So many times today I asked myself..."am i really here?" I think it really hit me today that i'm finally in germany. it took me a while to come to this realization partly because a lot of it is failry similar to america. the haupt strasse is a lot like 3rd street in Santa Monica. lots of bustling people and stores. but, i don't think santa monica has amazingly detailed architechture, cobble stone pathways, thin walkways, every one on bikes, outside markets, and last but not least, a freaking CASTLE up the street. (ok - so maybe they're not so similar at all...)
anyway, I tried my first coffee house today. Star Coffee. Complete with free wireless internet with a purchase of a drink. I know i'll be hitting that place up frequently!! After our last day of orientation, i just wandered around and found more coffee houses (they are so popular here, whoop!) and made my way towards the neckar river....i've been dared to go skinny dipping in it some time this year, and i think i'll take them up on their offer. you know me!! :)
also made my way up the castle today (see the pictures). again, i think this is one of those things where you can't really capture the essense of the castle without seeing it with your own eyes. i knew heidelberg had a castle, but i kind of imagined something disneyland-esque...kind of small with a bunch of towers. but nope...this is a legit castle. it's huge. and it has the most beautiful view of the city. at the entrance of the castle is an area with a bunch of trees and green grass. it's going to look beautiful once the leaves start changing. i think i'll make that one of those places to study or take a book up there or maybe a journal. perfect. i just love how i'm starting to find places that i can really call my own. i can't wait to become a "local" at a favourite coffee shop. they'll know my name and my order :) that would be amazing.
but anyway, about the castle - i went down with julie, stephen, peter, sabrina and felicia. and when we got there, a wedding had just finished (what a beautiful place to get married!) well anyway, there was a reception going on...but there were still a lot of tourists. while we were walking around and enjoying the view we met a couple people. one guy, marius (he's a waiter at the restaurant in the castle), grew up in heidelberg but he was really excited to talk to some americans/canadians. he invited us to hang out with him and his friends some time, which would be kind of fun! we also met a junior of harvard who was on his way doing research on his family origins and travelling abroad. we've just been meeting people slowly and getting to know the city a little better. one thing that i didn't expect was for the people to be really friendly. here, people are SO nice to you if you just show a little bit of effort to speak german. they're eager to learn english and we're eager to learn some german. so it works out.
mom, i actually got some opportunities to speak french today. felicia, sabrina and i were going through stores and in one of them, i noticed that the woman was listening to french music. we started talking to her by asking her if she knew english...and she only knew a little bit, but was throwing french in the mix as she was talking. so i was able to communicate with her a little bit...it was really fun! it's inspiring to learn another language, especially to be able to communicate with the people.
well, i think that's pretty much it for now...as for my guitar, it's still on its way. supposedly it was on it's way from paris at 3 today. i'm also really getting to know the group a lot better...starting to figure out who i'll want to travel with and who i'm definitely not going to travel with. i'm starting to figure out who is trust worthy and who will just leave you in the dust if you dont' want to go to a crowded pub for the night. that sounds a lot more bitter than it really should be - but it's a good thing to be careful of and to note down. the good thing about heidelberg, espeically old town heidelberg, is that it feels so safe.
tschuss for now!
(skip to all music-related posts)
So many times today I asked myself..."am i really here?" I think it really hit me today that i'm finally in germany. it took me a while to come to this realization partly because a lot of it is failry similar to america. the haupt strasse is a lot like 3rd street in Santa Monica. lots of bustling people and stores. but, i don't think santa monica has amazingly detailed architechture, cobble stone pathways, thin walkways, every one on bikes, outside markets, and last but not least, a freaking CASTLE up the street. (ok - so maybe they're not so similar at all...)
anyway, I tried my first coffee house today. Star Coffee. Complete with free wireless internet with a purchase of a drink. I know i'll be hitting that place up frequently!! After our last day of orientation, i just wandered around and found more coffee houses (they are so popular here, whoop!) and made my way towards the neckar river....i've been dared to go skinny dipping in it some time this year, and i think i'll take them up on their offer. you know me!! :)
also made my way up the castle today (see the pictures). again, i think this is one of those things where you can't really capture the essense of the castle without seeing it with your own eyes. i knew heidelberg had a castle, but i kind of imagined something disneyland-esque...kind of small with a bunch of towers. but nope...this is a legit castle. it's huge. and it has the most beautiful view of the city. at the entrance of the castle is an area with a bunch of trees and green grass. it's going to look beautiful once the leaves start changing. i think i'll make that one of those places to study or take a book up there or maybe a journal. perfect. i just love how i'm starting to find places that i can really call my own. i can't wait to become a "local" at a favourite coffee shop. they'll know my name and my order :) that would be amazing.
but anyway, about the castle - i went down with julie, stephen, peter, sabrina and felicia. and when we got there, a wedding had just finished (what a beautiful place to get married!) well anyway, there was a reception going on...but there were still a lot of tourists. while we were walking around and enjoying the view we met a couple people. one guy, marius (he's a waiter at the restaurant in the castle), grew up in heidelberg but he was really excited to talk to some americans/canadians. he invited us to hang out with him and his friends some time, which would be kind of fun! we also met a junior of harvard who was on his way doing research on his family origins and travelling abroad. we've just been meeting people slowly and getting to know the city a little better. one thing that i didn't expect was for the people to be really friendly. here, people are SO nice to you if you just show a little bit of effort to speak german. they're eager to learn english and we're eager to learn some german. so it works out.
mom, i actually got some opportunities to speak french today. felicia, sabrina and i were going through stores and in one of them, i noticed that the woman was listening to french music. we started talking to her by asking her if she knew english...and she only knew a little bit, but was throwing french in the mix as she was talking. so i was able to communicate with her a little bit...it was really fun! it's inspiring to learn another language, especially to be able to communicate with the people.
well, i think that's pretty much it for now...as for my guitar, it's still on its way. supposedly it was on it's way from paris at 3 today. i'm also really getting to know the group a lot better...starting to figure out who i'll want to travel with and who i'm definitely not going to travel with. i'm starting to figure out who is trust worthy and who will just leave you in the dust if you dont' want to go to a crowded pub for the night. that sounds a lot more bitter than it really should be - but it's a good thing to be careful of and to note down. the good thing about heidelberg, espeically old town heidelberg, is that it feels so safe.
tschuss for now!
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