Cities of Light: Day 8
Day 8: Wednesday, October 25, 2023 - Heidelberg, Germany
The day's statistics:
- Weather: rainy, upper 50s
- Steps: 9.629 Linda; 10,894 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 38
We followed our normal wake-up routine.
Breakfast was the usual egg benedict for Linda, but I went a little light as I was still digesting last night's buffet.
We sat with Eileen and Tom from Wisconsin.
Today's all-day excursion was called "Heidelberg Highlights & Lunch with University Students". We departed at 9:00. Our guide was Valida.
We hopped on the Autobahn. While there is "no speed limit" in sections of the Autobahn when weather permits and there is no construction,
there are rules. Trucks can only travel up to 80 kmp (50 mph). Buses can only travel up to 100 kpm (62 mph). Cars can travel as fast as they
can or want. A driver must stay to the right unless passing. The highway is well regulated and even with no speed limit, accidents are few.
In the US, gas prices typically change on Tuesdays. In this part of Germany, they change throughout the day - sometime people will use their
lunch hour to get gas because prices are lowest in the middle of the day.
It also costs between €2,000 and €2,500 to get a driver's license.
Unrelated, in this section of Germany, when a tree is cut down, another must be planted in its place - this has been a rule (law?)
for more than 300 years. So Germany has cared about the environment since before the US was even born. Interesting...
The excursion was a combination of a bus ride - to start - and then some walking (a frequent pattern for a number of excursions).
The bus dropped us off, and departed as it wasn't permitted to remain where it was for a long period of time.
We first visited the town. Some of us will optionally visit the castle on the hill - the Heidelberg Castle - others
will remain in town (and probably shop).
Continuing on.
At the front of the plaza above, there is this 3D map of the town. We saw 4 or 5 of these sort of maps during our trip.
[One of] The oldest bakery in town. On display is schneeballen, a softball sized pastry.
More sights.
When this building was constructed, the 12 brownish statues that flank the windows supposedly represented the 12 apostles. However,
upon inspection they appear to represent both the Old and New Testaments - so it is unclear exactly what they represent.
Some more stumbling stones.
A store selling "Student Kiss" chocolates. Back in the day, a boy would give one to a girl he was interested in dating.
More sweets for sale.
"Student Detention Center" that way.
Other sights.
Today's lunch was included, but it wasn't on the ship.
As we meandered through town, we headed back toward the bus drop-off point.
We stopped into a restaurant - technically a student dining hall.
There were two or three buses worth of Viking travelers at the tables in the main dining room, a side room, and even upstairs.
The sides were served family style. We had a small seasonal salad wtih olive-oil balsamic dressing and chicken with mushroom sauce, seasoned
vegetables, and spätzle. We were supposed to have dessert too - seasonal fruits with vanilla ice cream - but time didn't permit.
Heidelberg University is a top school, and it attracts students from around the globe.
Each restaurant table was filled with Viking travelers and one univeristy student.
Our student was Mudaser Kazi, from Pakistan, and was studying poly sci. He was a little older than the traditional student as he was 36. He
was a published reporter, worked at the univerity's dining hall (not this one), and told us of his desire to work at the United Nations.
We learned about his life - as a student and back home - and his family.
Here he is sitting next to Linda.
We were to meet outside the restaurant by 1:45 to make the trip up to the castle.
After our meal was over, we bid Mudaser farewell, and headed outside - on time. There was about a dozen making the trip to the castle.
We walked from the restaurant to the funicular station. The second stop was at the top, and we got off.
We walked from the station toward the castle.
There was an opening in trees next to a fraternity house. It was foggy again.
Along the side of the castle was an overlook. We had the chance to see Heidelberg from above. We were told the mountains of France were in the distance.
Looking back at the fraternity house, there is a long staircase along side of it that returns to the town - but the funicular is so much easier...
We made our way to the entry gate.
One side of the moat.
The spikes can be dropped on an aggressor, or used to block the passageway.
A little door inside the big door.
Though there is nothing for scale, this should show the depth / thickness of the outer wall.
Architect's sons.
Above the doorway in the image above, is the relief below. The story is that the architects sons were playing on the
unfinished building. One slipped and was hanging on. The other tried to save him and fell to his death. Then the first
one did too. The king told the architect that the building didn't need to be completed. But he wanted to complete it
and this plaque, with the two boys on it as well as an architect's compass, was installed in memorium of the boys.
A well.
The buildings surrounding the courtyard. We didn't go into any of the historic palace or castle portion.
We walked through a passageway to a balcony area.
The view from the overlook earlier was actually a little better than this one. But we did get a couple selfies while there.
We walked back through the passageway, turned right, walked down a decline, and entered what is now a café and wine bar.
There was a large wine vat.
There was an even larger wine vat. This one is reported to be the world's largest wine vat that actually held wine -
and it holds up to 220,000 liters (more than 58,000 gallons).
The statue in the foreground help provide some perspective. The vat is so large that there is a platform on top that can hold -
and has held - a small wedding party on top of it.
Based on the image timestamps, it looks like after I left the wine cellar, I returned to the balcony for another couple shots.
A watch tower overlooking the balcony area.
At the top of the hill / mountain on the other side of the river was this watch tower.
A view of the bridge over the river.
On our way out of the castle: a clock tower and some more moat area wall.<
We started to make our way back into town. But first, a quick detour - we WERE with the guide, so we didn't have to worry
about being late... we turned to the left and toward the gardens, rather than the right toward the funicular.
The end of the castle had a section that was bombed in an attempt to destroy the castle - but it didn't work.
The actual gardens are rather extensive - see the second picture on this placard.
At this time of year, there isn't too much to see. But here is a park section.
We headed back to the funicular, and took it back down to the bottom of the mountain.
We had to walk back to the bus area as departure was set for 3:45.
On the way, a few more views including an extension of the castle wall.
We boarded the bus and headed back to the ship.
Gas here is $7.07 per gallon.
Some other sights.
Perhaps these three guys have never seen three Viking buses driving through their town before...
Like the Belogradchik sign during last year's PTEE trip, this sign shows that Amorbach is ahead, and Michelstadt (I had nothing
to do with naming the city - incidentally, the "-stadt" suffix means city, so it is "Michel City") is NOT in this direction.
And further on...
We eventually arrived at the ship a little after 4:00.
We had our port talk, and a little while later, at 7:00 it was time for dinner.
We sat with Tom and Heidi from Nebraska, and Dieter and Sharmin from San Diego.
Linda had the Casear salad, roast duck breast, and carrot cake.
I had the schwarzurzelsuppe mit kräutercroutons, roast duck breast, and lemon matcha cake.
We chatted with our tablemates for a while before retiring to our cabin.
Time for bed.