Thursday was a very special day because it was our last day in Europe. Of course, that didn't stop any of us from sleeping the majority of the way to Heidelberg. Once we got there, we all walked over to the tram station to board a tram up the mountain to Heidelberg Castle. We then had 45 seconds to disembark (which was an adventure in and of itself) before leisurely strolling down the outer defense walls with a clear view of the town below, the next town over, and the distant mountain range. The castle is clearly from the Medieval Ages (big walls at 25 feet thick, tall defense walls, a moat that is now very empty, etc.) and it has been left as a ruin. I love that. Being a ruin makes the castle more impressive because you have to imagine what it looked like fully restored. It also shows the age of the castle, reminding us that history is even older than we often give it credit for. We toured the grounds, impressed by the architecture and the interesting stories our guide told us, like how the drawbridges have now all been replaced by solid bridges because of tourism, how the last queen began to turn Heidelberg Castle into a typical Baroque palace before the 30 Years War destroyed the Castle the first time, and how King Louis the 14th tried to restore the castle, decided it as cursed or something, and stuck dynamite in several towers to official blow them up. On our tour of the grounds, we explored the official royal balcony, where there is a dent in a rock. According to legend, one night the king returned late from a hunting trip, and the queen had a certain male visitor over that she didn't want the king to meet. So, as the king was returning, this mysterious visitor quickly donned all of his heavy armor, leaped from the window onto the balcony, left a single heel print in a rock on the balcony, and escaped, never to be seen or heard from again. Therefore, if your foot fits in the footprint, you are also a very good lover. Personally, I think it's hogwash. If somebody had leaped out of a window like that, he would have let more than heel print and he would total have been caught. I think that in the 1800s, when they were first restoring the castle (before all the romantics told them to stop restoring and to only maintain the ruins) that somebody dropped some heavy piece of machinery or chipped the rock and then created a more romantic, interesting story of how it got there. But that didn't stop any of us from seeing in the footprint fit, and we discovered that several people in the group would make great lovers. It was like Cinderella, but different.
We also got to see the largest wine barrel in the world. It was at least two stories tall and about 22,000 galleons. The barrel took up the entire room all by itself. It needed to be the big because the peasants had to give part of their output to the king, and this was wine country. They just poured their taxes into the big barrel in the cellar, and the king drank that nasty concoction whenever he was thirsty. Now, I'm not a big wine drinker myself (mostly because I'm underage and partly because fermented drinks just don't sound tasty) but I can appreciate the king's devotion to his favorite drink.
After we toured the castle, we walked down a very steep path to return to town. I had to go slowly because the cobblestones kept catching on my shoes, and I wanted to avoid a tumble. But everyone made it down safely, and we toured the town. We saw the Protestant Church, the statue of Hercules, the university, the university jail (they actually have one. They mostly use it for punishing students who get drunk and do stupid things in public), the Catholic Church, the river, the town gates, and a variety of small shops and restaurants. The town has been mostly restored, so the houses are all structurally sound, and it looks exactly like a restored Middle Ages town ought to look.
We then had time to wander in small groups. We mostly used this time to shop and eat lunch. We got back on the bus for a 2 hour drive back, during which most of us fell asleep. We then went home to change for our concert and went to the music school to prepare for our last concert. The venue was beautiful. There's a square in the middle of town that is used for farmers' markets, outdoor dining, and concerts in the summertime. It is surrounded on three sides by buildings, and the main footpath lines the fourth side, which created beautiful acoustics. Chairs are provided, but there weren't enough chairs for all, so a lot of people were standing or sitting on the wall in the back of the square. It was humbling to see that many people had shown up for our concert and it was a reminder of the power of music and of exchange: both only work if people are willing to listen. The Bietigheim Band went first, and they played a beautiful variety of music that showed off the talent of their musicians. After they performed, we had the chance to play. We didn't get to play our entire set, but the audience appeared to enjoy the pieces we did play. One of the boys in my host family told me afterwards that he had really, really enjoyed the Stars Wars medley, which made all the practice and frustration and tears spent on that piece all worth it. We played our final song (Stars and Stripes Forever March) with the Bietigheim Band, and I couldn't imagine a better way to end the classical portion of the concert than with a public showing of musically unity. Then the jazz band took the stage. They played a variety of jazz types to give everyone a taste of the different flavors of American Jazz. The soloists were somehow even better tonight than they were at the last concert, which excited the entire crowd. However, we couldn't stay long to celebrate; we had to get home to pack up and get whatever sleep we could.
Friday was our travel day, which meant getting up at 5 in the morning (which I generally disagree with on principle. It's just too early). We all slept on the way to the airport, which was good because the line to get tickets was a little long (because there are 80 people in our band and it was now 7 in morning. The ticket people weren't awake either) and then we had to go through security. Once we were all through security and we were all safely on the plane, many of us went back to sleep, only to awake again to a Navy style touchdown in Dublin. We were all awake after that. We then went through security again and were given some time at the airport to shop and eat a snack. My friends went to Burger King to get a real American cheeseburger. I was content to steal (with consent) a good majority of their fries. We then regrouped, found our passports and customs forms and went through customs in Ireland. Once we were on American soil, we went through security (for those of you keeping track at home, this is the third time) before boarding the airplane to come home. They gave us lunch and a snack, and most of us slept when we weren't enjoying airline food (which was definitely hot. I appreciated that). We were excited to touch down at O'Hare, and rushed (as fast as you can rush) off the airplane to claim our luggage and our families and go home to sleep.
The moment we landed, I could tell we were in America, even without the pilot announcing it. The land was flatter, the people all spoke English, and the air even smelled different. While I will definitely miss Europe, I have also come to appreciate the value of home, of having a place that you know so intimately that you immediately relax, even if you weren't stressed or tense before. Home is a place you can sleep. But you can't always be at home, because then you will never grow and the world will always be big and scary and foreign. I have changed in these last two weeks because the world is no longer as big, as scary, or as foreign as it was when I started. I am eternally grateful for having the opportunity to see, experience, and sleep in Europe because home is now a little bit bigger.
