11th March 2006 - Day 145

I woke up at 0730, but since I had nothing much to do, and I was feeling a bit lazy about going anywhere, it wasn't until it was 1100 before I got out of bed.

I missed the tram and subsequently the train to Speyer. I finally reached at 1400. 1 hour train ride and a return ticket for 1,80€ because of my semester ticket and Bahncard.

Approaching the Town of Speyer

It was a 15 minutes walk to the town centre. One thing I noticed, was that the pavement was extremely wide. Quite a charming town, probably because I was too used to seeing Karlsruhe.

The broad steets of Speyer leading to the Kaiserdom

The Kaiserdom in Speyer there is supposedly a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981. It's quite spacious inside. Click here to see some photos.

After spending some time there and trying to follow some commentary from a English tour guide, I walked in the rain to the Technik Museum. It's not far away, only 500 metres from the Kaiserdom.

Run! Giant Spider on the loose!

I would have entered the museum if someone brought me there when I was 6. The interest in planes, trains, and cars and why (and how) they move have dwindled ever since.

I went to catch Der blaue Nil instead at the IMAX theatre. 7,50€ for a 40 minutes documentary. It's about a team going on a Kayaking expedition from the source of the Blue Nile till the Mediterranean Sea. 40 minutes was just nice. Any longer, I would have exhausted myself from all the German and switched off.

The rest of the time in Speyer was spent wandering around the town and visiting other churches. The rain certainly dampened the mood to explore the town further. I made my way back to the Bahnhof when the rain got heavier.

I got back in Karlsruhe by 1800. Mannheim would have to wait till some other time.

Erik and Jan prepared a Fluressen to celebrate their 2nd year staying here. Simon was up to his usual Ausländerfeindlichkeit. It's funny sometimes. The people who so openly talk about it are the people who don't really mind having Ausländer around.

Then again, I might be wrong.

Stefan handed me a book - H5 Hall of Fame. Basically, I'm supposed to write something in and attach a mug shot of myself in the book. I'm the first to write on it since I'm the first to leave this place. The others will still be here for at least another year.

I'm thinking of a trip to Austria at the moment. Nan has quite a lot of suggestions on where to visit.

So, some concrete research tomorrow.