Day 5 - In the Ghetto

We spent Mon. morn lazily hanging out with Gerald, who had, by reason of foul weather, graced us with his presence. Jane made us an awesome omelet out of our raclette leftovers. G allowed us to lie down on each side of him and love him bald. We made a G sandwich and he ate it up.

While he was sleeping we sneaked out to the grocery to pick up provisions for Heidelberg, including more chocolate for our ongoing scientific experiments. We were surprised to see him still there when we returned, and our departure was delayed for more kitten mojo.

We finally left for Heidelberg around 4:30 and it was pouring. The traffic wasn’t horrible – at least there were no big tie ups or anything, and we rolled into Heidelberg around 6:30. Just before we came into Heidelberg, the skies cleared and were a gorgeous blue. Jane’s dump (as she calls it) is high up on a very steep hill. She wants to get out of here before she has to worry about driving up in the snow. We drove through Heidelberg to get to the apt., along the Neckar river. We could see the castle ruins all lit up on the side of the Huckleberry Mountain (it’s said that’s why Mark Twain came here.) And they WERE ruint when we got here.

We drove up and up and up a steep and winding and narrow road to get to Jane's apartment. It was once used as housing for visiting professors (for the University of Heidelberg) which explains its dorm-like atmosphere.

So…who put the dump in “Jane’s dump?” Not Jane. The thing about it is that it is exactly like a college dorm. It even SMELLS like a dorm. As Jane says, “If you were 20 and this was your first apartment, you’d probably be thrilled. But when you are 49.9999 years old…” It’s pretty dismal. She has one room. Not one bedroom, one room. Her bed is clearly a dorm bed. The landlord brought me up a rollaway bed, and I think it was the same one “Cousin Ernie” used when he came to visit “Cousin Lucy” and “Cousin Ricky” in New York. It would have been more comfortable if I used it the way he did, still folded up. We weren’t in bed 10 minutes before I had the mattress off and on the floor. You can see more of Jane's Ghetto by looking at my entry titled, "Living in a Hell Hole."

Anyway, after we dumped our stuff in her dump, we decided to take the footpath down to the main street that runs along the river and get a bus into Heidelberg. Of course, by this time it had started pouring again. The road up to Jane’s apartment is very steep, and the footpath is a shortcut, so you can just imagine how steep it is. It was actually a little scary going down in the rain because you kept gaining momentum. I was afraid I was going to slip on one of the “naked snails” (slugs) on the path. They were as big as cigars. By the time we made it to the bus stop, my pants were soaked with the water that had dripped off of my raincoat.

We caught the bus and took it to Bismarkplatz (mom – it’s right by WOOLWORTH’S!) and then took another bus to the train station in hopes of getting me a Heidelberg Card which would let me take public transportation and get into a lot of things free or at a reduced price. Unfortunately, the tourist info office was closed. We took another bus back to the Bismarkplatz and took a stroll down the main pedestrian-only shopping street (the Hauptstrasse). It was after 8 pm, so all the stores were closed. We were starving, of course, and finally chose a pretty restaurant with a menu of mostly German food. The name of the restaurant is Perkeo, and there was a picture of a little short guy dressed in 17th century garb on the sign. We had good local pilsners and Jane had a Thai salad. I had the turkey schnitzel in paprika sauce with a great salad and mediocre fries. Later on during my visit, I was to learn MUCH about Perkeo, the "little short guy," and you can see other images of him in this blog (check the label "Perkeo.") His image was in the castle, and also in the Student Prison.

We walked down to the river to catch the bus back to the Gulag, and when we got on (it was very crowded, nowhere to sit) the driver wouldn’t take our money. Jane’s stop is only 4 stops down, and when we got off, Jane gave him a chocolate. He was very surprised and grateful! Wow! We’re keeping our pockets loaded with Ritter Sport from now on.

The climb back up the footpath, even though it was raining, was BRUTAL. I was dying. But we did finally make it, got to the apt., jumped into our jim-jams and watched an episode of Family Guy before lights out.