I live in Heidelberg!!

The trip back to Germany was fairly uneventful. Fortunately, no one sat next to me, so I was actually able to get 'comfortable' and sleep a little. Erik met me at the airport with beer, which we proceeded to drink on the train back to Mannheim- at 10 a.m. Ich liebe Deutschland! Seriously, though, I'm doing great and am incredibly happy to back in my second home.

I'm taking a four week intensive German course, which began two days after I got back. It's keeping me very busy, as is getting resettled. I've finally moved all of my stuff into my new, AMAZING room in beautiful Heidelberg. I live right in the center of the old town- where everything is (including 3 billion tourists in the summer). This is a shot of Heidelberg from up on the castle. Obviously, I pulled this one out of the archives, as it is most definitely not that green here at the moment. I think this was in July...

I live right off of the main street, and across the street from the university building that most of my classes will be in. My room should be a double, but I'm the only one in it, so it's huge and I get two of everything. This means that I have 2 beds- which I have pushed together- so that I'm finally sleeping on something bigger than a cot!! I'm in awe.
This is the market square, with the castle up on the hill behind it, which is right down the road from my building. I still can't believe this is where I'm living for the next six months!

My building

These are the streets that I live on- one that goes right down to the Neckar River....
And the other one with a bunch of great shops and bars...

My room is actually big enough to require three different shots to capture the full effect :)
Number 1: Right when you walk in...

Number 2:

And Number 3:

I can't believe how much I lucked out. This place is unbelievable. They're not going to be able to kick me out of here in July! Sorry if I'm repeating myself. Amazing, incredible, unbelievable- I love Heidelberg!!!


My class ends on the 14th, and that night I'm flying to Bratislava with Erik and our friend Adam. I then get two weeks before my intensive language class in March starts. My regular semester doesn't even start until April 19th, but I don't think I'll have trouble finding ways to stay busy until then...