Back to Neckarhausen (Part II)

By the bridge in Heidelberg.
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Arrived back in Mannheim on Sunday evening an hour late due to someone falling or jumping or something on the tracks. Oh joy. The heat wave had arrived... it was tropical. Markus had been there for the weekend and stayed for a BBQ with us.

Next morning did very little but after Edith finished work we went to Schriesheim for a walk amongst the grapevines (a short walk due to the heat!) and dinner in an old castle with an amazing view which stretched on forever.

Tuesday I went with Edith to school and told my life story to various English classes. It was a lot of fun. In one class I taught the teacher how to say "iambic pentameter". Very important for daily life I thought.

Memorial to the dead of 33-45, Mannheim.
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After school Edith and I drove to Frankfurt. There is a great "museum mile" and it was hard to choose just one... but in the end I went for the Film Museum. They had some pretty old cameras and bits and pieces, costumes from Fitzcarraldo, a mock-up of the set from the Maltese Falcon, an old theatre showing Laurel & Hardy... it was fun.

Next we checked out the Dom, then went to the Goethe Haus, beautiful big old place where Goethe grew up. We wandered around the marketplace and town hall, then settled down to enjoy a wine at a tapas bar on the Main while waiting for Markus. The meal was excellent and I tried Apfelwein, the local specialty.

View of the Neckar from the castle in Hirschhorn.
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Wednesday of course dawned hot and beautiful again. After school Edith picked me up and we drove to Dilsberg, and cute little walled town on top of a hill. Then on to Hirschhorn and a steep walk up to the Schloss for a drink. On the way back down we stopped in a small monastery church where we could hear the monks singing. It was really beautiful.

Last stop of the day was Neckargemund for a Greek dinner on the Neckar.

Next day I wandered around Mannheim, but a bit half-heartedly because it was still so hot. Checked out the shops, castle, beautiful Jesuit church, the Paradeplatz, the water tower and an angel statue which is a memorial to the dead of 1933-1945. After Edith finished school she met me and we went to the Reis Museum to see an exhibition of artefacts from the Silk Road. There was really amazing stuff, like boots which were 4000 years old.

Friday Edith and Dieter headed off for the weekend with my friends. I did very little. The heat finally broke with a thunderstorm Friday night... but it was hot again come Saturday morning. Went to Heidelberg and wandered the streets, the castle, a couple of churches. Went home to another thunderstorm.

Sunday was another day of nothing. The Jahns came back bearing Swiss cheese for dinner, yum.

On Monday Edith was taking her class to the BASF for some labs so I went along and poked around the visitor centre for a while. It's quite interesting and tells you a lot about the their history, about chemistry and what they do. After that I went to Ladenburg to meet Matt (Canadian who I met in Hamburg) and his girlfriend for a drink. We walked around Ladenburg a bit and saw the old Roman walls.

Tuesday I half-heartedly started packing my things. Cooked lamb for dinner and we had a bottle of Montana - "kiwi dinner".

Wednesday - last day in Neckarhausen, hard to believe. Got everything sorted and left Mannheim around 5pm.