TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

As a Filipino, the city of Heidelberg in Germany has been on my radar since I was a young girl. Because of Dr. Jose Rizal’s poem—‘ To the flowers of Heidelberg ’. Wait, Dr. Jose Rizal who? Jose Rizal is the Philippine’s national hero and he is also, surprise, surprise, my namesake, although my name sounded more feminine. Thanks to my mom and her Ob/Gyn who were both very creative in coming out of what it is today—my name. We were born on the same day and I can honestly say that I am the only person in this world that bears this unique and special name. Dr. Jose Rizal studied and lived in Heidelberg, and although I am not into poetry, the place got stuck in my head. I have this vision of Heidelberg being so beautiful with the flowers he mentioned in his poem. But in this quick visit, which is actually a stop over to break up my road trip (pause + lunch + some sightseeing), I did not get to see a lot of flowers, instead, I saw a sundry of gorgeous mouth-watering sweet pastry...

My first stop in this 3-country European road trip is Heidelberg, Germany in the Baden-Wurttemberg region. The drive from the Netherlands to Heidelberg took me 3 hours and 50 minutes. Google maps says its 4 hours and 15 minutes, but in Germany, the highways outside the built-up areas have no speed limit. I drove between 150 km and 170 km per hour and I had to constantly watch the dial because I tend to press the accelerator harder, well unintentionally (I cannot help it?). For most of the ride though, I kept my speed under 170km. It was drizzling a little bit when I arrived in Heidelberg. Glad I brought with me a little umbrella. As it was past the lunch hour, my stomach was raging. I only had an oatmeal drink when I left in the morning. I checked my little black notebook and on it was scribbled under Heidelberg--Café Knoesel, the oldest café in the city. Luckily, I bumped into the establishment without much effort. Apfelstrudel at the oldest café circa 1863 in Heidelberg: Caf...