Unexpected weather

The weather the past few days were good. However, I did not travel much this week. Only been to Ladenburg and Hambach Schloß which I was quite sian to learn that it was under renovation. This morning however, I woke up to find out that I could not see anything outside my window:

8:00 am

1 hour later

I was quite surprised and went to switch on my laptop to go online. To my even greater surprise I could not go online. My laptop could not be assigned an IP address by the server. And I thought there was something wrong or anything. Tried to repair but no avail. So I went to look for the person in charge and he said that it always happen whenever the weather is like that. Oh Crap.... and so for the whole morning I was stuck without the internet, which is acutally quite good cos I managed to finally do my laundry for the first time.

And the weather was -1 deg today. Cold but have more or less accepted this kinda of weather and gotten used to it. I will talk abit of what I saw at Ladenburg in another post.

guten Appetit..

...und ich hoffe, ich werde später nicht ins Krankenhaus geschafft.

You see

1) chicken fillet with sause
2) wurst
3) boiled greens sprinked with salt
4)BEER

The cost
1) 2.99Euros for 600g of fillet
2) as below
3) 1.25Euros for 1kg of greens
4) as below
5) and maybe the hidden cost of being rushed to the hospital later...

Now I am starting to appreciate the food my mother cooks whenever I go home. I am not sure if she is reading this post.

Cheap Food in Germany

The poor man's alternative to eating out

You see

1) Pasta (0.55 Euros - used up 1/3 packet)

2) Kiwi Yoghurt (0.29 Euros)

3) BEER (0.33 Euros per bottle!!!!!)

4) Sausage (0.358 per Sausage)

5) Pasta sause (1.39 - used up 1/2 bottle)

Apparently the PPP-theory does not really apply to Germany and Singapore.

Exchange rate - 1 Euro = 2.10 SGD (that was the rate I got before I left. But just now when I checked http://www.xe.com/ucc/, I got so sian because the SGD has appreciated to 2.06 after I came over here.)

And yes, its edible.

Heidelberg

Ich hab mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren

- Fritz Löhner (I lost my heart in Heidelberg)

Finally I visited Heidelberg today with Hong Keat, even though it is a only 15 minute train ride from Mannheim. In fact initially Heidelberg was the city that I wanted to go to for my exchange program in Germany, but later on I decided to go to Mannheim instead. Heidelberg is one of the must-go for all tourists for visit Germany, and in fact almost the whole city sustains its economy on tourism. Heidelberg one of the most beautiful city in Germany, especially the scene of the old bridge with the castle and the old city in the background.

The old bridge and the old inner city with the castle

Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Walk)

This is actually a trail on the other side of the river facing the inner city and the castle. If you see in the picture, the trail is above the houses across the hill and we had to climb up steps to reach the trail, but thank goodness it was not as tiring at the one I experienced in Weinheim.

climbing up the steps

Why is it called the Philosophenweg? It is believed that Heidelberg's Philosophers and University Profs (The Uni of Heidelberg is the oldest in Germany) used to walk there and perhaps gathered inspration in the process of doing so. While walking along the trail, we saw that it was not only a place where people sat there to read, enjoy the view of the other side of the view (as seen from above), but also pursue romantic persuits.

Crossing the old bridge and entering the inner city

Here is the gate of the old bridge which brings us into the old, inner city. The inner city is very much the same as most inner city in other cities in Germany. There you could find churches, a Markplatz (marketplace), Schloß (palace) as well as a Rathaus (town hall). Heidelberg is no exception. However its Schloß has a very beautiful garden which also provides a great scenery of the old bridge and the innercity, as can be seen in one of the pictures below.

Huge church organ inside the Heiliggeistkirche (Church of Holy Spirit)

Hotel zum Ritter built in 1592.

The view of the old city from the castle garden. I think it is a great place to just lay a mat, have a picnic and watch the world go by. From the castle garden we could see part of the damaged castle, to enter the castle would cost us 1.5o Euro. I did not enter this time, but I am deciding if I should go in the next time I visit Heidelberg.

The shopping street above is called the Hauptstraße - main street in German. It is a 2km street leading to the way up to climb to the castle gardens.

Today was my first visit to Heidelberg, but I did not see much, only the main areas. Heidelberg is really a romantic city and it is no wonder why I see people all over the world there. In fact I think I will return to Heidelberg very soon, since its so near and I do not have to pay for transport. I would be interested to actually learn more about the oldest Uni in Germany as well as check out the nightlife there!

Dinner at Hong Keat's

Hong Keat lives the next block and on our way back we met Charmaine n Zhenle on the bus, and since he had chicken, rice and some lettuce he asked us to come over where we had chicken soup, rice and wurst (susages), and of course chips and beer. It was also the first time I met Zhi Wei (not sure if its spelt correctly) from NUS Business and this American girl (can't remember her name though) from Carolina.

They commented that I blog real fast... but I think my blogging days are limited already. When lesson begins, all these fun has to stop!
http://picasaweb.google.com/mannheim08/09FebHeidelberg

Speyer

A walk along the Maximilianstraße

I would say that today's sightseeing in Speyer was not as tiring at the one at Weinheim, because I did not have to climb up and down hills, which also meant that I did not see any castles in Speyer. In fact there is not much to see in Speyer since some of the attractions like the Judenhof is only open in April. As a result I completed the walk around the main city area in Speyer rather quickly, in about 3 hours.

The main place, and also the most beautiful place along the Maximilianstraße (Maximilian Street), where it is lined with two rows of colourful houses, and with the Kaiserdom zu Speyer (Imperial Cathedral of Speyer) - built before 1100 facing the Altpörtel (old gate) - built slightly before 1200.

Kaiserdom zu Speyer

Altpörtel

Kaiserdom zu Speyer

This Cathedral was added in 1981 to the UNESCO World heritage list of culturally important sites. In fact the orignial purpose of this Cathedral was built by an emperor before his death, and subsequently became a honourable burial place for German emperors as well as honourable bishops. I found this Cathedral to be very different from others that I have stepped into, because of the colours of the bricks. The interior was not dark at all, it looked sandy with a tint of red. Reminds me of a pyramid actually.

Domplatz

Basement of the Cathedral - resembles an Egyption tomb acutally.

Gedächtniskirche der Protestation (The Memorial Church of the Protestation)

Not far away from the Maximilianstraße sits the Gedächtniskirche der Protestation. It was built between 1893 and 1904 in memory of a the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire that took place in Speyer in 1529. This church was built during the time when Germany experienced Kulturkampf, and that the relations between the Protestants and Catholics were at a nadir. As a result, this church was intended to be a church for the Protestants.

The design of the church looked rather gothic from outside. Unfortunately, half of the church was undergoing improvement works. (In fact most of the churches I visited these days in various cities are all undergoing improvement works.)

Just after pushing the heavy doors to enter the church, you could see a very thick tome in which visitors could write what they want. Of course I left my personal message behind.

Church Organ

Technik-Museum Speyer

The first thing that came to my mind when I was entered the museum foyer is that this is like the Science Centre. As a result I did not want to pay to enter. However it is very popular with kids because of the many aeroplanes on display, and for a fee, they could also take a ride in the plane around the city.

Eingang means entrance

It seems to me that the urinals at such scientific places are also quite different. The last time when I was in Bremen university science centre, I saw a green mesh with a pin-head size soccer-ball in every urinal. Today I was reminded of it again.

Dinner with the Singaporeans

We met at Ian's place at 8pm today, and there were like 10 of us. Malcom remarked that we have already beat the Malaysians in terms of gathering numbers. We had pineapple rice, chicken wings, chicken curry as well as dumplings for dinner, followed by make-do Lou Hei using carrots and tuna, and agar-agar with coconut milk for desert. It was a great dinner and Ian can really cook I must say, and of course he was very happy to host us.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mannheim08/08Feb08Speyer

Weinheim an der Bergstraße

The first time that I sweated since I arrived in Germany

Starting to get addicted to the idea of hopping into a last minute train and going to another city without any map, I went to the Hbf again and took a train to Weinheim, which was about 20 minutes ride. Previously I have read that Weinheim is a beautiful town as well as I decided to have a look. I wish I'd have been more prepared because it turned out to be unexpectedly tiring which left my whole back aching. But it was worth it actually. Armed with a waterbottle and 3 bananas, I walked up the path of the hills leading to these 2 castles. And I did perspire.... although the weather was quite cold and it rained quite heavily as I attemped to walk up the hills.

Windeck Castle - My first landmark

Armed with zest, I acutally managed to reach the top with ease. Perhaps it is because this was the first landmark I approached and diminishing marginal returns have not set in.

This castle is located on top of a 222 meter hill.

Can you see a rainbow? took this shot along the way while climbing up.

I risked my life for this shot... went off the track, tried to balance on the slides and took the picture of the Altstadt (old city) and Markplatz (market place)

View of the city once I reached the castle

It was originally construced in the 12th century, although much of it has been destroyed and continuous efforts have been made to safeguard the castle.

Climbed up the tower with much difficulty cos there was no light to guide me! And the stony steps were very high and slippery.. due to the rain.

Wachenburg Castle

Acutally this is not really considered a castle but more of a Korporationhaus (Fraternity house) built by the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent, which is like a Student Association Corps. It was built somewhere between the time 1907 to 1928.

This building stands 402 metres high above the ground. Can you actually see it? Nowonder I walked this one up like mad.... after descending from the first castle.

Finally I reached!

Check out all the colourful coat of arms of the Corp.

Going down to the Altstadt and Marktplatz

After having enough of the Wachenburg, I took a slow walk down and found myself in some fairy-tale lookalike houses. In German they are called "Fachwerkhaus" - timbered house. Most of them are built during the 17th century and such houses are commonplace in Germany, and cities which are fortunate enough not to be bombed in WWII still preserve such houses. If you notice carefully, the front door is very short. I had to bend down a little to make my way through one of the doors, which made me wonder how tall people were at that time.

Can you still see the Windeck castle on top?

Marktplatz (In old Germany, every town has a marketplace which lies in the centre of the innercity)
Rathaus - Town Hall

Schlossgarten - Palace garden behind the Rathaus

Weinheim is beautiful because it still retains its flavour of a few hundred years ago, especially in the Altstadt and Markplatz. You still see the old buildings which were built long ago and continue to exist today, in which businesses like cafes and boutiques can be found in these old buildings. I have a feeling if you continue to read more of the posts coming up, you'd see castles and castles and more castles. I once heard that there are > 300 castles in Germany!

Along the way back to Mannheim, I passed by Ladenburg... hmmm looks nice too.. Shall add this to my list of places to go.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mannheim08/06Feb08Weinheim

Feiern auf der Straße (Street Party - Mannheim)

Today happened to be the last day of the celebrations of the Fasching in this region, and as a result most of the shops were closed by afternoon time, to make way for the street party. After coming back from Worms, I dropped my stuff and went out again, to check out the street party within the shopping district of Paradeplatz in the Innenstadt of Mannheim.

And boy it was quite happening. Babies, Kids, Teenagers, Adults and even the Elderly could be seen dressing up in costumes and dancing away! Every stage blasted music and the people just danced on the street as though Germany has just won the world cup. It seems to me that whenever there is a party everyone knows how to dress up and be real crazy. Even the aunties, possibly the age of my mother, are also dressed up!

German teenagers on top of the telephone booths.

In terms of costumes I thought this one was reallly cool. (The Military Uniform of East Germany)

Horny German girls?

Hmmmm......

No German party is complete without Sausages and Steaks stuffed in Bread. I had one myself too....

..... as well as Beer and Alcohol.. however during this period of the time, because of the cold weather, Glühwein (Mulled wine) is also very popular. Basically it is wine that has been boiled hot. I am not sure if any other things are added but it tastes to me like boiled wine. I'll still stick to beer.

When will the next party be? When school starts?

http://picasaweb.google.com/mannheim08/05Feb08StreetpartyFinaleOfFaschingMannheim