smaller bags but it’s just not me. I can’t seem to fit everything, and even if I can, I have a hard time getting things out. So with a big bag being the ‘fashion’ here, I feel so relieved. My bag can now hold my iPod, camera, 2 cellphones, a book, a pack of tissue, AND a water bottle! Plus I can stuff more things in along the way! Well, going back, I was the first one to get off the bus, and I went into the hotel to ask for a map of Heidelberg, how to get around, if the hotel offers any guided tours, and any information I can get. Unfortunately the lady at the reception was so unfriendly. She just handed me a map, made marks on it as I asked, and that’s it. I wanted to repeat everything just to be sure but she turned away. Probably because she knows I’m not a hotel guest and I’m just a passer by that’s why. Anyway I took the map and started to head out. I was walking for like 10 minutes, and I was beginning to see signs of the Hauptbanhop (main train station), and I thought, that’s good, I can buy the tickets there. But as I walk further I realized people are getting too few, and the streets seem to look deserted. I couldn’t be in the right direction. I have to admit I am a bit poor in reading maps. It takes some time for me to understand the map, and I have to imagine how I’m standing in the map. Since I didn’t have the time to do that, naturally I got lost, because instead of heading the other direction, I was walking further away towards the other direction. That took about half an hour of my time. But, it’s a learning experience. I was able to walk more of Heidelberg than expected. I started to walk back, and got to where downtown is, where the bus stops are and the shops and restaurants are. I went to a customer service to ask how to get to the castle, and was told which bus to take. I bought tickets, and headed for the bus stop. Here in Germany you find so few people who knows how to speak English. I got on the bus and I wanted to tell the driver that I want to get off where the cable car is, but it seems he couldn’t fully understood me. I spoke a mix of German and English, until he understood. And like always, you meet people kind enough to teach you, or tell you what to do. A man sitting beside me said he will tell me when to get off, and what to do, so I felt relieved. I got to the cable car station, bought a ticket, and prepared to ride the cable car. Everything is so high tech here, and as always with first timers, you figure out how to enter the ticket, how to get on and off, etc etc. Everything’s always a first. While waiting for the cable car, I saw how steep it is, and I got scared. I already started to feel queasy and my stomach lurching inside. But there was no turning back. I thought about the hanging bridge in Bohol, and how scared I was crossing it, how cold my hands were and how my heart was pounding so hard, how the feeling in your stomach feels when you’re so high above the ground. The same thing I felt with the cable car. And this time, I am all alone. With no one to share my fear with, with no one to hold my hand to get across, I felt all the more scared. I remember Ben, and everything he told me when I crossed the hanging bridge with him, and I just kept telling myself I have to be strong and brave and take the cable car. Else the whole trip will be useless, since Heidelberg is only famous for the castle. A few minutes later the cable car came, and as I saw it from the distance, I felt relieved because it looked so new. The doors opened and I quickly chose the middle part so as not to be too high or low. And I quickly sat down. I chose a spot with the railing, so I can hold tight to it, and I felt much better. I couldn’t wait for the ride to be over. Soon enough, people start to fill the cable car, and 2 old lady came inside our car. 2 English old lady. I sat and thought, I said shit, do I get up and offer my seat to the old lady or not. What if I couldn’t stand standing up during the ride, what if I throw up or something standing up, it would be really embarrassing and messy! The 2 old lady found a railing to hold on to, and a small steel stand where they can lean into. And then I suddenly stood up and offered my seat. And being English they said to me “thank you dear, that’s iiiiixtreeeemlyyy kind of you”. And obviously I said “it’s ok, no problem”. But deep inside my mind was already whirling with thoughts of throwing up and stuff. When the 2 old ladies sat down they again thanked me, and I again said “you’re welcome”. But deep inside I was thinking, they’d better be prepared if I throw up on their feet. The cable car started to move, and I held on tight to the railing and started to close my eyes, but I tried to sneak a peek somewhere along the way and realized it wasn’t an open kind of way, we were inside a tunnel all the way up to the palace. So you see nothing but brick walls. That made me feel a little better, because there were no heights to see. We got to the end station, and started to walk towards the castle.

At the entrance, I saw a guided tour ‘shop’ offering audio tours in many languages. It’s my first time to buy an audio tour, since my parents don’t really like spending much on those stuff, during our 2-week trip we just whizzed by every place. And I swore that next time, when I travel alone, I will make sure I have one of those audio tours (like a telephone), to learn as much as I can about the place I’m visiting. The audio tour costs 3.50 euros, and I thought not bad, considering how big the castle was, and how long it takes to finish walking it. But most of all, I wanted to learn everything there is about the castle. So I bought an audio tour, and started the tour of the castle. With the audio tour comes a very interesting and detailed map of the castle, and there are #s on the map that corresponds to your audio tour. When you’re at a particular spot, you enter the spot number on the “telephone” and it will tell you everything about that particular spot. I went through it one by one, but first was a bit confused. Like I said, I am not very good at reading maps. It takes time before I fully understand it. When I am more familiarized with how the ‘telephone’ works and how it corresponds the map, it was easy to get around already.

The first part of the tour takes you outside the main castle, there you see the view of downtown Heidelberg, and you see the castle’s ruins and main structure from the side. That doesn’t require a ticket or a fee. Before you go inside the main castle though, comes a ticket office. Entrance to the castle costs 3 euros. Pictures can be found in my photo album entitled Heidelberg, Germany. Detailed explanations of each structure can also be read there. I walked around the palace for 3 hours, going back to some favorite spots, staying at some benches just overlooking the Neckar Valley and the castle itself. By far, this has been the greatest place I’ve ever seen. The view is just simply breathtaking. I think I can sit there for days just admiring the view, the landscape, watching the clouds drift, and admiring the castle from afar. I’ve never felt more at peace with myself. Sitting there just taking in the view, I cannot even begin to explain how it feels. When I first caught a glimpse of it from the side, walking towards the “perfect spot”, I thought about calling Xtian. I don’t know why but I wanted to share what I’m seeing, because I know no matter how I try to photgraph it, I can never capture the ‘feeling’. And in my thoughts, Xtian can probably do it better, so I wanted so badly to share the place where I’m standing, the view of what I’m seeing, and the emotions of how I’m feeling, seeing one of God’s greatest creations.

When I was young, I read a lot of fairy tale books, when I was a teenager, I read a lot about fantasy, romance. When I grew older my taste began to shift to suspense, thriller, fiction. But it was during the teenage years that I read so much about king and queens, prince and princesses, dukes and duchess. I remember my favorite author then was Barbara Cartland. I used to spend my lunch time in St. Jude’s library with my best friend, just reading the collections of Barbara Cartland. There I found out what moats are, drawbridges, and other terms that only a castle can have. As I grew older I begin to realize that it’s just fiction, or make believe, story telling. But today, I saw a castle, built during the 13 century I think, and its ruins stand in beauty. I saw REAL courtyards, moats, banquet halls, etc, by people who lived from centuries and centuries and centuries ago. The Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, I thought it was old and preserved well, but even if old we still know who Napoleon was, and it was during his time that the residents of Schonbrunn Palace were also well known. But in this castle, names of Kings, Queens, from early centuries came up, it was so hard to remember their names as German names are so long, but all in all, I was in awe of what I saw today. This place is a recommended must-see to all of you. I believe that there are just places a picture cannot do justice. No matter how good a photographer, there are just some places or sights you have to see for yourself, and this is one of those.

After the tour, I went back to downtown by taking the same bus, and grabbed a quick bite since I haven’t had lunch yet and it was already 530pm. I had an hour to go before the next bus leaves to go back to Frankfurt International Airport. I sat in the restaurant, taking in what happened to me during the whole trip. I began to think where I am, how far I am from home, and how it feels to have made it. It felt good. Now I know I can make it to places even farther. My only wish is to be with someone, share the sights and wonderful places with. Yes I can do it by myself, as I’ve proven today, but nothing beats sharing something so magical, with the one you love.

Costs:

Round trip bus fare to Heidelberg- 35 euros

Round trip bus fare to the cable car – 2 euros

Cable car fare – 5 euros

Audio tour – 3.50 euros

Castle entrace – 3 euros

Lunch – 4.40 euros

Bread (for take home) – which i later gave to the poor – 1.99 euros

Total : 54.89 euros

Duration: 7 hours and 45 minutes

No related posts.