Athens

Tuesday March 1st
I always wanted to go to Jerusalem and when I saw that with most of the airlines I had to have a layover in Athens, I decided to book two separate tickets and stay a night in Athens. By the time I landed and got to my hotel near the Acropolis it was already 5:30 in the afternoon. It was so hot that I had to change out of my winter clothes into a t-shirt and shorts. I then headed to the Acropolis, which to my disappointment had closed an hour earlier. So I began to walk down the other side of the hill when I noticed a rock cliff that many people were sitting on. I climbed up and I saw that the sun was starting to set. I sat down and stared down at the city below, to the sound of the guitar of a Greek musician.

After the sun sunk below the mountains of the horizon, I headed down to the market. Everywhere you went you could find ruins of the ancient world. After eating a much needed Gyro

I walked around the city for a few hours, and for a Tuesday night, there were many people outside. The old white stone buildings, the people eating outside, and oranges on trees everywhere brought back nostalgia to childhood days in Syria.

After a cappuccino, I headed back to the hotel and had a cup of tea on the rooftop patio (for the view)

London

Wednesday Febraury 17th

From Paris we headed to London for a day trip. We left our luggage in the lockers at King's cross and before heading out I had to go 3/4 of the way between platforms 9 and 10 to find the entrance to the Hogwarts express. Disappointed at its nonexistence, we left and headed to Buckingham palace. Starving, I suggested we eat fish and chips. After which we went to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.

Then we went on the London Eye.

Many hours remaining before our flight, we had a coffee at a café under the tower bridge, which was my favorite thing about London.

At night we headed back to the airport to return to Germany, and because I still had an exam to study for, my mom returned to her brother's house near Bremen and I returned to Heidelberg.

Paris

Sunday February 14th

During our semester break my mom came to visit me. I went to see her at her brother's house near Bremen in northern Germany and then we flew from Hamburg airport to Paris. After dropping our things off at the hotel we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. The next morning we headed to the Louvre, which to my surprise was the royal residence and seat of power of the French government until Louis XIV moved it to Versailles in 1682. Besides all the interesting paintings and priceless artifacts, a cool thing about the Louvre is that its free for European university students.

Once inside the first thing me and my mom wanted to do was to see the Mona Lisa, just like every other tourist. I was dumbfounded by how large the museum actually was due to how long it took us to get here.

To see the entire museum, one needs to spend a whole day there. But after about 6 hours we thought it was time to see other things in the city. So we went to the Eifel tower.

To the Bastille Monument

to Notre Dame Cathedral.

And back to the Eifel Tower at night

Unfortunately we were only in Paris for two days, so we did not have the opportunity to go to Versailles. That will have to wait until next time.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité

Monday December 21st

After the tragic shooting in Paris on Friday the 13th of November, one of the exchange students in Heidelberg planned a vigil on Monday the 16th in Theaterplatz. Expecting a few hundred people, more than a thousand came to support, according to the local newspaper.

I rarely walk by Theaterplatz, but five weeks later, for some reason, I was passing by and I noticed that the candles remained.

Not the rain, snow, nor wind removed the memorial. But to my surprise no one from the city removed them. Although the people of Europe have many differences and long complex histories of love and hate. This speaks greatly towards the solidarity between them in times of tragedy.

Straßburg

Saturday December 12th

ESN had rented a bus to take us to Strasbourg (Straßburg in German) on Saturday. Strasbourg is 137 km (85 miles) from Heidelberg and lies in Alsace, a province that has been annexed by many different empires in hundreds of years. The Prussians took Alsace and Strasbourg in 1871 after winning the Franco-Prussian war, but come the Treaty of Versailles, Germany ceded the region back to France. For that reason (as well as being right on the border with Germany), as a tourist, one can somewhat get away with only speaking German.

Strasbourg is well known for its Cathedral, which surpassed the Pyramid of Giza in height and was the tallest building in the world from 1647 to 1874. Also the reason why it is nearly impossible to get a picture of the whole cathedral from up close.

Strasbourg is also the official seat of the European parliament and the region of Alsace is well known for its wine. However the tourists in December come for one reason, Strasbourg's 445 year old Christmas market, at the center of which is its enormous Christmas tree, topping out this year at 30 meters (98 feet).

There are many reasons to love Strasbourg, however none of these were mine. Having finished our espressos at a Cafe by the Cathedral, we saw that there were people waiting to sit so we offered them our seats and left to meet up with the others.

About half an hour later, I received a Facebook message, written in French, from a lady unknown. Without understanding a word, I intuitively and immediately touched my back pocket and did not feel my wallet. I asked out tour guide if the message meant what i thought it did. After she confirmed, I ran back to the Cafe and a seated man said "Matthew?" to me in a French accent while holding my wallet. As it turned out, the people we gave our seats to saw the wallet and, from my driver's license inside, searched me on Facebook.

People (me included) would expect that if a tourist lost something it will surely be gone forever. Instead they went above and beyond to return my wallet to me. No better time to be reminded of the good nature of people than Christmas time.

Weihnachtsmarkt

Thursday November 26th
December in the US is known for houses enveloped by lights, decorated malls, and Santa Claus everywhere. December in Germany is all about the Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas market. Beginning Monday the 23rd of November and lasting until December 22nd every square in altstadt becomes a market.

Bismarckplatz

Universitätsplatz

Marktplatz and its Carousel

Karlsplatz with its ice skating rink (seen here from the castle)

And of course the castle has its own Christmas market as well, unfortunately I had forgotten to take

pictures of it (being preoccupied with the view of the town below).

Inside the shops one can find a variety of baked sweets, candy, wood carvings, clothing, jewelry, and trinkets. The markets feature your typical bratwurst and currywurst but also fire roasted salmon and steak. But the Weihnachtsmarkt is most famous for its Glühwein. And although it translates to "glowing wine" in English it doesn't glow, but is mulled and hot. Perfect for heating you up in the cold. It comes in red wine, white wine, cherry wine, and other variations as well. My favorite though was the Feuerzangenbowle, a drink made by setting a rum soaked sugarloaf on fire and letting it drip into mulled wine.

Philosophenweg

Thursday November 5th
Philossophenweg, German for Philosopher's road, is the path carved into the Heiligenberg where the philosophers, professors, and students of the university would walk and discuss whatever was on their mind.

Easy to get to from Bismarckplatz and having already been here for two months, it was past due that I took this road, and the weather yesterday was perfect so we went. From here, one can look down onto the Neckar and the Altstadt. It does not take long to figure out why it was named philosopher's road. This road is great place to walk (or jog) and think.

Once you walk passed the old town you take more notice of the mountainous geography, especially in the fall when the leaves turn color.