Heidelberg- Apothecary Now

Gear change. Farewell Asia, hello Europe

Bangkok – Dubai (42 degrees) then straight on to Frankfurt.

Frankfurt proved as efficient as ever as a European travel hub.  I have travelled in and out of Frankfurt on quite a few occasions over previous years with work.  It is a modern, clean and efficient city.  It is also expensive in contrast with my last month in Asia.

 

Passport control interesting – scanned my EU (Irish) passport and no other paperwork required.  It’s handy having 2 passports.  I have a NZ passport and, given an interesting condition (now no longer available) of the Irish consulate, they figured that if you are mad enough to be married to an Irish national for more than 4 years then you deserved citizenship.  I travelled Asia on my Kiwi passport, now using my Irish (EU) one in this continent. 

 If I thought that was efficient  I was even more surprised when flying from Frankfurt to Prague where I didn’t have to show a passport to anyone (in fact from arriving to picking up the bags was faster than many domestic flights in NZ).

Heidelberg 

So, with 2 days in transit, I took the chance to re-acquaint myself with an older town, Heidelberg.  A one hour train journey from Frankfurt and an older world.

Like many European towns and cities, it boasts an old and a new part.  I have fond memories (god, not nostalgia creeping in again!) of sitting in the old ruins of the castle and the surrounding grounds many year ago. The statues of stags heads and various gods make you feel like if you close your eyes you can hear the wings of the Valkyries beating as they flew by. 

The old castle is undergoing renovation so you can no longer wander through all the grounds though the open portions are impressive and equally impressive is the old square below. 

 

 

 

 

One of the sections of the castle is dedicated to the oldest and largest collection of pharmacy equipment and displays in Germany.  A breath-taking collection. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turns out I missed an old German friend and ex next-door neighbour in Frankfurt by one day.  He has the wanderlust and has been travelling for the last 5 years.  He has written a book about it and that is due to be launched at the Frankfurt book festival this year.  Keep an eye out for Reiner Werth.  Remembering many parties at his place, I found some of the famous local Hessen (the region that Frankfurt is part of ) Apple Wine and had a quiet toast to his success.

Thanks to my AirBnB host, Elina whose lovely apartment was 10 minutes walk from the train station and 10 minutes equi-distant between the central Frankfurt (HBf)  train station and airport train station.  It's great meeting and staying with locals via the AirBnB network.  You get much more of an appreciation of the local culture, what there is to do locally and meet some great people.