Really Playing for Pizza: Heidelberg: The Best City you've Never Heard of

The Old Bridge sits below the Heidelberg Castle in central Germany.

With a few days off after our victory over the Black Lions, we were debating on what to do. A phone call at 9am from Gonzalo changed all of that, "YO! I GOT A CAR! ROAD TRIP!" Suddenly, we switched into trip planning mode, figuring out what to do with the next 48 hours before our bye-week practice. We dipped a little bit into the history books, deciding on copying an old World War II tactic (and modern football term): the BLITZKRIEG.

BLITZKREIG DEFINED:

1940: A military doctrine of an all-mechanized force concentrating its attack on a small section of the enemy front then, once the latter is pierced, proceeding without regard to its flank." A major tactic used by the Germans in World War II

2009: Jumping in a van and flying through as many countries as possible as fast as you can, having incredible life experiences and absorbing foreign cultures and traditions!

Let's Roll... Blitzkrieg 2009

We jumped in the 9 passenger van and headed north. We weren't exactly sure of our final destination, we only knew we wanted to go "north-west-ish" and hit a number of different spots. Gonzalo started out behind the wheel, while I flipped through the guidebooks. We settled on a preliminary plan of reaching the Rhine River valley in Northwest Germany the first night, then pushing on into Luxembourg and Brussels the next day. Europe was at our fingertips, and we were about to ATTACK!

I received a sign that stopping in Munich was going to be boring...

... George Contreras' off-season shipping business.

Our first stop was the small town of Heidelberg, Germany. It is a very historic village that lies along the Neckar River, a branch of the Rhine, and fittingly sits in the middle of the "AMERICAN ZONE" of Germany that was set up after World War II. The town was not destroyed during the fighting, and after the war the Americans made this the headquarters of American forces in all of Europe. Very fitting for our blitzkrieg strategy! I did not know this when planning our route - instead we were visiting for its large castle and characteristic Old Town.

Gonzalo's best fountain impression.

One of the best Old Towns we have encountered.

The boyz in the town square.

Christie finds a friend! (Shocker)

Eye to Eye with her new little buddy.

Following proper Blitzkrieg protocol, we attacked the downtown core with full force, walking down historic streets, checking out the large castle, and exploring the main sites. We found a sun-drenched patio, and enjoyed wheat beers (when in Germany look for the "Happy Monk") & good food. The town has one of Germany's oldest and largest universities, giving the town a young vibe and an international flair. (There is a Starbucks and Hard Rock Cafe in the Old Town.)

We only spent a couple hours here (due to Blitz tactics) but wished we had time to spend a couple days!