From Strasbourg to Heidelberg | Trip to Europe

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.

Going to the Castle

 

 

Once we got into the city, we kept following the signs to "Stadt Centrum" and "Berg." We tried to drive up the hill to the castle but every parking space was taken. So we backtracked and parked about a mile away. As we retraced our steps on foot, we saw some very charming sites. There were very narrow streets, and on the way we saw churches with a unique style. Heidelberg has a flower pot orange hue to it, as do other German towns. After a while we came upon a lovely, large square. There was some kind of university there, but my pictures didn't turn out. I hope to either go back someday and find out what all the statues stand for, or maybe some kind soul that is viewing this page will write me and tell me what we were seeing. As you can see in the pictures, we could see Heidelberg Castle in the distance, up on top of a hill.

 

At Heidelberg Castle
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 beautiful—cool, 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.

From Heidelberg to Schleiden | Trip to Europe

Created by Jim Andris, September 9, 2000.