Weekend in Heidelberg

The day after Paul and Rosemary got here in Germany, we packed them up again and drove a few hours south. They had managed to sleep a little, although the jet lag got to them some. They had heard from the son of an old family friend who is a major in the army and stationed in Heidelberg, so we went down to see him. Major Brad Carlson did an excellent job of showing us around Heidelberg and the surrounding area. We had a great time with him as our tour guide since he has lived in the area for several years and speaks German very well. For the first time we had someone with us who could translate for us all the signs that we saw and tell us some of the story of the area.

We got into Heidelberg at a little after 3 pm, after detouring to the Frankfurt airport to pick up Paul’s luggage, and Brad took us to the army base so that we could all get passes that would enable us to get on and off the base. He let Paul and Rosemary stay in a friend’s apartment on base and put Darren, Mikayla, and I up in a hotel on base. They were nice accommodations and we were very thankful that he would do that for us. Not to mention that he dropped all his plans for the weekend in order to show us around.

After getting our things situated, we picked up a friend of Brad’s, Anastasia, and then headed to the nearby town of Bad Wimpfen to look around and to eat dinner. Since there was so many of us, we took two cars on the drive to the town. Brad took Paul and Rosemary in his car, while Anastasia rode with Mikayla, Darren, and I. It was a beautiful drive along the river, and we enjoyed looking at the castles up on the sides of the hills as we drove by. We also enjoyed talking with Anastasia and learning a little bit about her along the way. She is from the Ukraine, and had just graduated from the university in Heidelberg the week before with a degree in German.

Brad pushing Mikayla up the hills in her stroller in Bad Wimpfen with Anastasia walking with them. Ignore the date on the picture... Paul's camera was accidentally set on the wrong date.

In Bad Wimpfen, we parked the cars and walked around the beautiful old city. It was fun walking around and looking at the wonderful buildings and taking pictures. The town was set up on a hill and looked out over a river and valley below.

A house in Bad Wimpfen

Another house in Bad Wimpfen

A street in Bad Wimpfen

Blauer Turm - The Blue Tower in Bad Wimpfen

The view down over the valley and river below

The Weidmans in Bad Wimpfen

There was even a lucky pig museum, although we were too late in the day to check it out

After we walked around for a bit and looked out over the valley, we walked back to a little restaurant in the town and had dinner. We had a local Schwabisch dish, which was very yummy, although we couldn't remember the name of it.

Our food

Darren was able to capture this picture of the moon as we walked back from dinner

The next morning we had breakfast at a little bakery in the old part of Heidelberg and then headed out to go see the walled city of Rothenberg ob der Tauber, which was about an hour and a half drive away. It was an amazing city and we were very glad that we got to see it. Darren took quite a few pictures while we were there, but Paul put us all to shame. He borrowed Brad's camera for the weekend since his camera had run through the batteries that he had brought and wasn't working, and over the course of the three days that he had use of Brad's camera he took right around 1000 pictures. We still haven't seen the pictures, though, since they hadn't finished downloading by the time we had to leave and head back to Embken. Brad has promised to mail Paul the pictures, so maybe we will see them once we get back home.

The main square in Rothenberg

The other side of the main square in Rothenberg

The glockenspiel in Rothenberg. A few times a day when the clock strikes the hour, the windows on either side of the clock open and two figures come out. One chugs a beer while the other watches in amazement.

Darren and I walking on the city walls while Mikayla takes a nap

One of the gates into the city. The "Castle Gate"

A view of the city from one end looking out over the valley below

The city walls

The city walls from the inside

Wonderful local pastries... we tried out a few different kinds...

Darren and I in the stocks at the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum... Mikayla was in the Ergo backpack sleeping.

More of the Crime and Punishment Museum

Paul in front of the bear in one of the many Christmas shops in the city. The city has some wonderful, lavishly decorated Christmas shops year round. We heard that the Christmas market during Christmas time is amazing, and from what we saw during the summer time, we believe it. It would be fun to go back during Christmas some time.

That night, Saturday night, we ate dinner at a little place down by the river in Heidelberg. They have on their menu over 100 different varieties of schnitzel. I think that we all had different kinds and we each enjoyed the kind that we had.

The menu

On our walk back to our car after dinner, we had a great view of Heidelberg Castle all lit up

The next morning, Sunday, we went to church with Brad at the chapel on base. It was the first time that we had been to church since we came to Germany, since we hadn't been able to locate any services in English in our area. The area of Germany that we are living in isn't a very touristy area and many people do not speak English at all. It was very nice to be able to go to a service again after so long.

After the church service, Mikayla got to play at the wonderful playground that they had on base while we waited for some friends of Brad's to come and eat lunch with us. She had a lot of fun on the slides and in the little tunnels that ran through the play structure.

After lunch, which was at the Taco Bell on base since that is where Brad's friends wanted to eat, we went on a hike through Heidelberg. It was a pretty warm day, although a little hazy, and it was nice for a hike. Our hike took us up the famous Philosphenweg and up the hill on one side of the river, down the hill again and across the river on the old bridge, up the hill on the other side to see the castle, around the castle grounds, back down the castle hill, then back through town and back to our car. I think that our hike took us about three hours, although some of that was spent waiting either for Paul to take pictures or Mikayla to catch up when she wasn't in the backpack. It was a wonderful and beautiful hike and was a great workout, too.

A view over Heidelberg from Philosophenweg with the old bridge and castle in the background

Brad, Darren, Mikayla and I, Rosemary, and Paul on Philosophenweg looking out over Heidelberg

Darren, Mikayla, and I on a different part of the hike, looking out over Heidelberg. The castle is in the background, although it is a bit hard to see because of the haze.

Darren posing in a statue on the end of the old bridge

Paul, in the blue shirt, taking pictures. This is how we saw him much of the weekend.

A fountain with a statue, with Heidelberg Castle in the background

Looking out over the city of Heidelberg from the castle. We had to climb 304 steps to get up to the castle. Mikayla wanted to walk most of the way up. It was nice to not have her on my back for that part of the hike, but that is sure a lot of work for a little girl.

A tower in the castle, damaged by long ago cannons.

We had a wonderful weekend with Brad as our tour guide. We saw much more than we would have if Darren and I were leading the way, so we were very glad to have met up with him.