Sunday
August 8, 1982 – Heidelberg
Up early for
breakfast and off in our Mercedes taxi promptly at 08.00 for the Hauptbahnhof.
Our two nights cost us DM 180 which
is a special Munich Re rate - the normal
rate being DM210 – which made it the
most expensive hotel in which we have stayed so far.
We found the
train without a problem but Rab got into a bit of a flap because she darted
ahead of Matt and me. We were trapped by the barricade of luggage erected by
the porters to dampen the enthusiasm of would be travelers. By the time we
caught up with her she was quite distraught, having checked the entire train
and having found that every compartment had reserved seats. Since Matt and I
had passed several vacant and unreserved compartments, we were puzzled by this.
Happily we were able to demonstrate that we were right. (Again!)
We spread
ourselves all over the seats, hoping to discourage any intrusions and succeeded
very well despite the floods of people who swept by until the eleventh hour
when a cheeky young woman of Mittel European origin had the nerve to ask if
there were any seats free. We had no option but to indicate, rather
ungracefully, that there were two or three. Next minute she turned up with a
fellow – an Italian by the cut of his jib – and a child of about three years
old. Due to communication difficulties we were unable to establish
relationships but concluded that they were not official partners in the eyes of
any Church or State. What an odd lot they were too. He got off at one of the
smaller stations but she came back into the compartment and promptly fell
asleep. We had guessed (and hoped) that she might be getting off at Stuttgart,
but she was still asleep when we pulled in. so I made a point of reading loudly
from my Fodor’s about what a marvellous place STUTTGART was and how STUTTGART was a garden city, etc etc.
This had the desired effect as she leapt up and shot off the train. She was
replaced by an old Oriental gentleman of indeterminate race who sat quietly in
the corner as we dived into our padkos, which was very nice.
I enjoyed
the journey, despite our neighbours and it was interesting to see the change
from the flat green fields of grain and maize around Ulm
to the steep slopes and vineyards of the Neckar Valley.
Rab and Matt were not too enthusiastic and spent most of their time reading
while this panorama swept by.
 |
| First view of Heidelberg and the Neckar |
We got to Heidelberg on time at 13.40 having left Munich
at 009.02 (I guess I kept commenting on
the fact that we left and arrived on time because that was so unusual an
occurrence in South Africa
or Zimbabwe.)
Of course, being Sunday, the Information Bureau was closed and as we hadn’t
booked an hotel we were at a bit of a loss initially. Rab suggested one of the
hotels recommended by Fodor’s, which I did and we are now comfortably ensconced
at the Neckar Hotel right on the banks of the
river and within easy walking distance of the old town.
 |
| A more pleasant view of the town and the river |
After
helping Rab do a bit of washing and watching the start of the German Grand Prix
(which was being run not far from us!) we set off at about 15.45 to do a bit of
exploring. We soon found the main shopping street which was pretty crowded
despite the fact that none of the shops was open. We just did a bit of window
shopping and watched the extraordinary crowd go by. Matt was thrilled to find a
fast food shop called Ginos where he got a burger and chips. We strolled on to
the main square where Rab and I had a drink while Matt explored a toy shop
which was open.
When he
rejoined us I couldn’t help laughing to myself because sitting there,
surrounded by history with the ruins of the schloss towering over us, all my
companions could talk about were the hairy legs of the women (Rab’s subject)
and bees (Matt’s subject). Hardly edifying subjects. As a matter of interest
the reason why these subjects were being discussed was because the fashion in Europe this year is for pedal pushers (i.e. calf length
trousers) which reveal some ghastly unshaven legs hanging out of them. The bees
are another matter, but seem to be everywhere buzzing around any cans of drink
especially – they seem to really like Coke, as Matt found.
 |
| Nothing like a good beer |
Since it
promised to be a fine evening we went up to the schloss by cable car. I really
enjoyed our trip up there but what a pity there was a haze, which reduced the
vista considerably. After exploring the ruins we descended to the town again
and had a very good meal of pork fillet with prunes for me and ham and cheese
for Rab, both with kartoffelpoffe (potato
pancakes). The beer was very expensive though.
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