We left our overnight stop — all the big boys had already left, so we nearly had the place to ourselves. We continued towards Heidelberg, and we found the same parking spot we had last time we were here, and were glad that it had not disappeared. The bus stops right where we parked, so we went into Heidelberg for the day. Heidelberg has a very civilized way of paying for public transport — you can buy a single ticket, or an all day ticket (Ticket 24) — fairly typical so far — but you can buy an all-day ticket for a group up to 5 (Ticket 24 Plus) — so the price per person gets less as the number in the group increases!
We went in to Bismarkplatz, a major tram and bus stop just at the end of the pedestrianised Hauptstraße. There is a big department store there, Galleria Kaufhof, which has a cafeteria on the top floor overlooking the square. We went up there for our morning coffee before wandering the length of Hauptstraße and up to the castle. This cafeteria is an obvious meeting spot for the grey set of Heidelberg!
We then set off along Hauptstraße, the mile-long pedestrian mall in the heard of Heidelberg. We walked along, just enjoying the shops and the sights.
We reached the Marktplatz, passing the Church of the Holy Spirit (which we would return to later), and the City Hall. This baroque building, built in the first years of the 18th century, is festooned with window boxes.
We walked up to Kornmarkt, with its magnificent old statue of the Madonna.
From here, to the Bergbahn, the mountain railway, up to the castle. The lower part of the railway is ultra-modern, and the upper section (up from the Molkenkur to Königstuhl) is a 'Historic Railway'.
The middle stop in the lower railway (where the two trains pass each other) is the stop for the castle. We got off on the way up and went across to Schloß Heidelberg. We revisited the Pharmacy Museum, which has the furniture and fittings taken from actual apothecaries' rooms, some as early as the beginning of the 18th century.
We also went down into the cellars to the Große Faß (the Great Wine Barrel). The current one (not in use, unfortunately) dates back to 1751 and could hold 228,000 litres of wine — the makings of a great party! They have wine tastings in the cellar, and you can buy wines from Heidelberg Castle with your own personalised label.
We didn't do the castle tour — don't think it would have changed since last time.
We then tried to find the little restaurant we visited last time, but no luck — looks like it has gone the way of many such places. So we went back into the Castle Courtyard, where we had lunch at the Castle's Backhaus, overlookng the courtyard.
Then we went back to the Bergbahn, went up to the Molkenkur station, and changed for the Historic Railway up to Königstuhl. This has little timber carriages that run up a fairly steep slope to the top. We sat (or stood) just behind the driver and had the best view going up!
The view from the top is great, but you really get a better sight of the old city from the castle itself.
View from the Castle of the Old Bridge and the Old City
After coming down from the mountain, we walked back to the Marktplatz, and went in to the Church of the Holy Spirit. This church was built between the beginning of the 14th century and the mid-15th century. Like the Vicar of Bray, this church has been alternately Catholic and Protestant — since 1936 it has been Protestant!
The windows to the sides are very modern!
The walk back along Hauptstraße was a little wet — it had been raining on and off all day. Part way back, we stopped to look at the outside of the Haus zum Ritter Sankt Georg (The House of the Knight St George) one of the great old houses of Heidelberg (dating to 1592), now a hotel. A flock of Japanese tourists was passing at the time, with umbrellas hoisted against the rain.
We dropped into the Providenzkirche (Providence Church), which houses the oldest organ in Heidelberg. The interior is basically one big open space, typical of quite a few Protestant Churches.
Then back to Galeria Kaufhof, where we had noticed a couple of little things we wanted to buy, before going back to the van for the night.
Distance driven — today, 18 miles ( 29 km ); to date, 27,406 miles ( 44,106 km )
Thank you. I always think of "The Student Prince" when I hear of Heidelberg. I guess it's not summer time. That lunch looked wonderful Suzie- and rich. What are the prices like over there? The Stained glass windows were different this time.. The old organ looked great-who has played it? Franck? Liszt? I'm glad all is going well. Did you like Cologne Cathedral? Tony Rabbit has washed the wax from his ears at last and is opening our borders to Syrian refugees. But not the poor devils he's incarcerated and who have been brutalized north of us. I spent all day going through and sorting Nicks clothes yesterday. Big wash day today then iron and sort for here and there. Am making door sausages out of all his old socks. Found the old knitted bear Gran Jones made for him. The last memory I have of the bear is of Nick chasing Huckle down Eton Street calling him all sorts of endearments (the day the air in the street went blue)when he grabbed it and ran away with it. I mended all the holes from little teeth and tug of war. Can still see Nicko, crankily stomping back up the drive with bear under one arm and dog under the other and saying to me who was laughing until I cried "Fat help you were mum." Sophie and I laughed and laughed. Then she designed all her birthday invitations on my laptop and I wandered over to Uni and printed them out with help from a friend (as they were in colour). Then I faxed off the 30 pages of info the government wanted re all our financial statements and application form for Nick's cremation funds with Fulham funerals. I'll ring the Advertiser tomorrow and ask them to contact Fulham so our notice can go in on Saturday as planned. Love you. Travel on happily, We are getting there. Cathy
ReplyDeleteme again. Loved the Madonna and child statue. Also is the bus an electric one. How many litres did that wooden barrel hold? Love ya, Cathy
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