We had heard from other travellers on our trip so far that Heidelberg is a nice place to visit in southern Germany, a student town that was pretty much untouched from the war so it had retained much of its old world character. This, combined with the fact that Sonja has a friend from school living in the town meant we were always going to pay Heidelberg a visit.

Sonja's friend, Doro, kindly offered for us to stay at her place for the three days we would be there and it was so nice to be able to spend time in a home again, if just briefly. Doro was able to tell us the best things to see in the area and we had a great time hanging out together.

Around Heidelberg we managed to take in the local castle and explore the nearby hilly forest area on foot where we went for a day walk. We also made a day trip to Stuttgart, where Jansen paid a visit to the Mercedes-Benz museum and Sonja explored the rest of the town. The museum had a lot to offer, including an audio guide at no extra charge and was as much of a history lesson about the motor car as it was about the Mercedes-Benz brand. Stuttgart itself is another more modern city, quite nice, but perhaps not terribly exciting for tourists looking for a typical European experience. Still, for anyone who's interested in cars Jansen will vouch for the quality of the Mercedes museum, plus there's also a Porsche museum there for those who are really keen.