On Wednesday we took an all-day excursion to Wetzlar and Bad Nauheim.
We boarded the bus outside Moore Haus by 8:28 a.m. About two hours later, we deboarded at Wetzlar, a town famous for Goethe and optics.
We deboarded in front of the building for Leica, the maker of Leica cameras.
We consulted the direction sign post for Lottehaus, one of the settings in Goethe's
The Sorrows of Young Werther, a loosely autobiographical novel of his youthful love for Charlotte (Lotte) Buff, a beautiful woman already engaged to another man.
Meredith gave an overview of Goethe's
The Sorrows of Young Werther in front of Lottehaus.
Jack explained how the ending of Goethe's
The Sorrows of Young Werther came about. It involved the suicide of an acquaintance of Goethe by the name of Jerusalem. We saw Jerusalem's house later in our excursion.
(Meredith, Jack, and other students in Herr D's literature class have already read the novel. But the rest of us have not, so we appreciated the background information.)
Lottehaus allows only 20 visitors at a time. Because our group consisted of 60 people, we took turns going into Lottehaus. While I waited, I took this picture of six students.
The doorbell handle for Lottehaus is actually attached to a bell on the inside of the house.
Photographs are not allowed in Lottehaus, so I couldn't take a picture of the bell inside the house, but it looks like the one in the picture below, which I found on the Internet.
We next visited the Dom. Because this church has never been a bishop's seat, it cannot hold the title of "cathedral." Construction on the Dom began in 1230, and it still stands unfinished. Not surprisingly, the Dom exhibits architecture from different periods, including Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque.
The Dom serves as a gathering place for both Protestants and Roman Catholics. The altar for the Protestants appears in the picture below.
The altar for the Roman Catholics appears behind the altar for the Protestants. What is the difference between the two? The Roman Catholic altar holds the tabernacle that houses the Eucharist.
Look at this magnificent organ!
After lunch, we walked to the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court).
Dr. Sattler explained the symbolism of the double-headed eagle on the Reichskammergericht.
We next walked to Jerusalemhaus.
Herr D read a quote before we toured Jerusalemhaus.
Ashley took this picture of our group in front of the Jerusalemhaus.
From Wetzlar, we rode to Bad Nauheim, where Elvis Presley was stationed when he served in the U.S. Army.
An altar for him stands outside the house that he rented while in Bad Nauheim.
He sang "Muss I Denn" in the movie
G.I. Blues.
The house that Elvis rented while in Bad Nauheim appears in the picture below.
The house has become a hotel. Check out these humongous containers. I am 5 feet 5 inches. Chris is 6 feet 4 inches.
We took a break at a gelato shop.
Kristina got cinnamon gelato.
Happy gelato fans.
Some locals talked with Micah.
While we enjoyed gelato and conversed, Mac hung his hammock and relaxed.
On the ride back to Moore Haus, I videotaped the group as they sang happy birthday to my 2-year-old nephew Aaron. His mother reports that he has watched the video at least 20 times and has clapped for the singing.
By the time the bus returned to Moore Haus, the clocked showed 18:02 (6:02 p.m.). Our itinerary had us returning to the Haus at 6 p.m. Excellent German time!
Professor Bursy baked three cakes for her guests to enjoy. I know baking takes up much time. I appreciated Professor Bursy's generosity in baking these three mouth-watering cakes.
I tried a slice of Fireman's Cake first. Every bite tasted perfect. I next tried a slice of Sacher. Mmm-Mmm good!
I made friends with Minnie, her cat.
Professor Bursy and Minnie.
Minnie sticks out her tongue.
A beautiful basket of pink-lavendar roses.
Bicycles parked outside the University Library.
Megan enjoys the one with sprinkles.
At convo today, Michael, Jackson, and Dallas won the Superman Award for having the room most improved in cleanliness since last week. They looked happy when their names were announced.
On the way, I passed a wedding at St. Peterskirche. Built during the 12th century, St. Peter's Church stands as the oldest church in Heidelberg. The officiant of the wedding, however, wore a 21st century headset microphone.
The carriage of the bride and groom.
Plöck runs parallel to Hauptstraße, the main street of Old Town. Plöck normally has few pedestrians, but today Plöck has many pedestrians.
(Plöck after Heidelberg Herbst)
All shops close on Sunday in Heidelberg, but this shop chose to close on this Saturday for the Fall Festival.
A view of Hauptstraße on the day of Heidelberg Herbst. This scene reminds me of the crowd congestion on Nanjing Road in Shanghai.
(The Hauptstraße after Heidelberg Herbst)
A map of what is where at the festival.
Face paint for children.
Cookies and popcorn.
Cotton candy.
The strawberries and bananas look so perfect that they seem fake.
Fried potato with apple sauce on an edible wafer plate.
Hearts.
A tango club performs.
Bratwursts.
These bratwursts and hot dogs measure half a meter long. The server folds the bratwursts and hot dogs several times so that they would fit in the open bun that you see near the top of this picture.
Grilled onions and pork.
The German Postal Service.
Native American musicians and their CD's.
Flea market on the sidewalks.
A wine bottle chillin' in a rabbit hoodie.
Jacob puts ribbons on the name tags to hang them on doors.
The name tag for my door..JPG)
Laura, Kenny, Rachel M., and Megan Y.
Joe & Kaitlyn
Megan S.
I asked Hannah for a Snow White pose in her dirndl.(Hannah role played Snow White for Disneyland prior to coming to Heidelberg.) 
Michelle
.JPG)
