letzte woche in HD

Hello- I apologize for the long break. I have been wanting to write, but things really have been busy here in romantic Heidelberg.

Wednesday last week I met with Badi and Phillip for beers after their last exam. This began around 4 pm. By 7, I'd had a few, and was to meet with Hanna for a walk after her last exam. Badi came along.

As we headed out along the Neckar towards the Karlstor Bridge, Hanna turned right towards the square where the Schnitzelhaus is. I remarked to Badi, as he was leaving the next day, how sad it was that we wouldn't be able to eat there. But he should definitely try it out.

And to my surprise, outside the restaurant is Rick, Ben, Kathi, Babsi, Teresa, and Anni. No way. They had organized my birthday dinner. I assume my seat at the head of the table, and delve into a Schnitzel "a la Meyer". That's one huge schnitzel, grilled onions, and two fried eggs on top. Mmm.

After dinner a few of us climbed up to the castle gardens for music, beer, and candle-lit star gazing. Perfect.

Thursday was a mammoth day- I played two hours tennis, three sets of beach volleyball, and rode my bike 30 km. Plus went dancing. It was also our WG-Dinner, where Rosa and Ahron made pizza for Irmela, Liz and I. I had a blast- I wish our apartment had eaten together more this year.

After a loungy Friday came Saturday, my birthday. The weather was weak. Cold, rainy, cloudy, and overall sad. But Liz and I went for a walk, I got all dressed up, and we ended up at Rick's cafe for a free birthday beer around 1. We then had pizza and this fantastic Italian place which I'd meant to visit the whole year. It was wonderful- maybe even worthy of Thorsten this week.

Then after a little power nap, we headed to the Neckarwiese for my Birthday/Goodbye party. I followed the formula of last year's birthday party, my best on record: one needs only loved ones, meat, and beer to be completely satisfied. We had each of the three in plenty, and a good time was had by all. The skies even cleared up by the end- some stars were visible by the time we all left around 1:30.

I've said some tough goodbyes in the last week, and that won't stop soon. But I want to say here: thank you to each of you wonderful people who've been with me this whole year. Vielen, vielen Dank an euch alle, die das ganze Jahre lang so wunderbar zu mir waren. Ihr habt mein Jahr so bedeutend gemacht.

I'm going through the thousands of photos I recieved as a final parting gift. It's been good.

Love from Heidelberg,

Alex.