#post-paris

Cassie: Okay real talk, what do you think of Aurélie? 👀

Cassie: I don't want to include Leyla in this because OOH FRIEND (Inbetweeners voice is appropriate) awkward init.

Cassie: I'll be real, I know some people who know of her, and aside from one, I've heard a grand total of zero good things about her family.

Monday (4/07/14): My final food item in Paris was, of course, a breakfast croissant at the train station. We trained back to Mannheim and took the Straßenbahn (Nummer 23) to the Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof. I had a springy outfit on today, because the weather was finally warming up enough for shorter skirts.  We learned names for clothes in German, then for lunch I bought Raja Rani - I do love fast Indian food - and met my classmates at the fountain in the middle of the Marktplatz square, where we ate at its steps. The sunshine was lovely to bask in :)  We had music history for the first time in a week and a half, and I went home to unpack, before napping kinda late.

Tuesday (4/08/14): I had a relaxing morning and went to class around noon, then had lunch with Sam and Michelle at Cafe ExtraBlatt, on upper Hauptstraße.  I got my first authentic Schnitzel there, and it was delicious :)  In the afternoon, I had a Skype-run chapel band audition (for Westmont 2014-15) with Joel, and I was really happy with how it turned out. (Spoiler alert: I was later chosen for alternate!) After dinner, I made Nuss-Nougat Creme (like Nutella, but thicker) brownies!  We watched half of Hunchback of Notre Dame before the choir kids (me, Sara, and Michelle) had to leave for choir.  We ran, I believe, the entirety of the Bach Messe in h Moll (Mass in b minor), then once back home I ate more of my brownies :P

Wednesday (4/09/14): I had the usual routine for the morning- shower, breakfast, German class, then out to lunch somewhere. I got a pastry at Cafe Gundel, then we chose Yilliy for the hot chocolate; I tried a spinach/cheese calzone thing which really tasted funky. In music history, we got our midterm results... and I got 100%?! I totally freaked out, in a good way of course, and internally because no one likes a braggart.  After class came my voice lesson with Zach, which was quite helpful in getting my singing more into my body for support. I came home, had an easy dinner, and went grocery shopping at Penny - which cut me down to 10 Euro for the rest of the week. Oh well!

We had tickets to another concert tonight at the Stadthalle; we had upstairs seats, right next to a cellist who played with the others onstage for the first piece, by Arvo Pärt. Then we enjoyed Mahler's Lied von der Erde.  I walked home and surprisingly got there before the others who waited for the bus (but I think that was the night everyone else went to a cafe, or something). I went to bed just after midnight.

Thursday (4/10/14): In conducting this morning, we learned about the parts and technical names for a violin.  We also worked on conducting the Holberg Suite. I walked with Sam and Michelle to Göbes bakery, where I got a Himbeer-Tasche (Raspberry bag/purse, literally translated), then we walked down Hauptstraße to class.  Dative case was drilled into our heads, but I still don't understand the concept in English so I doubt I'd be able to remember it in the future... :/    I went home on an obnoxious train filled with rambunctious kids, then made lunch.  I went back on the town one more time today before coming home finally to do laundry and plan for my upcoming visa appointment.

Friday (4/11/14): First stop I made today was the Reisebank in the Hauptbahnhof to pick up the Euros my dear mother wired to me in order to pay for my Russian visa. It took a while, but I would hope so since it's picking up money we're dealing with!  While I was in the area, I bought my round-trip ticket to Frankfurt, which cost me almost 20 Euros... That sucked.  I then went to the Musikschule to sit in on Jonathan's piano lesson, then have mine. I got a quick lunch at McDonald's before going to my platform for the S-Bahn, which would take me into Frankfurt.