It’s Thursday - onwards - and in our case - downwards as we finished packing, said goodbye to our host Sylvia and started the drive towards Heidelberg, taking the scenic route along the Rhine. Colin was on driving duty today so I got to admire the view and be in charge of navigation.
The journey was not very long but there were a lot of roadworks on the main autobahns (no new speed record today). Soon we were on the outskirts of Heidelberg, the biggest place (besides Brussels) we have been to on this trip. It was pretty complex navigation but amazingly there were no long wrong turns and we found the Aparthotel easily. Parking was excellent as Colin managed to find place immediately opposite a door in right next to the lift and it was undercover. By now it was bright sunshine, to the extent that it was very warm in our one bedroom apartment. It was a lot smaller than previous places but very well equipped and comfortable. After the rather stressful drive we had a rest before heading out later in the afternoon into Heidelberg.
It was a bit of an adventure as we had to take a bus (number 33) from outside the hotel. We didn’t know how to buy a ticket and then weren’t sure where to get off! Luckily using my phone saved to day and we were able to get off in the very centre the old town. It was very hot so we revived with an iced coffee which we probably shouldn’t have as half an hour later, we decided to have an early dinner at a restaurant I had earmarked before our trip and which we just happened to walk past.
It was a traditional German style old pub and the food was excellent if not a little heavy. I went for the famed pork knuckle and it was massive! Excellent flavour and crackling but way too much. I had to ask for a doggy bag to take the remains of the meat home which will do well for our dinner tomorrow. The downside happened when I came to pay - having tried twice by tapping my card, I put it in the machine and it seemed to go through and showed up on my credit card app. as a pending payment. However the woman was worried that it had not gone through and I was determined not to pay twice. In the end I left my business card and promised to email if the payment did not go through.
We were pretty tired but could not see our 33 arriving soon so we decided to take another to the station and walk from there. The sky was getting rather ominous and the alleged fifteen minute walk to the hotel seemed to be getting longer. We could finally see it in the distance and made it back before it started to rain!
