Class doesn't start until nine, but we take the 8:07 train. This means that we have some time to kill. I love the city at this time of day. It is quiet and still and so peaceful as the city wakes up.
We come out of the Hauptbahnhof and walk along Europastraße for a bit. Then we take a left onto Wilhelmstraße and we go over the Neckar bridge and look down at the water, seeing the reflection of the city. We walk past as the city workers are watering the flowers along the bridge rails and the ones that hang from the lampposts. We continue along, cross the street, and stop at a bakery.
We come out of the Hauptbahnhof and walk along Europastraße for a bit. Then we take a left onto Wilhelmstraße and we go over the Neckar bridge and look down at the water, seeing the reflection of the city. We walk past as the city workers are watering the flowers along the bridge rails and the ones that hang from the lampposts. We continue along, cross the street, and stop at a bakery.
Most of the time we wake up and rush to catch the train and hardly have any time to eat breakfast. We might kinda sorta do this on purpose. It gives us a reason to walk into a German bakery and admire the diversity of breads and pastries that are laid out before us. I just want to go in there and stare at it all. It blows my mind how the Germans have evolved bread into an art form, and I want to taste it all. So we buy a Nusschenk, a Kirschtöpfle, my favorite, or something covered in bacon and melted cheese and wander into the Altstadt.
We wind through the Altstadt, looking at the quaint architecture of the homes and businesses. We look in store windows, we admire, we muse, we sigh, and move on. We go up the hill and as we near the top, the faint sound of organ music can be heard from the church. And we go into the very center of the city, the Holz Markt, and the fruit, meat, and vegetable vendors are all there, selling some of the region's best with regards to homemade.
By this time the Kirschtöpfle is gone, and we make our way over to the Brechtbau. Nathan hugs me good-bye, and I go to class.
The train, the bakery, the organ music coming from the old church, the German architecture, the cobble-stone streets...this I will all miss when we go home.
