#emblphdsymp

[janetfernweh-blog]

What happens next?

Europe, you have stolen my heart yet again. I'm writing this while waiting to board my flight, 40% of me considered walking out of the airport, just to prolong the inevitability of real life back home.

Quick word about the party. It wasn't too bad. The music was shite but the drinks got stronger as the night progressed so it didn't matter much anyway. 

The next morning, Mutlu and Michael took me sight seeing. Up into the woods to look at ruins, particularly the St. Michaels Monastery, up to the famed Heidelberg Castle and out into the valley, which name escapes me, to look at 4 baby castles and a charming, well preserved village on top of a hill called Dilsburg. I truly apologize for the vague details, it is not an indication of disinterest because I love old buildings and ruins, I just could not keep track of the names. 

I met up with a new friend in the afternoon. An interesting chap whose company I truly enjoyed. The coffee I had though, was nothing compared to what we get in Melbourne. If he ever does get the chance to visit Melbourne, he would know what he considers good coffee really.... isn't. 

I took Mutlu and Michael out for dinner that night, to thank them for their hospitality. The pub we went to was just at the corner of their block, called Krokodil. I ordered a very seasonal dish of geese, tiny oranges, cabbage cooked in vodka and German noodle like thingies. While the food was ahmayzing, the portions were just unmanageable for me. How the hell are Germans not all fat blobs?

And now I am here. Waiting to board. Not wanting to leave but conscious of the fact that the sooner I get back to work the faster I'll finish and be able to come back. Until then, auf wiedersehen Europe, till we meet again!

[janetfernweh-blog]

I don't want to go.

As my time in Europe is winding down I face the familiar feeling of not wanting to leave. It was the same feeling I had when I left the UK for Sydney in 2006, the same feeling I had when I left Rome for Melbourne earlier this year. This unwillingness to leave, uggh, it's frustrating.  

After the fantastic time I had in Munich, Heidelberg was a whole lot calmer. On my day of arrival, I had a nice dinner in with the couple I was staying with, Mutlu and Michael, 2 German MDs who worked awhile in Melbourne before relocating to Heidelberg. Yes, I did the really thick-skinned thing of asking for free accommodations and feel really bad for it. I swear I'll do something to make up for it.

The very next day I arrived bright and early to EMBL Heidelberg, where I was attending a 3 day symposia. The campus is new, bright and shiny and the introduction we were given about the work they do here made me fully aware, for the first time, of how big of a deal EMBL actually is. 

Some of the talks were really interesting. The cafeteria where we had lunch and dinner overlooked the mountains and the city and had a wide selection of food. My poster session was at the very end of the first day and I am pleased to report that I did not spend my allocated hour standing around like an idiot. 

The second day, an undergrad friend of mine who was also attending the symposia decided that it was a good idea to skip out on the day's sessions and we went on the Philosopher's Walk. Not having learnt my lesson from Barcelona or Paris or anywhere else for that matter, my choice of footwear left much to be desired. That said, the view of Heidelberg from even halfway up was pretty amazing.

It was not a very good day for exploring, unfortunately. It started drizzling around the middle of the day and did not let up for the rest of it. We loitered around Altstadt, the charming baroque style old city of Heidelberg, with me going in and out of shops I recognised but cannot find in Australia. 

For dinner we went to the #1 ranked restaurant in Heidelberg, at least, according to TripAdvisor, called Schnitzelbank. A word of advice, come in hungry, come in thirsty or be prepared to leave loads of food untouched. Or do what we did and share meals between everyone. Also, the wine portions served are at least 2 standard serves. 

The restaurant was charming, the 2 servers were very accommodating and charming as well. The place was filled with not just tourists but locals and everyone truly seemed to enjoy their meals there. It is a quaint little restaurant but I'm not sure if I'll go back again. I'm just over all the meat and gigantuan portions, I think.

Today was spent at the EMBL, being a good symposia attendee and sitting in on most of the talks. Granted, I do have my laptop with me and I'm here updating my blog so no prizes for being attendee of the year, lol. There's a party happening later. I really want it to be good but we'll see. One big send off before the I leave?