Alte Brücke (Karl-Theodor-Brücke), Heidelberg

In June, 1985, I found myself in Frankfurt with an extra day due to my return flight to the USA being overbooked.

Undecided as to where to go, I took the subway to the city's main train station and looked at the schedule. A train to Heidelberg was leaving shortly, and I was immediately drawn in that direction. The name had a mystique to me from the opera, "The Student Prince", but I knew little more than that.

In an hour's time, I found myself in a city which absolutely mesmorized me. I climbed to the famed castle overlooking the Neckar River, then watched an international rowing competition along the river itself.

But the highlight of the trip was that I stumbled upon the Alte Bruckenfest -- the annual festival celebrating the bridge across the Neckar. It was a traditional German festival, with oompah bands, beer stands and the ambiance of a forgotten era. It captured my interest so strongly that I booked a small hotel for the night and chose to remain in Heidelberg until early the next morning, when I reluctantly went back to Frankfurt to board my return flight.