Cities of Light Prague to Paris Heidelberg

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Well, it is that time of the blog for some shameless self-promotion. Some of you, many of you, and I soon hope all of you know I am a novelist. I have written a four, soon to be five book series of supernatural fiction novels. Now, for those of you who do not like supernatural fiction, before you skip ahead, let me say these are not FANTASY where the impossible happens. This is not horror, nor are there monsters, bad words, or other trappings of popular novels of this genre. They are very interesting, all based on real events, legends, or history. They do have a very subtle supernatural twist but sometimes so subtle that you might not know it happened! The books are available on Amazon or, for a signed copy, just send me an email at [e-mail] and I will arrange a personalized signed copy to be sent.

The books:

GRAVESEND The story of a young man who has some spiritual expereinces growing up. He and his friends find a Ouija Board and soon encounter a spirit entity that changes their lives forever.

THE ENOCHIAN DILEMMA What if you died and were given the chance to come back?

GHOSTWITCH A series of murders are committed but by whom? The trail leads to an old indian legend of a Ghost Witch, an evil medicine man that happens to be dead.

LIVE, DIE, REPEAT What if there were a real disease that causes Zombieism? How would the world deal with that problem?

The books are well received and cater to an audience from 14 to 100. They are a fun ride and make a great gift. Please do look them up on my website philfarinaauthor.com. There is much more there, including an award winning short story "An Angel on My Wing". Thanks, and that's the end of my paid promotional announcement.

Back to the trip. Unlike the 100 plus degrees of yesterday's heat wave, today dawned with a forecast of 73 and a mere 16% chance of rain. It was a perfect day for a trip to Heidelberg. We had breakfast served by our very attentive Filipino waitress Belle and headed off to board the bus for the nearly 2 hour trip up into the low hills of lower Franconia where we were to tour the ancient university city of Heidelberg.

This city is host to the oldest University in Germany. Students from all over the world come to study from the great German faculty and are treated to diciplines from science to history to the humanities. Our guide Wolgang walked us all over this historic city, providing a running comentary of the history and grandure of this beautiful city.

We had a special treat at lunch today; we were to dine at a local restaurant frequented by University students who would join us for lunch. At our table sat two foreign students, Benjamin from Chile who was studying Greman and wanted to be a graphic designer and Bea, short for Beatrice, an Italian student studying transcultural issues. They spoke several languages, were very respectful, highly intellegent, and seemed to have a grasp of life and a purpose. Students in the US could do well tro emulate these students for the betterment of us all.

After lunch there was the option to go on a funicular and visit the castle at the top of the mountain, or shop....Guess which one we did!

One special note here. In Europe, bathrooms are referred to as water closets or WC's. They are very well maintained, for the most part, and are attended to assure safety and cleanliness, but this comes at a cost. That cost is .50 Euro. If you plan on going into any town in Europe, be prepared to have some gold .50 euro coins for the WC. They rarely make change and you are denied access if you do not pay. If you dine in a restaurant or cafe, you can use the WC for no charge. Remember to bring your coins; you will be very glad you did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heidleberg boasts a shopping strip that is 2.5 kilometers long and features everything from tourist kitch to clothing stores, various specialty shops, and of course cafes and bars. We walked from one end to the other in the very pleasant weather. The rain held off and the temperature never got above 76, so it was a perfect vacation day.

We did some shopping, enjoyed some gelatto, and just took in the scenery. It was a great day. Soon it was back to the bus and our return to the IDI. The good news was the ship had moved ahead to our next port, so the drive back was only 45 minutes. We got back in plenty of time for a brief nap, a few pops in the upper deck bar, and conversations with new friends.

It was soon time for dinner and tonight was German Night. Our meal was everything German. Our staff was dressed in blue and white check clothes. Some like Belle, wore a traditional costume. CJ, our tour director, sported lederhosen, a sort of shorts outfit made from deer hide. It's like wearing a shammy cloth, but one that can not be washed!

Dinner was amazing. On each table was an assortment of pretzels, sausages, breads, cheeses, and finger foods. Dinner was served buffet style. There was a very wide variety of German specialties, such as sausages,(smoked and grilled), red and white boiled cabbage, pork knuckle, chicken schnitzel, various potatoes and dumplings, salads, and so much more. There was a wide variety of dessert while the beer and wine flowed freely and consistently. Sharing such an expereince with fellow passangers is the great benefit of a Viking Cruise. You are never alone and you can trade stories with people from all over the world, even from Ohio!

After dinner came game night where we were to play music trivia! Our team was stacked. We had Cathy, a music expert of sorts, Dan and his wife Kathy who hail from the upper midwest, and our Canadian contingent Ralph (aka Claude?) and Rosemary completed the team. We were psyched.

The game was 15 questions long. CJ played a small part of a song and you had to identify to name of the song, the artist, the decade, and the nationality. We were hot! There were bonus points that could be earned for team singing the song, dancing to the song, and in one case team imitation of Elvis singing "Jailhouse Rock". Well, we did very well with the questions and several of the bonus points, but for some reason none of us, me included, wanted to do the Elvis imitation, so we did not get those bonus points.

When it came to score we had 980 points out of a possible 1200. the winners had a score of 1000. Had we done the Elvis impersonation, we would have won. In any event we were winners for just being together.

Time for another amazing day to come to a close and off to bed. Tomorrow is Mainz.

This is a great time to visit philfarinaauthor.com and order your book, so you can have it when you get home!

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