July 19
So at last Heidelberg… I have returned! It was so exciting to see the highway signs indicating the upcoming town. We drove straight up to the castle and I kept wondering if what I remembered was really a memory or just years and years of watching the same home videos… It was really strange to walk in a place that I already had been to almost 20 years before. The castle was amazing, we wandered through the apothecary museum (random?), and saw the 50000 liter wine vat. Took amazing pictures of the Neckar river and bridge. Lauren and I somehow managed to exit the backside of the castle so instead of just rejoining the group in the courtyard, we got the pleasure of walking up 300 steps to get back around to the front. Even with perfect weather, we were no match for the exercise. We came up sweating and flustered. After the castle, we went back down the 300 steps to the Heidelberg square and enjoyed a traditional German lunch at a sidewalk café. I ordered the German meatloaf and ate my weight in Lauren’s sauerkraut. Pictures at the bridge and an afternoon souvenir shopping completed our one day in my old hometown and we were bussed back to the hotel in Ludwigborg?
As it was the eve of Lauren’s 25th year of life, we went out for Mexican food. In Germany. But it was muy bueno. We all peppered (or really I peppered) Lauren with deep life questions like: “is there where you’d thought you’d be at 25? Do you have regrets? Where will you be at 30?” etc etc. I had previously taken a Benadryl , so I had a chemically-induced pondering mood about life questions :). But Lauren was a good sport and answered them all. She’s about to be a quarter of a century old!
As the old ladies of our group, we generally try to make it in bed before midnight if we’re lucky. So when we got back, we made a deal to stay up and ring in Lauren’s birthday at midnight in the SkyBar at the hotel. About 11 o’clock, we’re sitting up there with a few of classier peeps in the group and getting mighty sleepy so we decide about 11:15 that we’ll just pseudo ring-in her birthday so we can all hit the sack. We put cocktail streamers in her red ringlets and counted down the seconds and then all shouted Happy Birthday at 11:16… And then another friend in the group showed up, having been previously showering, and refused to let us leave so we waited til about 11:30 and decided to ring it one more time and call it a night. So at 11:31 we shouted Happy Birthday and sang to her yet again! But lo and behold, like 2 birthday count downs wasn’t enough, Lauren decided she actually wanted to have the legit midnight ring in so it was decided we’d stay up the last 30 minutes. I fell asleep on the table. Thanks Benadryl. But was able to rouse for the last and real countdown for Lauren’s 25th birthday.
Happy 25th Birthday Lauren! Or as the German bartender said it: “HEPAY BORTHDIY!”
Tomorrow we celebrate in Amsterdam. :)
