Miscellaneous

Parking - There are parking garages, called Parkhouses, all over Germany and Heidelberg. The format is similar to the US, but the payment process might be different than you're used to and is worth mentioning. When you enter the parkhaus you drive up to the gate and hit a button on the machine and it pops out a ticket, all familiar. However, when you go to leave, you do not drive to the exit and give your ticket to a person in order to pay. Instead, when you walk into the parkhaus, look for something called the "Kasse". It is a big machine sitting against a wall and there are normally several signs directing you to it. You insert your parking ticket into the machine and it will tell you how much money to deposit. Some machines accept credit cards, but that's rare, so have cash on hand. After depositing the required amount, the machine will give you back your parking ticket. You then return to your car and drive toward the exit. At the exit gate, you insert your paid parking ticket and the gate lifts for you to leave.

Grocery/Convenient Stores - If you plan to buy groceries in Germany, be aware that they will not automatically put your items in a bag at the checkout. If you want a bag, you have to explicitly ask for one, and they will normally charge you a few cents for it. Then, you will have to bag all your items yourself, with the bag they gave you. Alternatively, you can bring a bag to the store with you and use it as both a shopping basket in the store and a bag to carry your contents home. It's customary in Germany to have a small refrigerator (as Americans might have in an office or dormitory), visit the grocery store more often, and buy only a few necessities at a time. Germans rarely buy more than one bag of groceries at the store, so self-bagging is not much burden.

Measurements - As you may recall from grade school, Europe uses the metric system. I won't go into detailed conversions for all that, as you'll probably have no need of it and can easily look it up elsewhere. However, in addition to grams, liters, and kilometers, they also have a completely different measurement for clothing sizes. Here's a general guide, since you may want to do some shopping while you're here. Sorry guys, you have too many different sizes to calculate, but you can find some men's clothing info at: http://www.frenchfriends.info/practical_travel/men_clothing_size_conversions

Crime - Heidelberg is very safe, especially compared to most cities in the US. There are a few incidents of theft or vandalism, but even that is quite low. I park my brand new Mercedes convertible on the street almost every day with no concern. It is wise to be alert for pickpockets in major cities like Frankfurt, or in train stations, carnivals, festivals, or other large gatherings, but still, that is not common in Germany. Police uniforms are olive green and marked police cars are green and white. The German word for police is Polizei (pronounced: Poleets-eye).

Nudity - It's common in Germany (and most of Europe). No, people don't walk around naked on the street (except in rare cases for a special promotional campaign or something). However, German locker rooms, saunas, and spas are typically coed naked. That said, spas and saunas in hotels are often more accommodating of American/British comfort levels so there you may find people at least partially covered in towels or bathing suits. If your hotel has an in-house sauna, you can ask about the clothing policies at the reception desk so you know what to expect. Additionally, you'll find billboards, posters, and postcards in public places have a far greater degree of nudity than in the US. There's very little that they won't put on display, although the tourist nature of Heidelberg does help to mute such things a little there.