Everyone felt a lot better after a good night's sleep on Saturday morning of August 12. We took advantage of our breakfast. There were rolls (Brötchen), croissants, cheese, sausages, tee and coffee. A typical German breakfast. We listened to the simultaneous conversations in German and French as the other hotel patrons ate their breakfast, too. Tom really wanted us to see more of the sites of Strasbourg. I was of the opinion that we should embark on our trek to Vicki's traded bed and breakfast. I suggested that we stop at Heidelberg on the way.
We got our things packed in the Opal. Then we stopped at a supermarché nearby. We needed bottled water and some other supplies. Vicki bought a straw hat, and I bought a cap to protect us from the sun. We headed east across the Rhine and up A6 toward Heidelberg.
Heidelberg was a place I had been before on my trip in 1978. I remember that the bus drove up to the castle, and we had about 45 minutes to explore. Since Vicki had said that she wanted to see castles, it seemed to be a good place to head for. We were already pretty good at following the Michelin map that I had bought years before. We had quickly rejected the AAA map as being pretty useless.
At
Heidelberg Castle
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There was also a very spectacular view of the city of Heidelberg both inside and outside of the castle grounds. Below is a panorama of the city below that I pieced together in Fireworks 3.0. Someday when I have time, I may try to go back and get the hues of the two sections a little more matched. Immediately below is another view from the plaza inside the castle. | ||
While we were in Europe, we walked up and down many hills. The castles were usually on top of hills, and we all seemed to favor the pedestrian mode of travel when we could. We saw this castle up on a hill, and we started walking up to it. Vicki was way out in front as we walked up a long, long set of steps. The castle area is quite large. A big part of the castle is pretty much in ruins as these two pictures show. Today and all but tow of the days that we were in Europe, the weather was absolutely beautifulcool, sunny, clear air. You can see the vibrant blue of the sky in these pictures. | |||
Finally, to the right are a couple of views from inside the castle grounds. |
Created by Jim Andris, September 9, 2000.