The apartment got surprisingly hot at night, partly due to the plastic mattress pad, but also partly due to the stormy weather, that prevented us from opening windows. Regardless, sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee (we brought Hilary’s Nespresso machine with us) was just marvelous. Too bad we had to leave.
We hit the road early enough and headed for Heidelberg where we were going to meet Michelle’s cousin Angie. We hit 200km/h on the drive, and for the first time, the Autobahn felt legit. We met Angie in the center of Heidelberg for lunch at an Italian restaurant in the plaza. The ladies caught up while we waited for food and it was fun to watch cousins catch up and talk in a way they couldn’t at home.
Heidelberg was that classic mix of dirty/aged but also pretty. Maybe the gray weather accentuated the look, but it very much felt like the city that all the pictures from my Langenscheid books from highschool were taken. We spent a good 3 hours in Heidelberg before having to say goodbye. But we had a short jog to the Miramar bath and waterslides. The girls were bonkers once they saw the slides as we approached. And they continued to have a blast as on the various slides and pools for the next 2 hours. However, I was a little overzealous and did a swinging leap into a slide and the speed caused me to slam into the walls during an s-curve and I felt like a broke my hip. Michelle managed to get herself stuck in a tub slide ride that spins in to a giant whirlpool. The kids loved it, but we had to continue our drive to Köln.
Once back in Köln, we headed to dinner at Kölsch Kultur. Parking is a challenge in Köln, but we squeezed in to a spot and walked to the restaurant. The restaurant, the beer, and the meal was easily the best in Germany. I was forbidden from getting the saurbraten made with Pferd (horse), but the cordon bleu, the savory crepes, the kartofeln, the schnitzel, and the beer were just fantastic. Ella ate the bacon out of the crepes once she was done with the crepe itself.
I probably don’t need to explain how Kölsch is served, but the local beer is served in small glasses, and the server comes buy and replaces them frequently and marks a coaster with the total number of refills. This Kölsch was delicious and we enjoyed quite a few. The server was gregarious, helpful, and teased the girls in a playful way. It was the perfect meal for the last day in Germany.
When we returned to the car, several other cars had pulled around ours and had parked on the sidewalks, against bike racks, and up against the buildings. It was amazing and made me nervous for the future of our neighborhood. Still, I found that I loved Köln and wish we could have spent more time there.