For Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend we decided to take a short trip (three nights) to Heidelberg. The drive is normally about 2.5 hours. HOWEVER. A snowstorm hit on our way there and we almost didn't make it. No kidding. There was a big wreck that completely shut down the A9, so our beloved Google Maps sent us on a detour... onto unplowed roads. Which was great because hey... that was better than the alternative. But trying to drive unplowed roads in a VW Jetta? Not super smart. Just past the town of Plech (this town name always makes me laugh), we were about 1 mile away from emerging back on the A9 on the other side of the wreck, when there was this big, unplowed hill that was nearly impossible to get up. We tried. And we slid. And Todd cursed a bit and yelled at me. And we backed up and tried again. Nope. So we went WAY back down the hill and tried one more time. We were moving, albeit very, very slowly. I mean, maybe we were going 2 mph. Todd briefly entertained the idea of going back down and trying again and I told him not to... because forward progress is forward progress! And guess what? We made it! I didn't get any pictures of this, but you'll have to take my word for it. The tires were spinning.
So a drive that normally takes about 2.5 hours took closer to 4 hours.
But this was literally our view from our AirBnB apartment. WHAT!? The Old Bridge and Philosopher's Way!
The next morning, after our terrible drive, we went out for a walking tour of Heidelberg. Todd had been here years ago in college, but it had obviously been a really long time. First stop, the nearby Old Bridge and the gate to the city.
The gate to the city, but actually facing away from the city at this angle.
Although there has been a monkey statue on the Old Bridge since as far back as the 15th century, this monkey was put here in 1979. He holds a mirror, and if you rub his fingers, it will ensure a return to Heidelberg. If you rub the mirror, it will bring you fortune. If you rub the little mice next to him (which is behind Natalie in the above picture), it will bring you fertility. I let the kids rub the mice, and I stayed away from them!
Flood heights of the Neckar River! That's some serious flooding!
If you walk across the Old Bridge and look back toward the city, you will see the massive Schloss Heidelberg up on the hill. It almost looks fake, as if they are standing in front of a painting!
Walking around Heidelberg, we found the Hotel Zum Ritter. It survived the War of Succession... and was built in 1592! It's so pretty!
It's kind of hard to find "student prison" on Google Maps when all of your Google Map locations are in German. But we finally found it! What a fun place! Between 1778 to 1914, this building was used as a student prison for the University of Heidelberg. It wasn't for serious offenses. It was more for things like public drunkenness or disturbing the peace. You could go to class, but you had to come back immediately after class. Naturally, students covered the walls in graffiti.
I'm not sure what they used to do all of this! Did they allow paint and markers in the prison!?! This isn't exactly Alcatraz!
Some of the paintings and graffiti were pretty detailed!
Naturally, my husband writes THIS and then makes the kids sign it. "Bailey family was here. Where do we drop off our kids? Grant Natalie."
Lecture hall at the University of Heidelberg. Can you imagine attending class in a room this cool!?
Each of us took turns lecturing to the masses. Here is Natalie, giving us a lesson in how to care for a Baby Alive.
We continued our walk through Heidelberg and came upon the Freidrich Ebert Platz. Looks like a place the kids could chase pigeons!
This was one of the best donut places I've ever been to. And apparently it's a chain! I like it tasty!
Check out that mug. And that donut!
Everywhere we go in Germany, we find doors that are of unusual sizes. So if they are shorter than Todd, but taller than me, then we call the Mommy doors. If they are shorter than Mommy, and taller than Nat, then they are Natalie doors. And if they are shorter than Nat, but taller than Grant, they are Grantie doors. I think this was a Mommy door!
This is a Mommy door also, but solely because it looks like a barrel of bourbon.
Hey look at that! The Pats-Chiefs game was being shown in Heidelberg! (Too bad we couldn't stay up that late!)
Unsure of what we were ordering for dinner, I got some handkäse. This was the grossest thing I have ever eaten in my life! It looked nothing like cheese. So much so, that I wasn't even sure what it was when it arrived at the table. (I'm thinking, "Did I order this!?") But I'm generally good with most cheeses, so I tried it. Oh. My. Goodness. It looks like potatoes but had the consistency of gelatin, and tasted like smokey death. (I gotta give props to Todd for the "it tastes like smokey death" cause that part was all him!) To quote Wikipedia, "It is a small, translucent, yellow cheese with a pungent aroma that many people find unpleasant. It is sometimes square, but more often round in shape." Ok, I'm not the most adventurous eater, but I do like to try new things and I can only think of three things in this world that I absolutely hate, food wise (For the record, the other three are cilantro, shrimp and limes, so ceviche is completely out of the question) but I'll generally try anything. Let's now make that FOUR foods that I simply will not eat! Somewhere in the back of this restaurant, I'm SURE the wait staff was laughing at our misfortune!
The first train to the mid point (or the Schloss Heidelberg) is in a very modern funicular. From the Schloss up to the top of the Königstuhl, you get to take a more old-timey funicular.
The view at the top is amazing though and thankfully the clouds weren't too thick and we could see most of Heidelberg!
Kiddos at the top of the Königstuhl. There was obviously more snow up there than down at ground level.
What? You mean I have to go down THAT!? Said the girl who is terrified of heights.
The next stop was the Schloss Heidelberg. This is the view from the top, over historic Heidelberg.
Most of Schloss Heidelberg is in ruins, but there are some inside sections that can still be visited. As with many historic sites in Europe, they don't always know the exact construction dates, so they rely on historic records to provide information about the age of the structure. In this case, Schloss Heidelberg (or Heidelberg Palace) was first mentioned in 1225. It's been built, destroyed by various things such as fire, lightning and wars, and rebuilt many times.
This gate is known as Elizabeth's Gate. This was built for Frederick V's bride from England, Elizabeth Stuart, who was the granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots.
We stopped in for a visit at the German Pharmacy Museum, which was pretty cool. They even had self-run projects for children, and Natalie got to make some tea. Making tea wasn't really Grant's cup of tea, as he didn't want to partake. (See what I did there!?)
The Heidelberg Tun is a massive wine barrel - you can see Todd and the kids up at the top, and other visitors at the bottom. It holds nearly 58,000 galllons of wine! Unfortunately it rarely holds wine. However, there's plenty of bottles of German wine for sale just outside of this room!
The Castle Powder Turret was partially destroyed by an explosion. So interesting that they have left it just as it was.
Todd by the remnants of the Heidelberg Palace, way up on high.
Next up it was time for a late lunch. But wait... a sauerkraut-orgie!? No thanks!
During this same lunch, we let Natalie order a margarita. JUST KIDDING. It's sorbet in a margarita-looking glass.
This was in the lobby of our apartment building HA HA HA! I think we all know what the rest of the world felt about him!
Not long after our late lunch, the snow ended and the clouds parted and we were able to hike up Philosopher's Way! The first part of the walk is incredibly steep, and you can see how Natalie struggled (with Mommy and Grant up ahead because Grant was full speed ahead!)
The views along the way are stunning. Schloss Heidelberg is pictured above, which is where we had been earlier in the day.
Look how happy we are that we completed the toughest part of the hike up! Raise your hand if you are worn out!
The rest of the hike isn't as steep and it's mostly in the trees. We wanted to go to the top, but the way is not lit with any lights, so since we knew the sun would be setting soon, we had to cut our hike short. I definitely would love to come back and do this in the summer!
Back down at the Neckar River with Heidelberg and the sunset behind us.
Looking east from the same location, the river is held back by the barrage Heidelberg, which controls the flow of the river (there's a lock here as well, not seen in this photo). You can tell things were quite a bit more calm on the east side of the barrage!
Next stop, the Technik Museum in Speyer, Germany!
But this was literally our view from our AirBnB apartment. WHAT!? The Old Bridge and Philosopher's Way!
The mansions on the other side of the Neckar River are insane. SO. SO. German. And I'm guessing pretty old.
The next morning, after our terrible drive, we went out for a walking tour of Heidelberg. Todd had been here years ago in college, but it had obviously been a really long time. First stop, the nearby Old Bridge and the gate to the city.
The gate to the city, but actually facing away from the city at this angle.
Although there has been a monkey statue on the Old Bridge since as far back as the 15th century, this monkey was put here in 1979. He holds a mirror, and if you rub his fingers, it will ensure a return to Heidelberg. If you rub the mirror, it will bring you fortune. If you rub the little mice next to him (which is behind Natalie in the above picture), it will bring you fertility. I let the kids rub the mice, and I stayed away from them!
Flood heights of the Neckar River! That's some serious flooding!
If you walk across the Old Bridge and look back toward the city, you will see the massive Schloss Heidelberg up on the hill. It almost looks fake, as if they are standing in front of a painting!
Walking around Heidelberg, we found the Hotel Zum Ritter. It survived the War of Succession... and was built in 1592! It's so pretty!
It's kind of hard to find "student prison" on Google Maps when all of your Google Map locations are in German. But we finally found it! What a fun place! Between 1778 to 1914, this building was used as a student prison for the University of Heidelberg. It wasn't for serious offenses. It was more for things like public drunkenness or disturbing the peace. You could go to class, but you had to come back immediately after class. Naturally, students covered the walls in graffiti.
I'm not sure what they used to do all of this! Did they allow paint and markers in the prison!?! This isn't exactly Alcatraz!
Some of the paintings and graffiti were pretty detailed!
Naturally, my husband writes THIS and then makes the kids sign it. "Bailey family was here. Where do we drop off our kids? Grant Natalie."
Lecture hall at the University of Heidelberg. Can you imagine attending class in a room this cool!?
Each of us took turns lecturing to the masses. Here is Natalie, giving us a lesson in how to care for a Baby Alive.
We continued our walk through Heidelberg and came upon the Freidrich Ebert Platz. Looks like a place the kids could chase pigeons!
This was one of the best donut places I've ever been to. And apparently it's a chain! I like it tasty!
Check out that mug. And that donut!
Everywhere we go in Germany, we find doors that are of unusual sizes. So if they are shorter than Todd, but taller than me, then we call the Mommy doors. If they are shorter than Mommy, and taller than Nat, then they are Natalie doors. And if they are shorter than Nat, but taller than Grant, they are Grantie doors. I think this was a Mommy door!
This is a Mommy door also, but solely because it looks like a barrel of bourbon.
Hey look at that! The Pats-Chiefs game was being shown in Heidelberg! (Too bad we couldn't stay up that late!)
Unsure of what we were ordering for dinner, I got some handkäse. This was the grossest thing I have ever eaten in my life! It looked nothing like cheese. So much so, that I wasn't even sure what it was when it arrived at the table. (I'm thinking, "Did I order this!?") But I'm generally good with most cheeses, so I tried it. Oh. My. Goodness. It looks like potatoes but had the consistency of gelatin, and tasted like smokey death. (I gotta give props to Todd for the "it tastes like smokey death" cause that part was all him!) To quote Wikipedia, "It is a small, translucent, yellow cheese with a pungent aroma that many people find unpleasant. It is sometimes square, but more often round in shape." Ok, I'm not the most adventurous eater, but I do like to try new things and I can only think of three things in this world that I absolutely hate, food wise (For the record, the other three are cilantro, shrimp and limes, so ceviche is completely out of the question) but I'll generally try anything. Let's now make that FOUR foods that I simply will not eat! Somewhere in the back of this restaurant, I'm SURE the wait staff was laughing at our misfortune!
The next morning, we ventured up the funicular to Schloss Heidelberg. It's a pretty steep ride up, with the second stop being at the top of the mountain, or the Königstuhl above the Schloss.
The first train to the mid point (or the Schloss Heidelberg) is in a very modern funicular. From the Schloss up to the top of the Königstuhl, you get to take a more old-timey funicular.
The view at the top is amazing though and thankfully the clouds weren't too thick and we could see most of Heidelberg!
Kiddos at the top of the Königstuhl. There was obviously more snow up there than down at ground level.
What? You mean I have to go down THAT!? Said the girl who is terrified of heights.
The next stop was the Schloss Heidelberg. This is the view from the top, over historic Heidelberg.
Most of Schloss Heidelberg is in ruins, but there are some inside sections that can still be visited. As with many historic sites in Europe, they don't always know the exact construction dates, so they rely on historic records to provide information about the age of the structure. In this case, Schloss Heidelberg (or Heidelberg Palace) was first mentioned in 1225. It's been built, destroyed by various things such as fire, lightning and wars, and rebuilt many times.
This gate is known as Elizabeth's Gate. This was built for Frederick V's bride from England, Elizabeth Stuart, who was the granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots.
We stopped in for a visit at the German Pharmacy Museum, which was pretty cool. They even had self-run projects for children, and Natalie got to make some tea. Making tea wasn't really Grant's cup of tea, as he didn't want to partake. (See what I did there!?)
The Heidelberg Tun is a massive wine barrel - you can see Todd and the kids up at the top, and other visitors at the bottom. It holds nearly 58,000 galllons of wine! Unfortunately it rarely holds wine. However, there's plenty of bottles of German wine for sale just outside of this room!
The Castle Powder Turret was partially destroyed by an explosion. So interesting that they have left it just as it was.
Todd by the remnants of the Heidelberg Palace, way up on high.
Next up it was time for a late lunch. But wait... a sauerkraut-orgie!? No thanks!
During this same lunch, we let Natalie order a margarita. JUST KIDDING. It's sorbet in a margarita-looking glass.
This was in the lobby of our apartment building HA HA HA! I think we all know what the rest of the world felt about him!
Not long after our late lunch, the snow ended and the clouds parted and we were able to hike up Philosopher's Way! The first part of the walk is incredibly steep, and you can see how Natalie struggled (with Mommy and Grant up ahead because Grant was full speed ahead!)
The views along the way are stunning. Schloss Heidelberg is pictured above, which is where we had been earlier in the day.
Look how happy we are that we completed the toughest part of the hike up! Raise your hand if you are worn out!
The rest of the hike isn't as steep and it's mostly in the trees. We wanted to go to the top, but the way is not lit with any lights, so since we knew the sun would be setting soon, we had to cut our hike short. I definitely would love to come back and do this in the summer!
Back down at the Neckar River with Heidelberg and the sunset behind us.
Looking east from the same location, the river is held back by the barrage Heidelberg, which controls the flow of the river (there's a lock here as well, not seen in this photo). You can tell things were quite a bit more calm on the east side of the barrage!
Next stop, the Technik Museum in Speyer, Germany!
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