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goodbye, 2005

Well, here it is the end of the year 2005 and the coming dawn of 2006. As always, I’ve been reflecting back on what made this year so great. There are two prevalent themes: people and music (read my end of the year Top 100 Most Played here: Download top_100_most_played.doc). I met a lot of new people this year, made a lot of new friends and I’ve discovered that my favorite thing to do when not swamped under beautiful, red-covered, 5-century-old theology books is to listen to music and share it with others. Here are some of my best memories of the past year:

January 17^th – MLK Day. I hopped across the river to enjoy Augsburg’s great MLK day convocation. Music, speakers, tributes and a depiction of his King’s infamous speech: I have a dream.

 March 19^th – the official anniversary of my friendship with Jillian. Jillian and I had been “courting” for almost two years before cementing our friendship through our common disdain for slave labor, a.k.a. our work study jobs. We both worked like a billion hours that day, both in what is affectionately dubbed the OCC (Olson Campus Center); she at the Information Desk and I with my job at a conference hosted by GMI. We capped off the day by finding our common hobby: working out. We’ve been workout buddies ever since.

 March 26^th – Easter Vigil at Mt. Olive.  Mt. Olive feels like home.  This is one of the best services of the year in which we celebrate and proclaim Christ's resurrection from the dead, a resurrection we have been promised in our baptisms.

April 8^th – Twins Home Opener. What’s more fun than a Twin’s game with 20+ good friends? Well, so they didn't win; it was still a blast to go to the sold-out home opener.  The Twins battled the nefarious Chicago White Sox on Friday night, but sadly lost 1-5.  In other sad news, beer at the Metrodome now costs $6.    Here I am with Jillian and Catrina pre-game with high hopes and excitement (mostly mine).

May 25^th – the day before Deutschland, but, more importantly, the season finales for Lost and Alias! Kelsey and Dave hosted the finale party and the finales were suspenseful and awesome, as always.

July 9^th – Coldplay in Munich. I purchased my tickets for the Coldplay concert back in March.  To say the least, I was looking forward to this.  It was held at the Olympic Stadium near the center of the city.  Coldplay were awesome!  The concert started with the song Square One and flowed right into Politik, the drum pounding, noise making opener of the album A Rush of Blood to the Head.  They played three songs off of their debut album Parachutes: Don’t Panic, Yellow and Everything’s Not Lost- my three favorites from that album.  Off of A Rush of Blood…they played: Politik, In My Place, The Scientist, Clocks and Warning Sign.  Off of their new album they played: Square One, What If, White Shadows, Fix You, Talk, Speed of Sound, Low, and Til Kingdom Come.

 

 

July 24^th – Dan, Lisa and I took the slow train to the Black Forest for a day of rest. Lisa and I broke out our nerd goggles and the three of us swam in the lake. I remember that it felt just like being home in Minnesota, which made me glad, for I wasn’t too far from returning home and being with family. The day was beautiful: the sky was clear and the sun was shining, Dan read poetry, some his own and some from a book that I cannot recall and we talked with the comforts of old friends. We talked about sand dusting our wet toes and Lisa and I asked Dan what it is like to be 25.  I turned 25 on August 19th, an unmemorable day because I worked about 10 hours, but, I did go out to eat with Jillian and I did finally cease to be a spring chicken.

 

July 27^th – My last German day. Going to Germany was the highlight of my year. It is always tough for me to be away from home. Though I love to travel, traveling always seems to remind me of my close connection to my home, my family, my friends… I had a phenomenal time in Germany, a time I will always remember. July 27^th was bittersweet: I was leaving my new friends and my new favorite country to return home. I was walked to the Hauptbahnhof by Jeff, Mark, Stephanie and Lisa where I would catch my train that would take me to Frankfurt, where I would take a plane to London before taking a plane home. Ing met up with us and we all had one last chance to sit and chat. We waited and waited and waited as trains came and went. A train not run after is no train at all. Though we had been sitting and waiting I had to get onto a particular car on the train in order to find my specific seat. (In Germany, one does not have to but can reserve a seat.) By the time we ran back and forth and I loaded my heavy bags onto the train, I had only a brief moment to hug goodbye my new friends. There I stood, on one side of the glass, they on the other. I found my seat and listened to the same Coldplay album I listened to on my way into Germany. In my journal all I could write was “the tension between happy and sad is gorgeous.”   Coming home was nice.  I was greeted by my brother Dan and 2 of his kids.  I spent the following weekend up north and got to see my sister Shelley, who I never get to see, and her 2 daughters.  Being home up north at my dad's is just about the best place to be.

October 11^th – Death Cab for Cutie, First   Ave. Their opening band, Youth Group, were fantastic. But Death Cab, whoaza. I think this was the first (but not the last) concert that I’ve worn earplugs at.   I am looking forward to seeing them this Spring with Franz Ferdinand! 

October 16^th – Grandma’s 86^th birthday. A day spent with family, among the chaos and cacophony of young children is a day well spent. Even better, it was a day in which we gathered to honor my Grandma.

 

December 8^th – Ray LaMontagne and Brandi Carlile in concert. The most beautiful show I have ever seen. Ray’s album Trouble is my album of the year, hands down. His voice, his lyrics, everything like the tension between misery and joy that I described earlier remains: it is absolutely gorgeous. I was even further blessed to have the company of my great friend Kris Johnson. We sat there in complete awe and I was glad to be able to convey my amazement with a simple look of bewildering joy. If you haven’t listened to Ray’s album (or I haven’t given it to you) pick it up, today.

Christmastime 2005 – after finishing finals and beginning vacation, I spent time with my family and at church for the Christmas Eve service at Mt. Olive.  I was barely at home during this time, whether I was on the road with my dad, playing cribbage with my dad and grandma, or spending time with nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters or enjoying a special Christmas Dinner with my just mom, brother and his kids, it was a special time.  The Christmas Eve service was as peaceful and beautiful as always.  Housemate Catie came with and we sat with Harold, Betty and their granddaughter Naomi.  Beautiful music, great sermon and even better, God with us!  The day after Christmas was also very memorable as I spent it with my nephew Garrett who had invited me to go to the Timberwolves game.  I felt so privileged to have received such an invitation!

It is not enough to say that I am incredibly blessed in life.  A great family, good friends, the ability to study and do what I am passionate about, the ability to listen to great music which I love, and, most of all, hope, even in the midst of the trials and tribulations of this life. 

Happy New Year!

Wir sind Bettler.

home.

After awaking at 3:30 am London time this morning and hopping across the pond, I am home.  Hallo Minnesota, wie geht's?

back in london

I find it exceptionally odd to have gone from my little yellow room in Freiburg this morning to the smog-laced drizzle of London this night.  It is near midnight and all is well.

last night in Deutschland, for now.

Tuesday night was my last night in Deutschland.  It seems like a year ago by now. 

Symmetry has been a theme throughout the trip; for example, I started in London and now I return to London.  On our first night in Freiburg Lisa, Ann, Mark and I went to the Afghani Restaurant that was less than a stone's throw from our guest house; Kucci.  On our last night, we returned.  I even ate the same dinner: Aubergine (Egg Plant) and other veggies with a sort of gravy on Basmati rice.  As the first night, it took over an hour to get our food, but it was nice to sit, talk and reflect on our time in Deutschland.  This time I went with Stephanie, Lisa, Erica and Mark.  We were joined by a pregnant rabbit* and another classmate Michael. 

After dinner it was time to finish packing and to make last minute travel plans (i.e. finding the appropriate tube route from Heathrow to Central London.)  As I was on my computer in what we call the second kitchen, Lisa came down and we decided to go for a walk.  As it happens, we were able to meet up with friends Matt, Dan and Irene at Feierling: a local bier garten.  It was well after last call (11pm) so we sat with the three whilst they finished their half-liters.  We were joined by Tim, who was technically in my class, but only on paper: he really never came to class.  We walked around the town, stopped for a hyped up choc late shake (which was good but did not meet expectations), ran into a favored bar called Schlappen to pick up a souvenir, and then...we went back home.  Not exactly "living it up" as my friend Jillian suggested, but the perfect end to what had been the time of my life.

Wednesday, amongst other things, brought a fun class which included a field trip to the Munster and a visit to a local cafe.  I had apple juice.  We had a bit of a break on which I ran back to the Guest House to check out.  When I got back to our room: Raum 7, everyone had gone.  I had run into them on their way out and was able to say ciao and goodbye.  Our beloved teacher (photos to come) Andreas was still around and gave me my certificate and I was able to thank him for all the Deutsch.  I had about an hour to kill before meeting Jeff and Lisa at 1pm.  I wandered around once more and said goodbye to locals that I had gotten to know.  Since that included only one person in a nearby bakery, I was back to the Goethe Institute with a half-hour to kill.  Luckily I heard Erica in a classroom and was able to squeeze in a little more time with one of my favorite people from my trip.  She is from Corvalis, Oregon, she went to Eastern Mennonite University (I think in Virginia), and because of this, knows my old boss and one of my favorite people ever: Orv Gingerich.  Orv used to teach at EMU, but now is the head of CGE at Augsburg.  He helped my change my flat tire last winter.  Anyways, Erica is staying in Germany for hopefully quite some time.  I am a bit jealous, but I am also very happy to know that I will be home tomorrow(!)At 1pm there was a short and sweet goodbye from the Institute.  This brought the first wave of the goodbyes, but I was glad not to have to make all my goodbyes (and certainly not my most important goodbyes) yet.

I wanted to go to my favorite lunch spot, a cuban lunch bar/bar called Cohibar.  Stephanie found it and we had been enjoying its excellent eats for a couple of weeks.  I went with Lisa and we were joined shortly thereafter by Stephanie, who had to run an errand.  Lisa did not eat, but Stephanie and I did.  Having had their excellent Aubergine and goat cheese grilled sandwich on Monday, and eying the choice of tortellini in some sort of cheese sauce, I went for the tortellini.  As did Stephanie.  (And we were not disappointed.)  We all tried  not to cry, which we succeeded in doing (although barely).  We sat there, looking around and talking a bit in between the thought-filled silence.  Lunch was over and it was time to go.  Lisa had to run back to Goethe and Stephanie had to buy some books.  I went with Stephanie one last time to the University.  We decided to buy Lisa a book she had been talking about.  It was about a fish who traveled around the little rivers that bordered each street in Freiburg. Anyways, we wrote different memories throughout the book as well as a high-school-yearbook-like- goodbye.  (Although not as trite.)  It was really fun to see her reaction once she realized that we hadn't just bought the book but that we had bought it for her.

Then 3pm rolled around and it was time to head to the Hauptbahnhof for my train to Frankfurt.  I was accompanied by Lisa, Stephanie, Jeff, Mark and later Ing.  Also, Tom, from my class who also had the stipend I had, came with.  Mark had to jet, as did Tom, but Lisa, Stephanie, Jeff and Ing stayed until my train came. 

It has been said that a train is not a train unless one runs after it.  Though we were at the station with plenty of time, we couldn't find the right carriage.  (I had a reservation with a specific seat assignment).  We ended up running the wrong way and having to turn back.  We had to rush through the goodbyes and then the doors closed leaving me one one side and some of my closest Germany friends on the other.  I already felt so far away.  I noted in my journal of the tension between happy and sad.  I wanted to stay, I want to come home.  I am sad to leave good friends, I am happy to see my family and my good friends.  It is a gorgeous tension and one that caused me only to smile and sigh as I thought, "how sweet it is."  In another  symmetrical moment, I listened to Coldplay as I had done on my way to Freiburg only 2 months ago. 

I made it to Frankfurt without incident, in fact all the way to London and then St. Paul's Station with mostly ease.  And now, I am enjoying my new favorite ice cream:  Ben and Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Crunch, and sitting in an internet "cafe" and enjoying tunes by the likes of Led Zeppelin and the Beach Boys and the Beatles.

Earlier today I went back to Abbey Road, back to the Virgin Megastore and Picadilly Circus, back to the Hard Rock Cafe (though not for eating; they had a bad kitchen fire and will be closed for some time).  I bought what I hope are the last souvenirs and will go back to the hostel for a rest before heading out to the Tate Modern to take in a Frida Kahlo exhibit.  Not a bad day. 

I leave early tomorrow (yay for waking up at 3:30) and head home.  I look forward to greeting my brother and niece in the airport before heading to Luther and then to his house for a bbq. 

 

 

*The pregnant rabbit is none other than Jacob, one of our beloved Zivis (it is mandatory in Germany to serve either in the military or in the civil service.  Jacob is serving as a Zivi in the Goethe Institute.)  He is neither pregnant nor a rabbit, but has the directional sense of one.  What that means, I don't know.

on sunday afternoons in deutschland.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I leave here in about 72 hours.  Two months now comes down to three days.  One might think that this would be a time of excitement, one filled with activities and last minute to-dos.  It is not.  I woke up yesterday after noon and I woke up today at about noon.  I have been meandering through cobblestone streets in my mind saying goodbye to the city and the memories it has given me. 

The next three days will be filled with classwork: more article declensions, nouns and verbs that I should memorize....  The next three days will be filled with packing, though I have already gotten a good head start.   And the next three days will be filled with the same sleepless nights that seem to visit me before I venture to travel.  This time a bit more so.  I am not scared to go to London, though I wish I could fly directly from Frankfurt.  I am tired of it all.  I want to sleep in my own bed.  I want to hug my nephews and nieces and tell them how much I missed them and how much I love them.  I want to sing hymns at church, hear a sermon in a language I understand and take part in the Lord's Supper.  I want to run away up north to spend time with my dad and simply relax and take in the beauty of the simple life.  I want my grandma's baked pancakes: the ones that she'll tell me I eat to fast.  Not yet though. 

One more week of this traveling life and then it is home for me.  Home until I feel the need to explore again.  It is funny to me, my sense of home.  I feel quite attached to home, but I do not recognize just how strong this attachment is until I am far from home.  At home I want to run from pragmatism, systematic stability and such.  Away from home I crave it. 

I am thankful for this time, but am ready to be home.

gender dependencies

                                               

	M	N	F	Pl
N	r	s	e	e
A	n	s	e	e
D	m	m	r	n
G	s	s	r	r

I've decided to get this grid tatooed on my hand.  My left hand to be precise.  Even more precise, on the inside so that it doesn't show too much.  Warum?  You may ask.  This is the chart for noun declensions for the genders and cases.  Ah blessed cases, how I love thee...  I suppose it isn't the cases so much that give me a hard time but rather the genders.  There are three genders in Deutsche: Masculine, Feminine and Neuter (don't you just love saying neuter).  On top of this is the plural, but she gives me no troubles.  When one learns nouns, one must also learn its gender.  This is not new to me as I have had this in the two languages I have forgotten by now: French and Spanish.  In Deutsch, it is a bit more mandatory; walking down the street one is apt to find a mother pressing her son for the proper article (aka "the") as well as the proper noun, as in, the tree.  The, der, die, das auf Deutsch, is perhaps the most used word in any language. 

But it gets even better.  The cases: nominative (for nouns), accusative (for direct objects), dative (for indirect objects) and genitive (which I am far from learning), change the endings of the nouns.  So, zum Beispiel (for example):

the tree (the nouns are ALWAYS CAPITALIZED (which is really great)):
N: der Baum
A: Ich bin bei den Baum.
D: Ich gehe zum Baum.

the car:
N: das Auto
A: Ich bin ins Auto
D: Ich fahre nach Freiburg im Auto.

the flower:
N: die Blume
A: Ich sehe die Blume
D: Ich sehe eine Wespe auf den Blume.

Not to mention verdammt prepositions...I do have to say that with all this Deautsch learning I am learning the English language all the better.  Who knew grammar could be so useful?!

It has been an intense week of study, our last full one to be exact.  A week from today I will be in London.  A week from tomorrow I will be at home.  Last week I was happy at the prospect of a swift approaching return home.  This week I am far more mixed.  I am realizing the people that I will miss when I am away from Freiburg.  I have had an incredible summer, I've done things, seen things and thought things that I have never thought before. 

I am not sure where to begin this update.  I think I will start with today and work backwards.  Today I had a full day of class followed by laundry (quite an accomplishment) and a bit of souviner and book shopping.  After returning home I almost immediately began reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Not in Deutsch.  I am up to chapter 9 or page 162 for those following along at home. 

Yesterdaywas quite the day: I went to class (also quite the accomplishment as we near the end) and then to a mini-lecture on the situation in Iraq by an Iraqi professor who is studying at the Goethe-Institute.  It was quite facinating to hear a more insider view.  I left early to play basketball with our regular crew.  My team, consisting of Peter, Jeff and I won two games to three against Ing (the Ing dynasty), Patrick and Matt.  I am aware you have no idea who these people are, but there should be photos soon.  And after that it was towel change time (a highlight of every Wednesday evening) and then cheap spaghetti (1.80 Euro for a lot of good spaghetti).  Then I went to see the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (auf Englisch) with Stephanie, Charles, Erica and Alejandro.  It was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen and, along with the Potter book, I purchased its literary form today.  The plane ride is not looking so long anymore!  I recommend it for a million reasons, none of which I will give here except that there are singing dolphins. 

This week has been filled with classes and the normal activities: basketball, walking, running, a definite lack of sleep and calls home to extend birthday wishes.   Tuesday was my nephew's birthday (he turned 6!) and today is my friend Jillian's birthday.  Happy birthday! 

This weekend I will go to the Bodensee, which borders with Switzerland, and I am happily tempted to go on the craziest one-day train trip to Paris for the end of the Tour de France (go Lance!)  I am also hoping to sleep a bit more, but that is doubtful.

One last thing (I promise) on gender dependencies.  Rivers: the Rhine (in Germany) and the Seine (in France) take the genders of their spirits.  The Rhine takes a masculine form and the Seine takes a feminine form.  You really can't catch a break in this wonderfully systematic language!

so long and thanks for all the fish.

ahh fair München

What a weekend!  I was troubled earlier in the week at the prospect of having to sell my Coldplay tickets and forgo the trip to Munich.  Fortunately, I found Caroline, a student from Sweden, and Kate, a student from the US to accompany me.  It was a very quickly decided trip; we went to the travel agency and selected the best possible train ticket/hotel accommodation package possible.  Everything was like clockwork as it fell into place.  A few days later we were leaving class a couple of hours early to leave for Munich on a fast train. 

We arrived around dinnertime on Friday, made our way to the hotel, dropped our stuff and then headed to dinner in the Altstadt (Old City).  We ate at the Hofbräuhaus, the main, though necessary tourist trap, in Munich.  I had a brat, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes along with my liter of dark beer.  It was most excellent.  Check out the forthcoming photos to see just how big a liter is.

The main reason for going to Munich was to go to the Coldplay concert.  However, we did manage to sneak in a few other sights on our short stay.  In German cities in particular, there is something called the Altstadt, or Old City, where most sights are to be seen.  This is where we focused most of our attention.  We saw different churches and government buildings and walked around cobblestone clad streets.  Munich is a city that I will have to return to and visit more in depth.  I will look forward to this!

I purchased my tickets for the Coldplay concert back in March.  To say the least, I was looking forward to this.  It was held at the Olympic Stadium near the center of the city.  The concert was held in the stadium's park .  We arrived at 4pm for the 5 o’clock start.  We bought our ridiculously expensive t-shirts and found a good place to sit.  At 5 everyone stood up and moved forward about 40 feet in anticipation of the first opening act.  It was an act from Germany and they sounded pretty good.  I can’t remember precisely what they are called, but I think I might investigate and invest in some more German music.  After the first group came Richard Ashcroft, whom I previously blogged about in the post titled “music of the week(s).”  He did a fine job.

Coldplay were awesome!  The concert started with the song Square One and flowed right into Politik, the drum pounding, noise making opener of the album A Rush of Blood to the Head.  They played three songs off of their debut album Parachutes: Don’t Panic, Yellow and Everything’s Not Lost- my three favorites from that album.  Off of A Rush of Blood…they played: Politik, In My Place, The Scientist, Clocks and Warning Sign.  Off of their new album they played: Square One, What If, White Shadows, Fix You, Talk, Speed of Sound, Low, and Til Kingdom Come.  It was a good set with one encore that included fireworks and bright, bright lights.  It was a fantastic night that ended late.  The next morning I decided to skip tourism and I took and earlier train home.  It was a good, but exhausting, weekend.

I came back to beautiful Freiburg and enjoyed the evening, talked with friends, and sat on the deck and watched the rain fall.  The deck is just below a terrace and is covered from all water like droppings.  It is my favorite vantage point to watch the rain or to sit and steal some thoughts. 

It was back to the proverbial grind on Monday.  Two and a half weeks left and oh so much German to learn.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The Long Weekend part II

the second part of my long weekend (July 2-3) was spent in Cologne.   I am not sure what to say about the city.  I was glad I went- it is Germany's fourth largest- but I am not sure that I'll ever return.  The big to do in Cologne is to visit the Cologne Dom; the ridiculously large cathedral that absolutely dominates the city.  The cathedral is the largest in Germany and I think the largest that I've ever been to.  I've got to say, and this may sound a bit odd given what I do and study, I am not very thrilled with such grandiose displays of...well I don't know exactly what.  I think it is perhaps a theological problem, and hence one I should keep to myself.  For once I think I will heed my advice.  It was pretty and fine and big and that is that.  (for now)

The Rhine river runs through the city as well.  I have seen it already in Basel, Switzerland and in crossing over from Germany to France.  I like walking next to the large rivers of Europe.

We went to no musuems.  I have had my fill (or near fill) of museums for this summer.  Oh, except for the Tate Modern in London which I will visit in a couple week's time; it now houses a Frida Kahlo collection that I have been wanting to see.  It will be surreal to go back to London, but I am looking forward to it.

We stayed about a 30 minute U-Bahn ride away in a nice 3-star hotel.  Hotels in Germany are fairly cheap, especially when you fit 3 people into a 2 person room.  It was very comfortable and I enjoyed the great night of rest after walking around all day.

We ate at a small German restaurant and I ate another Brat.  Yum.  I really like the mustard that accompanies the brats as well as the large pieces of bread.  Das schmekt! 

As it happened, we happened upon the largest gay pride parade in all of Germany.  It is known as Christopher Street Day Parade and it travels to different cities in different weekends.  Cologne is known as the San Francisco of Germany and so, it was the best of all the parades.  (This is true, for this past weekend Munich hosted Christopher Streeet Day and was not as fun).  It was great to have encountered such a party and such an environment.  Without it, our trip to Cologne would have been a disappointment.  Gay marriage is legal in Germany, but abortion is not; though in the first 12 weeks it is not prosecuted and it is allowed in cases of violence.  I certainly don't want to use this blog as a soapbox or discussion on the hot topics, but I think Germany is on to something.

Anyways, we returned home late on the 3rd of July and were able to rest on the 4th.  This year I was able to celebrate the 4th.  In between the constant rain showers we had a bbq and ate some burgers and brats and drank some beer.  No fireworks, but still good.  Later in the night a few of us went to the wine festival that was wrapping up to savor cheap but good wine. 

It was back to class on Tuesday (the 5th) as we started the second half of classes.  4 down, 4 to go! 

Check out the photos in the Europe photo album.

coming soon...

COLDPLAY

Munich

music of the week(s)

the long weekend part 2

the return to freiburg including: rain, rain, beautiful rain and der kreig der welt.

The photos are updated through cologne.  Maybe tomorrow for Munich and the Coldplay concert.

The Long Weekend

Returning late last night from my 3 day, 2 night trip to Heidelberg and Cologne, I slept and slept and slept.  This afternoon, after being awake for a few hours, I continued that trend.  Who knew that walking hours on end and then hours on end again would be so tiring.  I have been celebrating the 4th with naps, and what a celebration it has been.

The rain continues to fall, however sporatically, on our city of Freiburg.  A welcomed change from the heat that suffocated us for the past few weeks.  It is hampering our bbq plans, but only for a while.  You can't keep a good ol' American bbq down for too long!  The grill is hot and the meat is about to be cooked.  So I am not without celebration.  I am happy to be celebrating, even in this small way.  Last year there were no celebrations and, though the 4th is not my favorite holiday, I missed it.  So, here's to a happy 4th!

Back to the weekend.  Lisa and I headed for Heidelberg early on Friday morning.  We were planning on meeting up with Ann at a later point in the day, so we ventured into the Old City in search of its Schloss: an old, crumbling castle.  It was quite a hike up to the top.  They liked to build things on top of grand, steep hills which worked well for keeping enemies at a distance, but not so well for tourists who would visit many years later. 

The castle still stands, though it has been falling apart and crumbling at its sides.  It is still a sight to be seen.  I will have photos uploaded later this week to show you its grandious fraility.   My favorite part was the giant vat that brewed beer for many years.  I think it could hold something like 220,000 liters.  It took us 42 steps to walk up this barrel-like monstrousity. 

After the castle, we ventured back into the old city.  We wanted to find the university, which we did.  The University of Heidelberg was founded in 1386 and still stands and functions this day.  It is well known for its academics.  Heidelberg was also the locus of the Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, one of Luther's finest works and a work that I am studying while here in Germany. 

After a long, long walk, we found our other tripmate Ann at our hostel.  After being exhausted from the long walk, (did I mention it was long), we were happy to take public transportation back into the city.  We walked around and ate a good German dinner and drank good German beer.  I found my favorite thus far: Lowenbrau Dunkel.  It is from Munich and is a dark brew.  It was quite tasty and got me excited for my trip next weekend to Munich.

...