Euro Trip: Part Two – Heidelberg and Mannheim

I spent my first weekend in Germany in the area around Heidelberg and Mannheim.

After spending the day walking around Frankfurt with random friends, I caught the train from Frankfurt to Heidelberg. After checking into my hotel, I went for a walk around the city while waiting for my friends to arrive from Munich.

The town of Heidelberg is incredibly pedestrian friendly. The core area is one long narrow street that runs from the centre of town through to the base of the ruins of the Heidelberg Castle. Once my friends arrived, we had dinner at a local pub.

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Photos: Bathurst 1000

On Sunday, I went to the V8 Supercars Bathurst 1000 at Mt Panorama. Despite living in Sydney for nearly four years and being a crazy V8 Supercars nut, until this year, I had yet to make my way to the mountain for the great race. To just go for the Sunday race, a special train leaves Sydney just after 5am and returns just before 11pm, making for a very long day.

The race itself was an awesome event to attend. I found the atmosphere different to the previous V8 events that I have been to in both Sydney and Auckland, the fans were more passionate but also more friendly. Also despite the 100,000 odd people on the mountain there are so many places around the circuit to watch the race from. Additionally, the view from the top of the mountain is good on TV, but even better in real life.

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