Jernie's Hub

Fall (´Herbst´ in German) season has started. Though the sky was crystal clear, it was cold. On my way to the Paradeplatz to meet a friend to visit the Mercedes Benz museum in Ladenburg, I saw a farmer’s market in the Marktplatz. Since, I was quite early; I decided to get out of the tram to look around. There were stalls of fresh vegetables, fruits, spices, other farm products, olives, olive oil, cheeses, and delicacies. Among the others, I was more interested with the flower stalls. As advised, these markets are being held three times in a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday).

The good thing here is that, we can easily get a route plan from the internet. Check this-out, http://www.vrn.de/. It was an exciting day-trip for me because it was my first bus ride in Germany. My friend showed me how to use the ticket vending machine. Based on the route plan I printed the night before, we need to take a tram going to Heidelberg then we go down at the Seckenheim Rathaus and take a bus going to Ladenburg. From there we just have to walk for minutes to get to the Dr. Carl Benz Automuseum.

Well, what I appreciate very much is that the public transport system here is really efficient. The trams and buses are always on schedule. How does it work? One can either get a ticket from the vending machine or buy a monthly or yearly card from authorized distributor. With the ticket, once inside the tram or bus you should have the ticket stamped (a stamping device is available). But with the card, you just have to show it to the inspector. We didn’t encounter anyone though. Of course, they come unexpected. I can’t help but compare with the system in the Philippines and China. (I don’t know in Dubai as I have never been in a bus), where the inspector has to check every single passenger. My naughty thoughts came playing in my head, what if I won’t buy a ticket? The penalty as of this writing is Euro 40 and the price of one ticket in Mannheim is Euro 2.10. It’s not worth taking the risk.

I remember my classmate in my German Language class in Berlitz. She was in a rush to catch the tram that she didn’t have the time to get the ticket. She took the risk; anyway most of the time there is no inspector. There came a big surprise, as the inspector was closing in, she has no choice but to tell him the reason why she didn’t have the ticket. But her alibi wasn’t accepted, instead she was asked to pay the penalty of Euro 40. Unfortunately, she had no cash on hand. She thought that she will be excused but instead she was escorted to the ATM to get the Euro40. Oh no! Embarassing.

So, there we arrived in Ladenburg on time. Since the museum is still close (it opens at 14:00 and closes at 18:00 hrs), we decided to take a walk to the park along the Neckar River. The view was fantastic. There were not many people. A big change from the trips we did together in China, where there were just too many people wherever you go and it was so noisy. There it was beautiful, quite and very clean.

Ladenburg is a very old city. It is one of first cities in the north- western part of Baden- Wurttemberg, one of the most important and maybe the oldest city on the right bank of the Rhine. It is situated half- way between Heidelberg and Mannheim, the residences of the Electors, who governed the town for more than 400 years.




Its history:

The Celts were the first to settle here about 3000 years BC. They could settle in this place because it was an elevated island in the moors of the Rhine. In the south- west of the town the remnants of a Celtic fortification (hill fort) were found. It was a sanctuary as well as a military and civil place. The settlers gave it a name LOKWODUNOM, which means "castle on the water“. This name was being changed during the different historic epochs.

Read more...
http://www.ladenburg.de/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=48

Around the city center:

Though this place is small but it reflects its strong culture, its beauty and its very old & rich history. At the city center, the alleys are narrow, the buildings are very beautiful and artisitic. It’s really a pretty place. I love it!

We stopped for a coffee break at the city center. The coffee shop is quite small but it’s truly a wonderful place to sit and relax. The interior is beautiful. It was quite a change for us because not long ago in China, wherever we go in restaurants,coffee shops, and fast food shops, there are always many staff to serve us. But here, there were only 2 ladies running around taking orders and serving. We couldn’t resist but recall our experiences in China.

We were constantly watching the time not to miss the bus we will be taking back to Mannheim. We walked our way to the bus station. While standing at the station, we were enjoying the site of wonderful cars passing by. Unbelievable! Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Jaguar and BMW are among the ones which caught our attention. We were laughing and were asking ourselves “Hmmmnnn, are we in a car exhibition show?” Then, came the bus, on the dot, not a single minute late. It was such a very nice and interesting trip.