The week where I explore Mannheim, go to a wine festival, and watch a castle get (fake) burned down.

<- I visited the castle for class! This is me with my friends Megan, Haleigh and Anne.

Well, I've had a good past week (I know this week has already started but let me have this), I explored the area some, which was very enjoyable. On Friday, we (5 of us: my friends Anne, Haleigh, Megan, and Melissa) took the streetcar to Mannheim for dinner and just to wander around. Mannheim is just a 40 minute ride on the streetcar, although it's a mere 18 km away (googled it. I don't actually know the metric system). We had a pretty fun night, although I think only the 6 of us thought so.

The set-up: we were all tired and hungry by the time we got to Mannheim, so we walked around the downtown area in order to find somewhere to eat. We eventually decided to just go to the next cafe/restaurant we saw, which ended up being a tapas (as well as "real" food) restaurant/cafe/ bar. We ordered drinks and our entrees, and then Anne realized she'd like to try a cocktail, so she ordered the one that a) was the cheapest and b) sounded really good: a B-52.

The problem: Anne didn't know it would be lit on fire, so when we discovered this fact, we decided to commemorate it by snapping a few photos of it (although in the light, the flame is barely visible). Unfortunately, we took too long, and the glass had had enough of being on fire, so it broke.

The proof:.

The decision: between peals of laughter and quickly blowing out the flame, we wondered aloud what we should do, how we could possibly explain our ineptitude to our very German waitress, so we decided to hide the piece from

her until we could formulate a sentence. It was a great plan until she appeared and, very confused (and maybe mad? It's hard to tell. Die spinnen, die Deutschen!), asked "was ist passiert?" (what happened?). Unable to really explain that we didn't know how this drink was meant to be imbibed, we just floundered for a while in broken German and laughter until she sort of nodded, shrugged and frowned her way away.

The lesson: Americans are very noticeable.

We were the only people laughing anywhere within the 4 blocks we walked, and our approach to what happened clearly baffled our waitress. it was definitely an experience, and I have to say, I don't mind reacting the way I did, because we, at least, enjoyed ourselves.

(Note: we later googled how to drink a B-52 and discovered it should be drunk very quickly while lit. or something like that.)

Saturday we (pretty much the same people as before, Megan was sick and, Annika came) went to Wiesloch for a wine festival one of the professors told us about on Friday (yeah, they tell us where to go to party- there were lists up of bars, clubs, discos to go to on the weekend up in our Center. Pretty strange!), and it was a ton of fun! We were a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people in the streets and the sheer lack of room through which to move around the people, but we persevered, and made our way to a tent where we were able to nab a tall table. We bought a delicious pizza-like item, and glasses of Neuer Wein, which was delicious.

As we wandered, we found a church having a Flohmarkt, a flea market, and stopped in to see what gems we could find. And what gems we found! I purchased about 10 postcards and a very well preserved poster (circa 1997) of Leonardo DiCaprio that had clearly been torn out of a magazine by a young German, many years ago, for a mere €1.5

0. It now graces the wall over my bed, and I will most likely leave it as a welcome present to the lucky person to inhabit my room next year.

Saturday night was a pretty big deal: there was the Schlossbeleuchtung (the lighting of the castle) which commemorates when the castle was burned down (at some point in history, I don't know when exactly, but it's celebrated three times a year). To celebrate, or remind, I'm not sure which, people gather around Heidelberg, in the Altst

adt, and watch the castle. The lights are turned off in the city and the castle is lit up with orange, yellow and red lights that

makes it look like it's on fire. The castle lighting itself was less than exciting, but the fireworks show was the best I've eve

r seen. Some friends and I stood near the Altbruecke, which was where the fireworks were shot off from, making the show that more amazing. Even though I was super cold, because of my proximity to the river and the fact that it's Germany in September, I had a great time talking to my friends and watching. My mouth was literally hanging open during parts of it. Fireworks shot out of the water and into the air. OUT OF THE WATER! I was amazed! I did not take the photo on the right, I found it on google images. Check it out if you want some neat pictures!

I'm headed to a monastery this weekend with my group- should be fun, we get to spend the night!

Ineptitude update: bought some cotton balls today: don't know how the package is opened. Sweet.

My birthday is a pretty big deal in Germany: there's going to be a party on my birthday put on by the transportation agency in the Heidelberg area...no big deal.

I hope you're all having a good week!