The story starts (as far too many stories do) with cell phone problems. My US cell phone turned into a brick (more accurately, into a land line -- it works fine so long as it is plugged in). Jay had brought an extra cell phone, because he had thought he might sign up for local data on it. He believed that phone was unlocked, so I bought a local SIM card, but it took interactions with ATT (where he bought the cell), Apple (it's an iPhone) and the SIM card provider to get the phone really unlocked and the right kind of plan/money on the card. Since Germans apparently don't believe in using credit cards for things like prepaid phone plans, this was an adventure.
Once I had a working cell with a data plan, not only could I call my hosts to let them know if I was delayed, I could download the deutschebahn app, and track my progress as I traveled. This was a godsend. Using German trains is overall pretty easy, assuming you are OK with lugging suitcases up and down lots of stairs (there are supposed to be elevators or escalators, but in my experience they only work about half the time). The trains consistently show up on the same track every time, and there is a sign telling you if you have the right train. The trains are comfortable, and, as a single traveler, all my seat mates were pleasant.
The problems come when you try to figure which is your stop. On the long distance trains, announcements are often made in English (but not on the local trains), but they are as impossible to understand as the German announcements. There is a sign for each station, but many times there is another train blocking the view of it. The deutschebahn app allowed me to see the list of stations between my starting and ending point, and let me know which station I was at. It would also have allowed me to find an alternative train, if I had missed any of my connections. It turned out that all the trains were on time for me, but especially going from Bamberg to Heidelberg, where I had 4 connections to make, I was panicked that I would miss at least one of them
First Bamberg. I went there to visit Dorothee and her husband Dieter. Dorothee was an exchange student with my family many years ago, but I've never visited her before. She's in the diplomatic corps, and I managed to find out that she was going to be in Germany overlapping my visit. Bamberg is a lovely town, the center of which is a World Heritage site, in the northern end of Bavaria. The old buildings have details like this one
And here is a picture of Dorothee in front of one of the doors to the Dom, the cathedral there (this is a catholic part of Germany).
Obviously, I didn't get close enough on that one for you to really see her, but the church is impressive.
We also visited the Church of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. This is a baroque church, so lots of gold, jewels and curlicues, devoted to fourteen saints that one prayed to for various ailments (headache, fever, childbirth) during the plague years. Absolutely gorgeous, but my camera was not up to the task of taking good pictures of it.
Heidelberg is a university town, and Eva, the daughter of the friends we visited in Oldenburg, is a medical student there. She had a free day that coincided with my availability, so I took the RE train to the ICE train to the RB (really slow train) to the EC train to get to her. She showed me around the town, including the very nice Altstadt (the old city), some parts of the university (the really old parts, which are more picturesque) and the Schloss (remnants of an old castle high on the hill) -- they tell you that's it's 303 steps up there. I did not confirm the count.
Here's the Neckar River that divides the town.
Here is Eva in front of the Schloss
And this is one of the old German fraternities (really drinking societies) that are on the walk up to the Schloss (these guys must have to wait till they sober up to go home. I could never walk up this steep cobblestone path drunk). The pattern of the roof tiles tells you something about the society.
I also got introduced by Eva to "melon shots" (speaking of drinking), which are apparently a Heidelberg specialty. Just what you think -- liqueur made from melon juice. Pretty good, but I'm a bit too old to drink them regularly.
After a leisurely breakfast before Eva's class the next day, I found my way back to the train station and to Duisburg. While I haven't yet experienced having to deal with a missed connection, I feel like a near expert on German trains.
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