IBI Update: Heidelberg, Germany

It's my intention to post once for each city we visit on this summer's two month long trek around the world with business students from Messiah College and other various CCCU schools. I'm slow to post on our first stop but hope to get into the swing of things soon. Also, sorry for the mundane nature of these blogs; I'll try to liven them up as much as possible but no promises. 

Heidelberg, Germany

For live pics and snarky comments, check Instagram and Twitter. And Facebook will house full photo albums.

For those unaware, Heidelberg is a medium sized city located in a valley alongside a river. It's known for the overlooking crumbling castle, old town area, and it's plethora of universities - most notably Heidelberg University, the oldest in Germany.

While I believe the city gets a lot of visitors from the neighboring countries and is home to many college students, I don't think it is necessarily a destination for many from outside the country (besides us, of course). Jorjette and I explored the old town a number of times, toured the castle along with the students, and obviously made it to their zoo but otherwise we mostly spent our time adjusting to European life.

European (and city) life includes but is not limited to:

• Lots of walking. 
• Paying for bathrooms.
• Paying for water.
• Drinking better coffee. 
• Eating ice cream every other night.

While the city was very pretty, it was also very hot. Deterred by the heat, we spent multiple mornings in bed adjusting to the time change and avoiding the heat. That said, most of our time revolved around finding places to eat. Due to the college crowd and number of tourists, there were many options in addition to the traditional German though we did get schnitzel and bratwurst in order to not get harrassed by others. One last thought on Heidelberg: it is a very dog friendly place. If you would like to vacation with your dog, Heidelberg approves. There were dogs everywhere and Jorjette was happy. 

As for our students and role as program coordinators, we have a fantastic group of 41 students. No major issues as of yet though a few "free-spirits" that are fun to round up when on tours. In Germany, we had one corporate visit to Deutsche Bank but otherwise we have devotions in the mornings, the days to ourselves and hold nightly check-ins with the students to verify they are alive. We've got a pretty good gig on our hands.

We're still going strong and excited for what's to come. Prague update next!