Mannheim Bound! - Blog 4

Route from Stuttgart to Mannheim.

Trains in the Mannheim-Stuttgart High Speed Railway.

Hallo Alle! After an exhausting day in Stuttgart, I crashed at a small youth hostel before heading out to Mannheim.  About 85km away, Mannheim, is only slightly smaller than Karlsruhe and Stuttgart.  Anxious to get to a new city, I hopped on the Mannheim-Stuttgart high speed railway.  Though I was expecting exorbitant fares, the price turned out to be reasonable.  People fall under the category of 'youth' through age 26, which means I was able to take the train for just €48. I made it from Stuttgart to Mannheim in just over an hour.

Isn't it cute?  And oh my God - it
smelled so good from outside!

Doner from Istanbul

After the train ride I was positively ravenous. I hopped off the train and set forth into the city.  It was strange because unlike other German cities, Mannheim is laid out like a grid, which the locals told me ea  After wandering for a few minutes, I was immediately drawn to a brightly colored restaurant called Istanbul.  Though I have been in Germany a few weeks, I haven't really gotten much of an opportunity to try Turkish cuisine, so I figured 'why not?'. The restaurant was busy busy and loud, but had a fun atmosphere.  I immediately settled in with some local who frequented the restaurant.  They recommended I got the Doner, and then we all split a Cheese Pide. We got our food ridiculously fast and spent most of the meal talking about my travels. It was delicious and cheap, and my new friends recommended some great things to see in the city.  

My new friends from the restaurant had a great sense of humor and as a gag took me to see Pinocchio Indoor Kinderpark.  This massive indoor playground is built around a giant slide int he form of a volcano.  There are hanging rope bridges that connect a variety of activities such as slides, ladders and even racing cars.  Our adult admission even came with a free drink and a 15 minute stint in massage chairs.  Although we got some strange looks from people we spent a short while exploring the playground.  

After the adventure to the playground we traveled to Luisenpark  for a more relaxed atmosphere.  On the walk there we passed some stunning pieces of Mannheim street art, including these paintings on the side of fences.  This style is really popular among Mannheim artists.  

 Luisenpark is officially one of the prettiest places I have ever been.  My friends and I made a beeline through lush gardens, meticulous flower beds and around glimmering ponds to the Fernmeldeturm.  This is a rotating platform that allows you to see a 360 degree view of all of Mannheim.  It was truly incredible. 

Here is a sped-up version of the video I took on the trip around the Fernmeldeturm.  This shows the beautiful view of the city and also the grid-like layout I mentioned earlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyU-LU52Io8

At the very end of the video you can see a pond where we later took a gondola ride around the park which gave us a clear view of their Chinese teahouse and aviary.  We were able to see all of this for less than €24!

I am currently staying with one of my new found friends that I met at Istanbul.  I am thororoughly exhausted after such a  great day.  More updates tomorrow!