Where have I visited so Far?....

In my first month here I have been able to travel and explore much of the region through the excursions that were offered by the summer academy.  These trips included:


Stuttgart:
Stuttgart was a trip I had been looking forward to since I first began planning my semester in Germany.  I have been interested in cars since I was little so I was eager to visit one of the most well known places for the car industry.  It took a little over 2 hours to reach the city by train from Mannheim, and the ride was relatively pleasant.  About one third of the way into the trip the train began to follow the neckar river, and the view of the German country side was particularly memorable.  Nestled along the country side were small villages and even a few fortresses here and there.  As we approached the city, though, factories became the main focus of the views. The day was definitely a success after I spent around 4 hours in the Mercedes Benz museum.  The museum itself seems to be a testament to the car brand itself.  The building itself was very high tech and specially engineered, not unlike the cars the brand is famous for.  I also enjoyed walking around the crowded city after visiting the museum. 

Frankfurt:
Frankfurt is definitely the most built up city I have had the chance to visit since I arrived in Mannheim.  Some have compared it to cities in the U.S., but I still don't believe that's a completely fair comparison because there still really aren't suburbs here the same way as we have them back home.  While we were in Frankfurt we had the chance to go to the top of one of the tallest building, and the view of the city and surrounding area was pretty spectacular.  That being said, I still can't get over how quickly the landscape changed to country side.

Bad Dürkheim:
Bad Dürkheim is a small town located on the end of a tram line that goes through Mannheim. The town itself is a quaint town set on a hillside. The narrow streets wind around the city is a fairly unorganized fashion, but its small enough that it doesn't take long to figure out where you are. After walking for nearly an hour, we reached a fortress set on top of the hill that allowed us to have a commanding view of the town and the surrounding area.

Shwetzigen:

The town of Shwetzigen is most well known for the castle that acted at the vacation residence for those living in the castle in Mannheim.  While the castle itself was similar to most of the other castles I have visited so far the gardens that surrounded the castle were nothing short of spectacular.  The level of precision and symmetry was mind blowing, and I easily could have spent and entire day wandering through the maze of trees, plants, and water features.

Heidelberg:

Heidelberg is a well know city that is a short train ride away from Mannheim.  The boasts incredibly scenic views, and our tour group had an opportunity to tour the remains of the castle that is perched over the city.  Afterwards, we had an authentic German dinner at a restaurant in Heidelberg.  I ordered the schnitzel (veal that has been pounded thin and then breaded) in a mushroom sauce. It also came with
Spätzle which is the traditional german pasta.