Speyer

So I hate changing trains.  Go ahead and scoff at my wimpiness--not going to change a thing.
But, Pil, you'd have so many more readers if you had wacky travel adventures!
I don't want any sort of wackiness, thank you.  I prefer to have smooth travels I can enjoy.  Since the weather was nice today I wanted to go to Speyer.  One thing I just LOVE on my travels are meeting what I call "old friends"--in other words works of art or buildings that I have taught in my Art History class.  There's a Romanesque cathedral in Speyer, and I just needed to see it.  What I didn't need is to spend most of my day either on a train or hanging around stations.
Speyer is worth a visit--don't get me wrong, but a consultation of the Deutsche Bahn (That's German Railway to you) website revealed limited options.  If I wanted just the one change--and not the two or (horrors!) three, then I would have to take very precise trains at very precise times.  I hate this.
So I got restless and left my room early.  I discovered that my foreign bank had a branch close to the train station.  I needed cash, so this was a good thing.  Please if you travel find out if your bank has foreign partners--because the exchange rate is hideous enough without added on ATM fees.
I got on my train--one of those fancy ICEs only to be tossed off a few minutes later since they weren't finished cleaning the thing.  Ok.  Got back on and found a good, non-reserved seat.
A pleasant ride later we pulled into Heidelburg.  Time to change trains.  I had trouble finding my platform and hurried down the stairs only to find the train pulling away.
German trains are famous for their punctuality, Pil.  Upset were we?
I almost cursed their punctuality!  Some of the trains I was on were latish.  Why couldn't this one be? Only it wasn't.  So I sought out the information desk at the train station.  The surly man at the information desk provided information ungraciously--a first for me in Germany--but he did provide information.  I took the opportunity to use the train station toilet and snoot around and made sure I was on the platform in good time.  This does not constitute a wacky travel adventure.
The train came, and I had a rather dismal ride through urban centers or blecky industrial areas or wreckyards.  And then Speyer at last!
Now because of my lack of enthusiasm for changing trains, I'd given myself a short but adequate time in Speyer.  This was now reduced by one half, and made even more problematical by the walk from the train station to the town center.
And yet when I turned the corner and saw at the end of the street--the Kaiser Dom--the Romanesque Cathedral of my Dreams, my heart lifted, and Deutsche Bahn was forgiven.  Since I had such a short time I resolved to spend it on the cathedral.  The exterior except for some added statuary is pure Romanesque.  The interior is nearly so.  The frescos have been modernized, and they have added Stations of the Cross beautiful in themselves, but I walked the aisles and the nave and reveled in the harmony of the design.  Romanesque is solid--sometimes heavy--but always magnificent.
But so little time remained!  I bought a pilgrims badge of a scallop shell.  Pilgrimage means something to me.  And the town--so pretty, so delightful and cheerful!  I walked back slowly wishing I could linger.  How fun it would be to sit in an outdoor cafe and eat gelato or sip chilled Rhine wine.
But unless I wanted to spend the night in Mannheim I had to get going--so reluctantly!
Clearly I made it home all right.  A frustrating day in some ways--but oh my--did I love Speyer Cathedral!