Today was primarily set aside as a travel day because it was going to take us over 5 hours to get from Ghent to Heidelberg. Consequently, I was not expecting there to be too much to write about. But we are the Johnsons and where we go strange things happen. We started out at the Ghent St Pieters station with a goal to catch the 9:04 train to Brussels Midi station. Of course the boards listing the trains only list the final destination and not any stops in between so I ask at the ticket counter if the 9:04 would be going to Brussels Midi. The woman said yes and it was platform 4. We get up to platform 4 and sure enough the train we want is listed on the board for about 2 minutes then it disappears and another train is listed as leaving at 8:51 and it was now 8:55. A train finally pulls up and I ask a conductor if this is the train heading to Brussels Midi and he said no that it would be the next train. That train leaves and it is now 9:02. I happen to look at the sign on the next platform and that is the 9:04. So we race over to other platform dragging all the luggage and just get on before the train takes off--nice way to start. We get to Brussels and have 40 minutes until our train to Frankfurt leaves. This is a high-speed ICE train and yes we booked first class again. This train ride goes smoothly. There are several stops and after Cologne I go to the bathroom and there is a display of how fast the train is going-- 280 KPH or nearly 175 MPH. I wish we had trains that went that fast. We get to Frankfurt on time and have enough time to grab a quick lunch before our train to Heidelberg.

We find the train, get in our private compartment and wait for departure. While we are sitting there two different guys come through the car hitting us up for spare change. Oh well, no security. A woman joined us in our compartment which turned out to be fortunate later. The train leaves on time heading to its first stop 15 minutes away. As we pull into the station an announcement is made and the woman immediately looks up. I had my headphones on and didn't hear most of the announcement. She tells us that because of a body on the tracks we were going to be delayed. Wait, a body? She said apparently someone committed suicide by jumping off the top of a bridge onto the tracks. The police and the coroner were being called and no estimate on how long we would be there. She also said that this does happen from time to time, with people killing themselves by jumping on the tracks. Now I have been delayed in my travels by a lot of different events including one time when a passenger on an AA regional jet tried to overstuff the overhead bin causing the bin to collapse. However, this is a first for me-- delayed by dead body. They came back with another announcement and said they would not be going to the next stop but most likely would get to Heidelberg. The woman said we may have to find another train . We sat there for about 15 minutes and then an announcement said the train would be re-routed to Heidelberg. Thankfully, we finally got moving and got to Heidelberg about 35 minutes late. This was a bit of an ordeal and is one of those travel days I would rather not have.

Heidelberg is a quaint city located on the banks of the Neckar River. I feel a quick history lesson coming on. The official founding of Heidelberg is considered 1196 because that is when the city is first mentioned in documents in Schonau Abbey. However there had been settlements in the area of the city as early as 769. Heidelberg University was founded in 1386 and is the oldest university in Germany. The University Library which was founded in 1421 is the oldest public library in Germany still operating. The University also played a leading role in the reformation. During the War of the Grand Alliance (essentially a religious war between Catholics and Protestants that occurred after the 30 Years War) in 1689 the city was overrun twice by the French and between that point and 1693 when the French left for good the city had been almost completely destroyed. Since it was rebuilt in the early part of the 18th century most of the buildings were constructed in a Baroque style that is seen today (of course, our running joke is "why is everything 'broke' in Europe.") During WW II although there was strong Nazi presence the city was spared bombing by the Allies due to it not being an industrial city or a transportation hub.







We didn't really do much except walk around the main marketplace and visit the Church of the Holy Ghost. Robyn took a few pictures in the church (what a surprise), and then we went to dinner where we had traditional German food. After dinner we decided to cross the Altes Brucke (Old Bridge) and see how far we could get up Philosopher's Walk. This is a famous trail/road on the opposite side of the river that gives a view of the old side of the river. It is a pretty steep climb up the trail and Robyn actually made it two-thirds of the way up until we reached an over-look that gave a great view of the old town. So we took some pictures and headed back down. Tomorrow Robyn wants to take a river cruise on the Neckar River and then go to the castle. Can't wait, cause I love boat rides!