Naipablaak: 18.07.2017
Good evening, mate!
It's 23:30 and I'm at the McDonald's at the main train station in Heidelberg. Since I have about an hour until 00:30, I thought I'd take the time to tell you about my day in Heidelberg.
From the youth hostel, I first went to the main train station to lock up Manni (who is Manni? Manni is the name of my backpack) in a locker so that I could explore Heidelberg with light luggage. The weather today was actually really nice, it was super warm, but when you walk around so much, you sometimes wish for a few degrees less (yes, typical German, the sun is shining and yet there is still complaining). But I was still really grateful that the sun was shining so beautifully because it made Heidelberg shine even more than on a gray rainy day. I even got a little sunburned and now I hope that at least it will turn nicely brown.
My old friend could only meet up at 2 p.m., so I had plenty of time to explore the old town on my own. By the way, I think that's highly recommended because you can really concentrate fully on the city without having to engage in small talk at the same time (multitasking is really not my thing). It's also really cool to explore something without any orientation, you remember the paths and everything much better, and in the end of the day, I was actually able to find my way around on my own. Heidelberg completely enchanted me. The old town is simply dreamy. You can find the most amazing little restaurants and cafes, and I am impressed by how clean the city is. The little side streets are incredibly cute, and I couldn't stop marveling when I looked down one of these side streets for the first time and directly saw a forest. Heidelberg is surrounded by a forest, and I can't find the right words to describe how incredibly beautiful I think that is. So I strolled through Heidelberg and let everything sink in. There are a lot of tourists here, but Heidelberg has not lost its family atmosphere. I only met nice people who were absolutely helpful and friendly (except for the lady at the tourist information, strangely enough, although friendliness should be a priority there, after all, they don't want to scare away tourists, right?) and so time flew by. By the way, I also perceived Heidelberg as a paradise for vegans because there were lots of nice little places selling only vegan food. I was overjoyed when I found, for example, a vegan pastry shop where I could enjoy a vegan chocolate cupcake. But now back to the program. So at 2 p.m. I met up with my friend in the old town and he gave me a little but fine explanation about some sights (if you are reading this now - thanks again, couldn't have had a better tour guide!). It really got interesting when David showed me around the university. We had a coffee in the canteen and he told me a lot about his law studies, which was really super interesting for me! Time flies when you're having interesting conversations, and suddenly it was already 5:30 p.m. David and I briefly parted ways and met up again for dinner at 7 p.m. In the meantime, I took a closer look at a few buildings, such as the town hall. Later, we ate at MoschMosch, an Asian chain. I had grilled vegetables and it tasted really good - so another recommendation.
Thanks to David, I learned a lot of new things, whether it was about Heidelberg or about the university. Did you know that there are actually real fraternities in Germany too? Complete with initiation rituals, dress codes, and duties? I could talk about that for hours because it really blew my mind. You can immediately recognize the fraternity boys (the "true" fraternities consist only of boys) by their boat shoes, the white Ralph Lauren polo shirts, and the elegant pants (or simply by their slightly arrogant demeanor). The boys also live in real mansions and, for example, have to fence or row and take part in "etiquette courses" and in general have a pretty structured life. If you're thinking, "Hey, that's really cool," I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. Firstly, such a fraternity is something similar to a cult, and secondly, it's something for life. Even after you finish your studies, you will still be in contact with the fraternity and support your "descendants" through donations, etc. Apart from that, most fraternities are often politically more right-wing. As you can see, I personally find the topic super interesting, but if I bored you with it, I'm sorry.
So my day in Heidelberg was 100% successful (I would actually love to start my studies there right away, that's how much I fell in love with Heidelberg) and it was once again confirmed that it is worth it to dare to talk to strangers and that if you give kindness, you usually get kindness in return (at least most of the time). Not all people are evil, which does not mean that you should now just talk to every person - no, no, but for example, I have a relatively good sense for people and thanks to that and my gut feeling, I have always only approached the right people so far.
By the way, I changed clothes in the mother and child toilet to get ready for my night on the bus, and that wasn't a problem at all. Now my bus is coming soon and I say goodbye. We'll hear from each other again in Amsterdam (by the way, I still haven't found accommodation, but I'm not getting stressed about it).
See you tomorrow, friend!