Installment number three… our two days in Hannover and one day in Heidelberg. It was Christer’s birthday on the first day in Hannover, so we spent the day together while Dad and Jo went wandering by themselves.

We arrived in Hannover close to midnight after our day in Copenhagen and a 7 hour train ride… the first of many train rides over the next few days. Let me tell you, getting a rail pass and travelling first class is WELL worth it. Really luxurious and comfortable, and far less other people.

We checked into the Hotel Amadeus, which was surprisingly nice considering the prices. It was exactly as it looked in the photos on the internet, which in my experience is unusual for hotels sporting less than four stars. The breakfast, which was included in the room price, was amazing. Bacon, German sausages, eggs, bread, vegetables, meats… you name it. We didn’t end up eating lunch until 3pm!

The weather was pretty crappy, with rain periodically pelting down throughout the day. But Chris and I spent the day wandering through the substantial shopping area looking for a shirt and shoes for him for the upcoming wedding. We didn’t actually buy anything, but had a nice time looking around.

After tromping around for ages looking for somewhere to eat lunch, we ended up at a little restaurant under a hotel. The menu seemed to be about as traditionally German as we were going to be able to find for ourselves, so after thoroughly annoying the waitress we both ordered schnitzels. I haven’t had a schnitzel in over a year and for Chris it had been longer, so we were both pretty happy. I still crack up when I think about that waitress though. When I finally found and ordered the schnitzel I wanted she said, “Yesgoodthatisverydeliciousthankyou”. So deadpan, and so efficient.

After that, we went back to the hotel for a little rest and used Chris’s GPS to try to find somewhere to eat dinner. By 10pm we still hadn’t had any success, so we popped our heads into the Mövenpick Bistro, but they had just stopped serving. Luckily the waitress pointed out a couple of places nearby where they served late, so we settled on a steakhouse where Chris at himself to a standstill with salad, a giant steak and a chocolate fudge dessert.

The next day we met up with Theresia, my friend from Rosenhof, and she was kind enough to act as translator for us in a million different mens clothing and shoe stores. With her help we found Chris a beautiful cufflink-friendly shirt and a really nice pair of dress shoes for the wedding.

We then had another fairly traditional German lunch at Mövenpick. Chris ate another schnitzel and Theresia and I both had a dish of beef strips in a creamy mushroom sauce.

After that Chris dropped in somewhere to get a haircut while Theresia and I went off to gossip and shoe shop together… but all too soon we had to get back to the train station and say goodbye. There was a moment of panic when Chris realised neither he nor I had his sunglasses… but Theresia saved the day by running back to the hairdresser and retrieving them. Phew! Next thing we knew we were on the train to Heidelberg.

We checked in to a little hotel about 10-15 minutes from the main train station, and found a superb little Italian restaurant just down the street where we gorged on pasta and pizza.

First thing next morning we went to the train station to lock our bags away for the day, then tried to find our way to the Old Town. Easier said than done! After getting a few bum steers from the tourist office, a nice man told us which bus to catch and where to get off. The weather was less than promising, with rain bucketing down every 15 minutes or so, but luckily for us it stayed away for most of our time at Heidelberg Castle. It was cold and damp, but still beautiful.

When we got back down the hill to the Old Town, we got about an hour of looking before the skies opened and we had to duck into a pub. No, seriously, we had to. Chris and I sampled some local German beer… for a couple of hours… before heading out again. Once again we wandered around for a bit, and once again it rained cats and dogs. When we met up with Dad and Jo we all ducked into a Thai restaurant (we were totally over schnitzels by this time) and had some curry. Mmm.

Then once again it was time to head off to the train station for our overnight trip to Switzerland.