"I've never felt so German!"

Today, my second day in Germany, Sarah and I went to Heidelberg! The plan was to start in Heidelerg, see the castle, et some lunch, then finish the day in Mannheim before we had to head back. There was just so much in Heidelberg, though, we ended up staying there the whole time! After many adventures with the GPS we got a pretty good driving tour of the city- still as beautiful as I remember! It's a university town, so very hip with lots of young people and bars, cafes, shops, parks to entertain both students and tourists alike. The castle is the city's biggest attraction, probably one of the most romantic places I have ever been,it took my breath away in the middle of the day, I can't even imagine it at sunset! Although maybe it was hard to breathe because of the giant extremely steep hill we had to trek up to reach the castle...on the way down though, Sarah and I broke out some pretzels/bread that her mom had sent us with and as we strolled and tried to keep our balance, a torrent of American high schoolers on some kind of tour came flying down the hill screaming and pushing each other and acting so...negative stereotypical American =/ At that moment I felt such a contrast between myself and them. Here I am, also an American high school student for the record, strolling down a narrow cobblestone path eating a pretzel from the local bäckerie with a castle framing me in the background and the Neckar River flowing below me and I had never felt so separate from those raccous Americans. I turned to Sarah and literally said "I've never felt so German". It was a nice moment. Now I'm getting ready to go soak up some nightlife with Sarah and some of her friends in the next town over. Maybe I should have brought some clothes other than t-shirts and cargo pants...oh well, I'll figure something out! Bis später))