Heidelberg, Germany - May 2014

In 2009 we had a young guest at our home in Rocklin, California. A 21 years old Miss Betty (the nickname I gave her) from Vienna, Austria. Studying microbiology, she had come to California for a 3-month internship with Blood Source in Sacramento. A delightful young lady I have come to "adopt" by heart as my daughter. Our relationship developed and has been carried on over the past 6 years. Two years after her return to Austria, my husband and I made a trip to visit her at her parents's farm home on the outskirt of Vienna. The family compound consists of several buildings. The residence where we were entertained, the barn full of farming equipment, and a hunter's museum where her father (the farmer/hunter) keeps his collection. That evening we went to visit her grandparents' home and continued on to her uncle's private winery before we gathered at a busy bar / restaurant. Three years after that, in 2014 she was taking an internship with a company in Heidelberg, Germany. I had arrived by bus from Frankfurt. And there she was waiting for me at a Heidelberg bus station. She took me to her apartment which she rented with a roommate. I was so lucky she still treated me like her "mom".


Bettina at a railway station in Heidelberg.

With Bettina and her roommate.

The office where Bettina works as an intern.

Typical outdoor seating in May. Notice each chair is equipped with a small wool wrap for the guest to keep warm.

Bettina in blue, standing in a long line for gellato.

A quiet neighborhood.

In the peak tram going up to Heidelberg Castle.

Below are pictures from the Castle grounds overlooking the town of Heidelberg













Scenes around the town of Heidelberg