"The secret of being a bore is to tell everything." - Voltaire

"Don't take the wrong side of an argument just because your opponent has taken the right side." - Baltasar Gracian

"Be curious, not judgmental." - Walt Whitman

America's problems...

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation." - John Adams

To what extent is this still true today....

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation." - John Adams

"Think no vice so small that you may commit it, and no virtue so small that you may over look it." - Confucius

InterRail 3– Travelling is about opening your ears…

I have no idea what time I woke up the next day but that's the whole point. I spent my first hour chatting to a guy who was in Heidelberg to get treatment for his legs. His summer was full of hard work, patience and frustration. Mornings would be spent receiving treatment and afternoons swimming to train his muscles. Everyday tasks needed to be evaluated and a simple task of buying bottles of water (the temperature elevated towards 30°c) became ten times as easy if someone assisted him.
So when I eventually left for the Schloss I was all the more grateful for what I had and what I could do, leading to another pensive afternoon spent sitting on the grass near the castle. I even tried to paint for a while to concentrate my thoughts. I hoped that my skills would reveal a hidden Rembrandt or Picasso instead of the artworks that had a definite resemblance to those I produced in childhood. (Turns out if you don’t practice you don’t change.) It was at this point I felt sleeping would be a better past time and so lay on the grass and soaked up the sun once again.
Eventually I woke up to have a small wander around the town before meeting a friend’s brother and his friend. This little encounter took me to what I now call the Little Italy of Heidelberg on Untere Straße and then onto Destille where you’ll find a tree awaits you in this lively bar. The discussion taught me one or two things about the world of Physics, the career choices of others, the endearing attempt of Heidelberg to collect superlatives (such as the longest, and perhaps most inconvenient, shopping street) and my favourite topic of all, the chair museum, that I’d sadly missed, in the town. Don’t worry though, I did not miss the Apotheek museum. Fewph.
That day though, despite the visit to the Schloss, and the Apotheek museum, it was the conversations which enriched me. Travelling is about the people and to get to know them we need to open, not just our eyes, but also our ears.

InterRail 2. Black Forest Gateau was nowhere to be seen

Me, the hat and the backpack got off the train imagining the noise of the steam engine as it pulled away. Dreaming of German timber frame houses surrounded by hills covered in black forest overlooked by a Schloss I found myself dodging the public transport, walking through a small shopping complex selling camping goods and then walking cautiously into a Lidl building, staring bewildered at the sign that seemed to indicate that my hostel was indeed in the same building. Clunk. The  industrial elevator closed behind and I followed the signs which continued to direct me deeper into the construction. This was where I was staying. This was Steffi’s Hostel.
I was soon comforted however by cosy sofas and free tea, coffee and bikes. Travel book in hand, an excursion down to the grassy bay on the north side of the River Neckar completes my first day. I lie in the sun, look up at the Schloss, watch the ducks and the boatsmen, start reading a terrible holiday read, Deception Point by Dan Brown (I’m not sure why I chose it but in my defence the English section in my library is limited) and I while away my first evening on my European adventure.

InterRail 1. Me, my hat and my friend’s backpack

The key items were in place, I had my backpack filled with general essentials, my passport and most importantly my hat. The look “I’m a tourist around Europe trying to look cool” was complete.
I excitedly made my way to Gare de L’Est imagining life like a 19th century traveller Istanbul bound on the Orient Express. In reality I was Orestiada bound taking a series of trains covering a vast array of speeds and comfort levels. It was no longer the age of steam, it was the age of the TGV and a stark reminder greeted me as I arrived, “The TGV2407, 8:40 train to Strasbourg has been delayed one hour due to a failure on the line”. What an ominous beginning I thought but if all went smoothly from now on it would be a small sacrifice to make to the train gods.
So 9:40 am I finally boarded the Orient Express, well the TGV2407 to Strasbourg. The candles I had imagined replaced by delightful LEDs and the waitress now a buffet car that offered small tuna sandwiches at 4€ and an amusing barman who wondered if I was Chinese simply because my bank was HSBC…
The conversation went something like this.
”Oh is your card English” (Picking up on my English accent)
”No, French”
”Oh, which bank is it. What does HSBC stand for?”
”Hong Kong Shanghai Bank”
”Oh so, you’re from China”
”Well… my mother’s Chinese but that’s not the reason I chose HSBC…”
After backing away from this amusing exchange, a lunch in Strasbourg and a train ride along the black forest I found myself descending on my first random European destination, Heidelberg.