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Winded and windy
Oct. 18th, 2005 04:15 pmBack from Heidelberg (and the Mannheim detour).
I bought Marian Keyes' THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY at the trainstation yesterday, and that turns out to have been the right decision (I had been waffling between it and a book of those Soduko or however they're spelled puzzles) because it has been non stop delays and other waiting periods, so I have been making better headway than expected through the book and now, nearly 400 pages into it (which for a Keyes novel is only about halfway) things are starting to get more interesting.
Heidelberg is a charming sleepy little German town whose main attraction seems to be it's charmingness, without being too twee about it.
My friend Bernd is the Opera director there, and is a bit frantic right now since he had to keep dashing off to sit in on rehearsals and nonesuch, plus I tagged along with him to this site visit for where they're going to do a Benjamin Britten piece in a church. I'll be going back down on Friday with mutual friend of BErnd's (and my FFM host) Phillip for their production of DON GIOVANI.
Luckily I had packed lightly, since I schlepped my stuff with me quite a bit; Bernd and I wound up going direct from the Church-site visit to the train station to catch a commuter train to Mannheim (15 minutes away) and see what, alas, turned out to be a lousy production there. Good for Bernd, though, since the newspapers already reported, of the respective first operas of the season in these twin cities, Mannheim 0, Heidelberg 1, when reviewing DON GIOVANNI, which oppened later, and after last night's show will probably up the score to Heidelberg 2, Mannheim still 0 when they open with their own modern production, soon.
Heidelberg is a university town, and is full of bright-eyed young things dashing (or lounging) about. It is also full of bookshops, both new and used, which warms the cockles of this heart, at any rate. Today, I walked through the hills on the opposite side fromt he old part of town and its oldest university in Germany and the castle, along the Philosopher's Way--uf! Am I out of shape! And also, it was quite uphill all the time, and then a sudden precipitous drop the medieval steps going down to the old bridge.
The weather is still sunny and bright, both in FFM and Heidelberg, although it has gotten quite windy and cold. Very autumnal, though: leaves turned bright colors, brisk clear air, etc.
And cormorants all over the place, it seems, both on the Main and the Nackar (I think it's called, the river which bisects Heidelberg).
So, a nice visit, but am glad to be back in Frankfrut, where I am more comfortable since I know my way around the city and know more people here and know where to go to eat (I had lousy food in Heidelberg, alas, save for one little café, and that always dampens my enthusiasm for a place).
I bought Marian Keyes' THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY at the trainstation yesterday, and that turns out to have been the right decision (I had been waffling between it and a book of those Soduko or however they're spelled puzzles) because it has been non stop delays and other waiting periods, so I have been making better headway than expected through the book and now, nearly 400 pages into it (which for a Keyes novel is only about halfway) things are starting to get more interesting.
Heidelberg is a charming sleepy little German town whose main attraction seems to be it's charmingness, without being too twee about it.
My friend Bernd is the Opera director there, and is a bit frantic right now since he had to keep dashing off to sit in on rehearsals and nonesuch, plus I tagged along with him to this site visit for where they're going to do a Benjamin Britten piece in a church. I'll be going back down on Friday with mutual friend of BErnd's (and my FFM host) Phillip for their production of DON GIOVANI.
Luckily I had packed lightly, since I schlepped my stuff with me quite a bit; Bernd and I wound up going direct from the Church-site visit to the train station to catch a commuter train to Mannheim (15 minutes away) and see what, alas, turned out to be a lousy production there. Good for Bernd, though, since the newspapers already reported, of the respective first operas of the season in these twin cities, Mannheim 0, Heidelberg 1, when reviewing DON GIOVANNI, which oppened later, and after last night's show will probably up the score to Heidelberg 2, Mannheim still 0 when they open with their own modern production, soon.
Heidelberg is a university town, and is full of bright-eyed young things dashing (or lounging) about. It is also full of bookshops, both new and used, which warms the cockles of this heart, at any rate. Today, I walked through the hills on the opposite side fromt he old part of town and its oldest university in Germany and the castle, along the Philosopher's Way--uf! Am I out of shape! And also, it was quite uphill all the time, and then a sudden precipitous drop the medieval steps going down to the old bridge.
The weather is still sunny and bright, both in FFM and Heidelberg, although it has gotten quite windy and cold. Very autumnal, though: leaves turned bright colors, brisk clear air, etc.
And cormorants all over the place, it seems, both on the Main and the Nackar (I think it's called, the river which bisects Heidelberg).
So, a nice visit, but am glad to be back in Frankfrut, where I am more comfortable since I know my way around the city and know more people here and know where to go to eat (I had lousy food in Heidelberg, alas, save for one little café, and that always dampens my enthusiasm for a place).
