Monday, September 24, 2007

Heidelberg

We just spent a fabulous weekend in Heidelberg...located outside of Frankfurt on the River Neckar. Unlike much of Germany, Heidelberg was spared during WWII as it was neither an industrial center or transportation hub. Following WWII, situated in the American zone of Germany, Heidelberg became the headquarters of the American forces in Europe. The city population is roughly 20% US military and their families, 20% university students, remaining are probably all employed by the university or tourism industry.

We arrived there Saturday around lunch time. We kept things fairly low key as Carter was a little under the weather. We wandered around the old town (Altstadt) and had lunch. We walked up Philosopher's Way and enjoyed some incredible views of the city and castle. It's quite a hike up this road, but the old homes provide a great distraction.
View from Philosopher's Way on the north side of the River Neckar:

Saturday we night stayed at a little hotel on the west side of town, Hotel Neu Heidelberg. Apparently that's the best you can do when booking only 24 hours in advance. It turned out to be a fabulous hotel & restaurant. On Saturday evening, we put Carter to bed in our room and then had dinner in the hotel restaurant. Great food & we were able to run upstairs to check on Carter every 15 minutes. It was the first "date" Ben and I have had since we've moved to Germany. Dinner just the two of us...Fabulous!

Sunday was spent doing things centered around the funicular railway (which by the way is just a fancy term for a train that goes up and down a REALLY steep slope). This railway has a 43% grade at it's steepest point. That's pretty darn steep! Anyway, we took the railway to the top of Molkenkur and stayed for a Falcon show at the Falknerei. Pretty amazing how fast these birds can fly and dive for food. The show was entirely narrated in German; however, it's pretty easy to figure out the general idea of what the guy was saying. Carter was totally amazed with these birds of prey.

When then took the railway back down the mountain with a stop at the Heidelberg Castle.


The rest of the pics can be found here.

It was a fairly exhausting day for all. Just ask Carter:

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