Friday, September 3
Mmmm, frische Luft! (Ahh, Fresh Air)
I was getting a little bored, here in the hostel, since the guy in my room hasn't stirred from his bed since he got into it. On the plus side, he has found the light switch, which I couldn't do for love nor money. Well done him.I decided to go on a little wander, to check out a few places in this area of Heidelberg. I'm in the Newtown (rough translation) area, whereas a lot of the university is in the Old Town (direct translation).
Nevertheless, there is a student village in this area, as well as a big area of the medical part of the university, so I headed in that general direction. I had a map, and Heidelberg is exceptionally well signposted, which meant I was out for nearly an hour without getting lost once. Not a bad effort.
The student village looks functional, if not hugely extravagant, but I've seen a lot worse. Swansea is one that springs immediately to mind.
The university plaza, however, is a whole lot nicer. It felt a little weird and Ghost Town-esque to be walking around it at dusk, alone except for the odd passer-by, but you could see that by day it is a thriving hubbub.
Unfortunately, I couldn't see the Recht (law) department on any of the maps or signposts, which makes me think that it is in the Old Town area. A bit of a shame, since I quite liked this area of the town, but then again, I haven't been to the other end just yet. That will have to wait until tomorrow.
Oh, and a little thing that has weirded me out slightly: Heidelberg only seems to have pavements on one side of the road at any one time. They're very wide too, and I think I'm slowly learning the unwritten rule that a certain area of each pavement is for cyclists only. I'm learning because I almost got knocked over a couple of times. It probably didn't help matters that I had my headphones on and the volume up. Meh.
One final thing: anyone who says that youth hostels are great places to meet people hasn't been to the Heidelberg Jugendherberge.
I know that I'm here at the end of the season, but this place is fucking dead. At time of writing, I'm sitting in the main reception / bar area, which has loads of tables, and it is almost empty. The one full table is the table where all of the staff are gathered, and even that is only 5 people.
Most of the other tables are completely empty, although one has (perhaps a little creepily) a couple in their early 50s sat at it. Erm, youth hostel, anyone?
I can't even go back to my room and play Champ or something in there, because that random is trying to sleep. How inconsiderate of him.
I hope the university is more lively than this.
