October 12, 2025, Frankfurt-am-Main- It was suggested by a fellow hosteler in Salzburg that I take dinner at Vetter’s, an authentic Bavarian establishment in Old Town Heidelberg. Apparently, a lot of Vetter’s fans were telling their friends the same thing. There was no room to be had there this evening. The reservation list stretched into next week.

I found another fabulous spot for dinner-Joe Molese Burgers and Sandwiches. More about Joe’s and its fabulous staff later. First off, though, some words about my stroll down the hill and around Old Town, in areas both full of my fellow travelers and others with only a few locals going about their affairs.

As I bid farewell to Schloss Heidelberg, it was the foliage that stood out.

I continued looking for a place called the Red Church, wandering through the alleys near Heidelberg University.

I found the Red Church at the north end of Old Town.

As I rounded a corner, there was an apartment courtyard, where a man was playing table tennis with his young daughter. Nearby was this gem of a mural.

and this:

The girl’s favourites were these:

It’s said that to rub the gold orb will bring good fortune. many visitors were doing just that, before I took this photo.

Karl-Theodor became Elector of the Palatinate in 1742 and united it with Bavaria in 1777, setting upon a program of economic modernization of this realm. He built the English garden in Munich and was an avid patron of the arts. In the long run, however, Karl-Theodor showed little interest in his realm, leaving it to Austrian and French invaders, in the 1790s. This statue shows that it was his earlier programs that matter most to posterity.

Now, back to Joe Molese.

This establishment provided the absolute best burger I have ever had-and that’s after a lot of hamburgers over 70 +years. It was not overly messy, such as I normally enjoy. It was simply flavourful and was not overshadowed by a mound of French fries. The lovely server and the effusive manager made everyone feels at home, despite the fact that the place was as packed as every other restaurant in Old Town, on Saturday night. When I went to pay, furthermore, it turned out that the young couple sitting to my right had already covered my tab! We had not spoken a word to one another, but there it was. I would go back to Joe Molese’s again, in a heartbeat.

Finally, this is the shop whose clerk helped me locate Lotte-The Backpackers Hostel. I bought a couple of items from her. It would be nice if more people patronized her little place.

It was not easy to say farewell to this enchanting place, but there was more joy waiting for me here in Frankfurt, and at the Baha’i House of Worship in Langenhain.