2006 Vacation in Europe, Part Three
Day Three (10/8): We Can't Stop Here; This Is Wine Country
Sorry for the delay in updating. Sometimes it's hard to keep my thoughts organized while I'm on the road. Big Flickr gallery update today too.
After two days of airplanes and trains, the last thing a reasonable person would want to do is get back on a train. But we did anyway, and rode about three hours to get to Heidelberg. It is both a college town and a tourist hub, and is very lively for its modest size (roughly 140,000 people; smaller than Chattanooga).
It is home to the University of Heidelberg, as well as Heidelberg Castle, notable for having the crap shelled out of it during the 30 Years War. We took a very, very packed bus to Old Town, at the foot of the hill below the castle, and had lunch in the Marktplatz. It's a fountain square, surrounded by shops and restaurants, and the Heiliggeist Church, an impressive old church of which I never did get a chance to take a decent picture. There's a smaller square nearby, housing an open-air market with artwork, jewelry, and souvenier-style items.
After lunch, we walked up to the castle; 315 stone steps, individually numbered. It wasn't too bad for me--I wasn't carrying children--but it was still a climb. At the top of the hill, there's a gatehouse that opens to a bridge over a deep trench; it was probably a moat at some point, but there was no water in it (if there ever was).
The piecemeal construction of the castle is obvious; parts of it were built from the 15th century, all the way up to the early 20th century.
In addition to the gift shops, there is a small apothecary museum (in which you can't take pictures, dammit), as well as a winery. There has to be a winery, after all, as the castle is home to the Heidelberg Tun, an enormous wine cask. No, really, it's huge. 58,000+ gallons of huge. There's A Dance Floor On Top Of It huge. Time, crowds, and relatively low light kept me from getting a good picture of it.
On the way out, there's a great view of the city and the bridges over the Neckar River; there's a yearly festival involving a reenactment of the attack on the city and castle, with fireworks launched from the castle and from boats on the river. Maybe some year I'll get to see it. The side of the castle facing the river has a steep cobblestone street winding down to the city; it's a hard decision as to whether it is an easier walk than the steps up which we came.
Coming soon: Part Four, in which there is down time, and Matt makes another stupid mistake.
Sorry for the delay in updating. Sometimes it's hard to keep my thoughts organized while I'm on the road. Big Flickr gallery update today too.
After two days of airplanes and trains, the last thing a reasonable person would want to do is get back on a train. But we did anyway, and rode about three hours to get to Heidelberg. It is both a college town and a tourist hub, and is very lively for its modest size (roughly 140,000 people; smaller than Chattanooga).
It is home to the University of Heidelberg, as well as Heidelberg Castle, notable for having the crap shelled out of it during the 30 Years War. We took a very, very packed bus to Old Town, at the foot of the hill below the castle, and had lunch in the Marktplatz. It's a fountain square, surrounded by shops and restaurants, and the Heiliggeist Church, an impressive old church of which I never did get a chance to take a decent picture. There's a smaller square nearby, housing an open-air market with artwork, jewelry, and souvenier-style items.
After lunch, we walked up to the castle; 315 stone steps, individually numbered. It wasn't too bad for me--I wasn't carrying children--but it was still a climb. At the top of the hill, there's a gatehouse that opens to a bridge over a deep trench; it was probably a moat at some point, but there was no water in it (if there ever was).
The piecemeal construction of the castle is obvious; parts of it were built from the 15th century, all the way up to the early 20th century.
In addition to the gift shops, there is a small apothecary museum (in which you can't take pictures, dammit), as well as a winery. There has to be a winery, after all, as the castle is home to the Heidelberg Tun, an enormous wine cask. No, really, it's huge. 58,000+ gallons of huge. There's A Dance Floor On Top Of It huge. Time, crowds, and relatively low light kept me from getting a good picture of it.On the way out, there's a great view of the city and the bridges over the Neckar River; there's a yearly festival involving a reenactment of the attack on the city and castle, with fireworks launched from the castle and from boats on the river. Maybe some year I'll get to see it. The side of the castle facing the river has a steep cobblestone street winding down to the city; it's a hard decision as to whether it is an easier walk than the steps up which we came.
Coming soon: Part Four, in which there is down time, and Matt makes another stupid mistake.
posted by Matt at
10:09 AM
1 Comments:
Oh lord, what did you do this time?
The German place here in DC doesn't have Kostritzer on tap currently, but they have Eggenberg Pils (Austrian pilsner), a nice Dunkelweiss (dark wheat beer), and Hofbrau Munchen Oktoberfest.
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