Our plan to overcome jet lag by sleeping on the flight unfortunately failed. We were still full of energy when we got our railpasses validated in the airport and went down to the train tracks. We missed the first train to Manheim, caught the second, then missed the connection to Heidelberg, and caught the second. Then we got off one stop too early and had to catch yet another train to the main station.
Now we had eleven hours to kill in Heidelberg before our night train to Prague departed. We wandered around for a few hours, catching some great views:
There happened to be some sort of student function in the park along the river when we were there. Hundreds of university students were wearing special t-shirts (some advertising something called the “Abipedia,” with the amusing tagline “13 Jahre (years) Copy & Paste.” Some sped around the town hanging halfway out of windows, screaming “Abi!” and blowing on whistles. Even seeing the website, we still aren't sure what was going on there.
There is something in Heidelberg called the ‘Philosophenweg’ which is apparently a path that Goethe, Junger, and Feuerbach have walked on occasion. Unfortunately we had been hiking for awhile, the jet lag was setting in, and the Philosophenweg is a steep uphill climb, so we were unable to complete it.
We managed to get a bus back to the train station. We had seven hours left until our train, but we were too exhausted to attempt any kind of activity. We knew that if we fell asleep in public our bags might get stolen, so the challenge was to stay awake for seven hours when we had already been over 24 hours without sleep. We did manage, barely, by going to McDonalds and taking advantage of the free refills on Coke Lite (Diet), and taking naps in shifts. Finally, after a long, tedious, and trying wait, we were on our night train to Prague.
It might seem a little depressing that our first day in Europe was spent with four hours of aimless wandering followed by seven hours of sitting in McDonalds and in the train station, but that is just the reality of jet lag. If you don’t manage to get productive sleep on the flight (which is difficult) there simply has to be a wasted day to overcome it. We had planned for this and spent our first day in a relatively unimportant city. Heidelberg is delightful and charming, but by no means a must-see destination.
One thing about Heidelberg in particular is that it is not especially tourist friendly. Almost nobody there speaks any English at all. This caused considerable complications due to the fact that Natasha and I both have only about a semester’s worth of German under our belts. Something as simple as ordering coffee becomes an ordeal. At one point we thought a mocha would be a nice way to stay awake, so we tried ordering one from a café in the train station. They weren’t on the menu, so the best we could ask for was “espresso mit heis schockolade, zusammen” which basically means espresso mixed into hot chocolate. What we ended up with was a single shot of espresso with some cocoa powder mixed in. Another time we ordered ice cream, but we were unable to read the sign that we weren’t allowed to sit down in the shop unless we spent a certain amount. So we were kicked out of the shop by someone who could only say “different cost.” We figured out the problem a few minutes later as we were walking away.
The language barrier also has some pervasive alienating effects. When you hear German or other foreign languages spoken back home, it is a pleasant novelty. When you hear it in places like Frankfurt, where you know that employees also speak English and you can get help if you need it, it is fascinating. But when you are in a place where nobody speaks English at all, the atmosphere becomes alienating, and sometimes even hostile. Even the most basic things like getting something to eat become difficult.
Personally, I had also underestimated the difference in things like bathroom facilities. In Heidelberg the facilities were very crude, sometimes to the point of being unusable. The only decent ones were either in businesses like McDonalds or required a 0.50€ payment. Even these were unfamiliar. Not knowing how to flush a toilet creates a sense of panic that I didn’t anticipate.
Still, cities are cities. We were able to navigate their bus system – we bought tickets from a vending machine and found a bus going back to the train station from Bismarckplatz. We managed to stay fed and stayed out of trouble. More than one person addressed me directly in German, which meant to me that I must look enough like a local to be mistaken for one, which is nice. Nothing would be worse than sticking out as a tourist.
Despite these relatively minor tribulations, we are having the time of our lives. Each challenge creates a deeper sense of adventure…something which goes far beyond the simple pleasure hunting that normally takes place on our vacations. You have to earn something as small as a coffee here, and earning something makes it more valuable and enjoyable than if it is handed to you.
Heidelberg was always a grey spot on our schedule…the rest of the trip has more definitive plans, and we fully expect that the experience will only improve!
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