There's an the Old Alternative way to arrive in Heidelberg

Okay I admit it. I got a bit lost on arrival at Heidelberg. I had made the booking of a hostel months before departure after discovering there wasn't much in the way of affordable hotels in Heidelberg. Heck I even checked the Airbnb listings and for some reason people thought they were hotels.

What I was saying was I didn't really do a head check for the hostel location. I would normal make sure it was central to the train station but on arrival the phone GPS was telling me I had to walk 1.5km from the train station to the hostel to 50 Eppelheimer Strasse. A decent walk when you've got a 20kg backpack on.

So I walked. And I walked. And I walked. Yes it seemed a bit shalt we say industrial / commercial by the time I made it to the number 48. And there it was Bauhaus... a giant German version of Bunnings.... Definitely no Hostel.

And I walked past it.... number 60 something... hmmm problem.

So about then I pull out the phone and activate the emergency data plan. Data on an international SIM isn't cheap in Europe I had previously found. So I had reserved it for this type of situation. I find the hostel online and look at the booking address. 50 Alte Eppelheimer Strasse.

Damn it. I had just thought it was a reference to "old". The fact was these were 2 totally different streets. And it meant a return to near the train station. Do over! Another 1.5km walk back to square one.

Stupid Apple maps I blame you.

Not that the hostel even then was easy to find. The normal end of the street started at 48. But skipped 50. To find the hostel you needed to really read instructions. Look to the big carpark, before number 50, and see the big building in the carpark. There on the 3 floor would be the hostel. People have you ever heard of street signage! Get with it.

I had earned the beer that evening.