I probably could have gone directly to Berlin from Paris if I wanted to, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to make a few more stops along the way. Most people would ask "why?!" but I say "why not?"
After Paris my next stop was Mannheim, Germany where I stayed from Wednesday until Saturday morning. Mannheim perhaps isn't the most visited city in Germany, but I went there because I have some friends there who offered to let me stay with them for a few days. These friends are actually Brazilian but have been working in Germany for the past year. We met last Christmas in Munich.
I could have flown from Paris to Frankfurt and connected by train to Mannheim (which is around an hour from Frankfurt) by I figured it would be just as quick, as well as cheaper and easier, to get a TGV train direct to Mannheim. I happen to be a big fan of the trains in Europe and with a journey time of just 3 hours to Mannheim, it was a good option. For the first half of the trip, the train's speed was averaging 315 km/h.
My TGV train at Gare De L'Est
Within the first afternoon I had already seen most of Mannheim and its two tourist attractions. It's a nice city with a population about the size of Canberra, but in my opinion it lacks the charm of other German towns and cities.
A park behind the Wasserturm (water tower) in Mannheim
On Thursday one of my friends took me 15 minutes down the road to the much nicer city of Heidelberg. As soon as we arrived in the old part of town two things became clear - firstly, that Heidelberg is a very nice place with a great deal of charm, and secondly, that the place was absolutely full of tourists. But I can see why, it's a lovely German town and not too far from Frankfurt. If I was stuck in Frankfurt I'd probably do a day-trip to Heidelberg too.
After walking through the lovely cobblestone streets which fill the old part of town we walked up the hill to the delightful famous castle.
Heidelberg, Germany
It was another strangely hot day, but cooling down wasn't difficult with shops on every street corner selling gelato at €1 per scoop. Mmmmm.
I spent Friday morning getting some stuff sorted out, such as getting myself a German phone, but for my last night in Mannheim two World Cup games of great importance to my friends were on. The first game was Germany v France and to see that game we went to a bar in Mannheim and joined hundreds of crazy German fans. They weren't actually that crazy to begin with, but when Germany won, they went wild! The people on the streets were celebrating just as wildly, and every second car driving around town was honking ferociously and had ten German flags (minimum) hanging out the windows.
After that first game we went to a bar full of Brazilians in Heidelberg to watch the Brazil v Columbia game. The Brazilian fans went just as crazy after their victory! It was a good night for everyone, really (well, except the French and Columbian fans I guess).
(As an aside, I will be in Berlin when Germany plays their semi-final match against Brazil next Tuesday. That should be an interesting experience!)