Germany Trip Day 2

What a fun day! We felt like a million bucks after having a lovely 12 hours of sleep. We checked out of our hotel around 9:00 am and searched for some breakfast. For some reason the Marriott we stayed at charges for breakfast, even having Gold status. Oh well.

While on the road we realized we were going to pass Burg Frankenstein, where Mark and I had gone 3 years ago on our last Germany trip. We knew Jeff and Alison would like it so we took the extra 5 minute detour and stopped to look around. It was super quiet and empty and there were some young guys setting up a haunted house inside the castle walls.

Jeff and Alison just inside the doorway at the castle.

Part of the haunted house scenery they were setting up.

We were able to see more of the castle this time around since they had the other courtyard open for the decorations for the haunted house. We didn’t get to go inside any of these cool towers but we got a much better view of them.

We finished up at Burg (Castle) Frankenstein and decided it was really time for breakfast. We found the closest truck stop/gas station and had a delicious brunch: scrambled eggs with sliced ham in them, small loaf of crusty bread and a brat all washed down with a Coke (to make sure we stayed awake).

We drove the rest of the way to Heidelberg, found a great parking spot in an underground parking garage and started our touring of the city.

The boys were patiently waiting while Alison and I took pictures of everything in every square we passed through. 

This is the Church of the Holy Spirit. It was huge and I can’t believe how many souvenir shops line the entire outside wall of it. 

We explored the Old Bridge that crossed over the Neckar River.

From the river we had a great view of Heidelberg Castle, tucked away on the mountain side. This castle was huge! We waited until after our riverboat cruise up and down the river to explore the castle.

There was a random sculpture of a baboon on the end of the Old Bridge.

Jeff found a boat cruise for us to go on. I have to say this was a great idea! I loved it. Walking up and down along the river would probably have been too much for my knee so it was the perfect way to see a good portion of Heidelberg from river.

We were blessed with amazing weather today so sat in the back and enjoyed the open part of the boat.

Sometimes I let Mark have the new camera and take pictures. This way I can have proof I was there, too.

And the nice thing about having friends on vacation with you is that they will take pictures of you and your spouse together, instead of having to ask other tourists, or locals to do it.

It might have been a nice sunny day but the morning was cold and the boat menu claimed to have yummy hot chocolate. It was delicious. A lot sweeter than most European hot chocolate I’ve had and a whole lot of yummy cream on top!

There were only 11 passengers on the entire boat, but I wasn’t complaining. We didn’t have to fight for a picture spot along the edge of the boat. I had to get a picture of the enclosed portion of the boat. It was clean and beautiful. And it had a nice view of the Old Bridge before we headed off along the river.

We figured it was time to head up to the castle after our boat ride. It was quite the steep climb and a good indicator of if my knee would hold up to all the walking this trip. I’m happy to say it did and I have high hopes of lots of walking the rest of this trip.

The view from the top of the castle was amazing.

Mark and I in one of the lookouts.

Once we got inside the main courtyard we decided to call the girls since we didn’t call the night before. They were getting ready for school so we only chatted a few minutes.

Here’s Mark talking to the kids on the phone. Cool courtyard, huh?

Another view of the courtyard.

We walked around an Apothecary museum inside the castle. It had a great history of early apothecaries, physicians and the like. Interesting, if you’re into that.

Another stunning view of Heidelberg city from high up the mountain in the castle.

A huge chunk of the end of the castle fell off years and years ago.

Mark and Jeff doing what boys do.

After three hours exploring the castle we were ready for some good German food again. We found a small café in one of the squares in the old part of town, just down the hill from the castle. Once again, we all ordered the same main dish, bratwurst, but with different side dishes. These fries were so good. Why can’t American’s make good fries?

We passed a delicious bakery store.

I could have eaten one of everything in the display window, but settled for a schneeballen, which is a fancy German word for a butter pastry ball. They had so many flavor choices but I settle for cinnamon sugar. It was amazing. I think I need another one tomorrow.