Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Walldorf...

Just before I came back to New York I paid a flying visit to Germany. Although I had been to Frankfurt a couple of times, this was my first opportunity to visit both Heidelberg and Walldorf. These towns have very interesting history.

My friend and colleague, Crispin Sheridan at SAP recommended a small hotel in Heidelberg. It was just wonderful! Die Hirschgasse is a small, luxury hotel with a 500 year history.

And I have to say, the food was outstanding. This is most certainly a place I'll be coming back to with my wife (well, whenever I see her again!). Heidelberg has a very interesting history. It's a small town of about 140,000 people and is world renowned for the famous Heidelberg press for paper and envelopes. It's a very pretty place.

And the University of Heidelberg is one of the oldest in Europe (some say the oldest) dating back to 1386. Of course, the outstanding landmark, sitting 80 meters above the river Neckar, is Heidelberg castle.

John Le Carre's novel, Absolute Friends, was set in Heidelberg.

Close by, in Walldorf, are the global headquarters of the world's third largest software company, SAP. And yes, there is a link to the Astoria family and the famous New York hotel. But the actual spelling of the name is with two Ls

SAP was founded in 1972 by five former IBM engineers and has a huge presence in the region (as well as the rest of business world... And most certainly in my life these days!).

Yes, I’ll definately be coming back to this part of the world as often as I can!