Knopftours, Heidelberg, Germany

Hallelujah! I made it. The flight was great. Long, but great. I've flown entirely too many trips in coach and I think life is too short to be a sardine for any length of time. The business class seat was more like a couch. With an 18" screen and its own remote, yadda yadda. I unloaded my carry-on and the first thing the flight attendant asked was "Would you like some champagne?" Then came the hors d'oeuvres on a cloth table cloth with real china and silverware. I'm tellin' ya, life is good. I watched a strange German move (The White Ribbon) to put me in the Euro mood, followed by Men Who Stare at Goats.

I realized when the plane was coming in that I'd actually landed at Frankfurt once before - in May 1968 while I was in the army. That was a long time ago. Things just look newer now, not different. Immigration was a breeze and the instructions Stefan gave were easy to follow. Catch the fast train to Mannheim, then transfer to the commuter train to one stop past Heidelberg main. Get off, walk 4 minutes and you're there. OK, it was a little hassle carrying all the crap I brought with me through the light rain, and there was some serious jet lag to deal with, but so what - there was my bike, inside Stefan's gate.

After a 3 hour nap and finding no one home, I decided to take a walk. It was a light, steady rain on the 2 or 3 mile walk to the old city, and old images flooded back into view. The pattern of cobblestone roads laid out in arcs by guys who lay as many as possible within arm's reach before moving forward. All the doors that open with handles, not knobs. (As a GI, we called the US, the Land of Round Door Knobs.) The 2-note warbling of German police sirens. And the harmonious melding of old and new architecture. On the train platform in Mannheim, when jet lag was really starting to hit, I thought perhaps the trip was a mistake, and I just wanted to be home in my own bed. Walking down Hauptstrasse, (the pedestrian road,) past the medieval church  toward the Rathouse town hall and looking at the welcoming beer stubes, the shops, and the castle overlooking it all, it hit me how much fun I'm going to have.