I did get to see most of my friends while I was there. My friend Jennifer, who is living in Belgium until next year, even took a train to come visit me over the weekend while I was in Germany. She was to arrive Friday evening at 9:45pm at the Heidelberg train station. Yolanda & I waited, and waited, and waited. No Jennifer and it was getting close to midnight. When we got back to Yolanda's house, we tried calling Jennifer's cell phone with no luck. I called Sarah, she said that Jennifer had left two messages and said she was at the train station and if we weren't there by 11:30pm, she was going to a hotel. Well, Sarah called Jennifer's cell phone and got through. Turned out that she got off the train in Mannheim instead of Heidelberg. It was already 1am, so we decided that we'd pick her up in the morning.

My first night in Germany, I had dinner with Barbie and her husband Reinhardt at Talhof Gastatte. This is a family owned restaurant in the Odenwald. They specialize in schnitzel, apple cider and a cold cheese called Kochkase. The cheese is like nothing you've ever had before and it is absolutely delicious. You can't get it in the States. The schnitzel is the best too.

Jennifer, Yolanda & I went to the Herbstfest (fall festival) in Heidelberg and takes place on the Hauptstrasse.  Can you believe I didn't get a single picture of us? This pig was in the medieval area of the fest.

This is the former site of a US Army installation called Taukkunen Barracks. I used to work here. My building used to be where the cars are parked now. The building you see in the background used to be barracks for soldiers. It is now a hotel. In the foreground where the flag poles are used to be the parade field.

Misha was such a beautiful dog. Everywhere we went, people always stopped and asked if they could take a picture of her.

A view of Heidelberg from Philosopher's Way

Angelika, Carol & Irene. We had dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant - Europa. They have the best Gnocchi in gorgonzola sauce.

This was the first German pub I went to when I was first stationed in Heidelberg back in 1982. A group of us used to hang out at this pub a lot. It was called Zum Alten Fritz back then. Now it's called the Bier Bretzel and has been totally remodeled.

This is a BMW scooter complete with windshield wiper and trunk. What will they come up with next?

Carol & Donna. She wasn't able to go to dinner with us, so we visited her in her classroom. She's a teacher at the American school on base.

This path doesn't look steep but it is very steep. It's called Philosopher's Way, called this because the beauty of the view inspired poets and thinkers.

On my last morning we walked to the butcher shop to get meats and cheeses for breakfast. This is a typical Germany breakfast. We also stopped at the bakery to get brotchen, which you put the meat on. I like to make a sandwich out of it.

Carol & Yolanda sitting at an outdoor cafe on the Marktplatz in Heidelberg. I had my favorite dessert - Heisse Himbeeren mit vanilla eis. Which translates to hot raspberry's with vanilla ice cream. I also drank a bitter lemon which has a unique taste.

A partial view of the Holy Ghost church which is located on the Marktplatz in Heidelberg.

This used to be my neighbors - Manfred & Evelyn a German-American couple. We used to walk our dogs together. They were quite surprised when they saw me. I had stopped in the neighborhood to take some pictures and saw Manfred outside. It was good to see them again. They are such nice people.

This is a very old hotel called Ritter, located on the Marktplatz in Heidelberg. It was built in 1592.

My last night in Germany we ate at this Greek restaurant. The food was delicious. I had a salad, tzatziki, pork medallions with cheese baked on top and fries. I ate every bite because you can't find this food in the States. Yolanda first ate at this place in 1974 when she first arrived in Germany.

Can you imagine this tiny car zipping down the Autobahn? Well it does. It even comes in a convertible and a sports model.