Heidelberg

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Heidelberg

Lovely breakfast at the hotel Pfalzgrafen. A range of fruit, breakfast cereals, yogurt, breads, sliced meats, cheese, etc. Good coffee that comes in your own mini carafe and mini cream pitcher.




After breakfast we walked through the old town and over the old bridge across the river Neckar. On the other side, we followed the river along an upper road and sidewalk. At river level there is a walking and jogging track.



























About one kilometer downstream we crossed the river again over the modern day bridge. Then we walked back into the old town and back to our street.













We stopped in at the nearby internet café to check email messages. We also searched the web to find someone in Freiburg to give us a tour of the Black Forest. Came up with the name and phone number for a woman (Nicole) with a van who offers tours in the area.

Back at the room, we called Nicole and negotiated a 4-hour tour. The plan is to take the train to Freiburg in the morning, meet Nicole for the tour and take the train back to Heidelberg in the evening.

At 11:45 am we went on a guided tour of Heidelberg and Mannheim, previously arranged by SE. We were picked up by our guide Joachim Mueller and taken by a new black Mercedes to the tour office where we did the paperwork and paid for the tour. The lady at the tour office sent us off with a bag of refreshments to enjoy along the way.






Then it was back in the Mercedes with Joachim and off to the famous Heidelberg castle. Toured the castle with 'Joe' giving us all the interesting facts about the history of the castle. We bought a sketch of Old Town Heidelberg by an artist working outside near the gate of the castle.














We then toured the old town, the highlights of which were visits to the two old churches we each had been in last night - one of which is shown in this photo.










A few facts about Heidelberg:
- None of the old town was damaged in either of the two world wars
- The Heidelberg university with campuses in the old town, and a modern complex out of town has an enrollment of 40,000 students
- The university is the number 1 employer and economic driver, number 2 is tourism



We then drove out to Mannheim, about 15 km away. By contrast, this city was almost totally destroyed during WWII, because it was an industrial center. Just the old city water tower, and a baroque palace survived. The water tower has an amazing fountain in front of it. The palace, built by one of the kings (because he tired of the one in Heidelberg), had this one built. It is the largest baroque castle in Europe with 400 rooms and 1,000 windows. Apparently the king had seen the castle in Versailles and determined this one should be bigger.







We returned to Heidelberg and Joachim dropped us off at the train station, at our request, so we could finalize tomorrow's travel.

Our train travel to Freiburg for the next day was confirmed.

Bus 32 back to University Square.







Dinner at a real German café serving sausages, dumplings, and pork. Delicious, but more than enough. The beer was Lowenbrau in a big ceramic stein - very good.

Took a short video clip of the street, but there were fewer people walking up and down than last night.





A short walk around, some dessert, and back to the hotel.