Friday & Saturday 26 & 27 Heidelberg, Breidenbach, Bad Laasphe

 Great way to start our day in Heidelberg by having breakfast in the wine cellar of our hotel. So very nice.

                      Loved the decor and atmosphere and the food was displayed picture-perfect.

Food was delicious and many choices. I just had to try this little sausage which was something like a mild liverwurst. Yummy!

Getting energized from our good breakfast we went for a walk around town.

                   There are many bikes in Heidelburg, preferred transportation of many people.

                                                    Entrance to the Old Bridge in daylight.

 There are many little shopping kiosks all along the side of this church in the background.

                                Segway tour. Looked like fun as they zipped along the streets.

WE came across this window display. They are called "Schneeballen" or Snowballs, which is like scraps of shortbread cookies made into a ball, They have different flavours, chocolate nuts,carmel etc.

                                                                   Colourful fruit stand

Yes there is a large church in Heidelberg. 

Narrow street

                                               Photo of the breath-taking  Heidelberg Schloss {castle}

Sandy & Michel on the Old Bridge with Heidelberg Schloss {castle} in the background.

Time to tour Heidelberg Castle. Yes we are going to castle!

  A funicular vehicle {like a cable tram} took us up to the castle grounds. So glad we didn't have to walk all the way up there.

                                                    Entering the castle complex.

                                             Tom & Sandy at the top of the viewing area.

                                               Panoramic view of the city of Heidelberg below

                                                                 Some of the ruins

                                         This is an outdoor stage that is used for various shows.

                                                         Tom & I in front of the castle.

Even though walls were 5 - 7 metres thick, when the castle was bombed by the French, this is what happened.

 Here is Julian, our very interesting tour guide who explained to us about this fireplace which was made out of ceramic so it held heat well. At the back of this fireplace there was a hole in the wall with a door which was accessible from the hall. It was the servants job to put wood in the fireplace from the hall and keep the fire going without being seen. They were not allowed in the room where the fireplace stood.

                                         Ornate wooden furniture that would be used in the castle.

 Now if you had one of these in your castle you were considered very affluent and visitors would look up to you. When guests were invited by the elector, they were well fed and wine was plentiful. The guests would eat and drink until the elector decided when to finish. This would lead to over-eating as well as over-drinking which would lead to getting sick. Well, I forget the name of this, but when the men would get sick they would run over to this opening in the wall and get rid of what's ailing them and pour water in after. Maybe I'll call it a "vomit-orium". This is what the guide told us. Who knows if it;s true????

On to a more refreshing picture ....... Sandy & I in front of a fountain in the castle's garden. 

At the end of the tour we went to a wine cellar which holds the largest wine barrel which holds over 200,000 litres of wine. Can you see Sandy & Michael?

It was pretty cool seeing the castle and listening to the tour guide. But time has come to leave Heidelberg and head for Breidenbach. Before leaving Heidelberg we did manage to purchase a snack and stopped at a rest area to eat it.

 
Yes we bought 2 "Schneeballen". Very messy to eat but tasty. Ours was chocolate and Sandy & Michael had carmel.

We have been very fortunate with our weather so far, sunny and warm, so we had a uneventful drive for about 2 hours. I think Tom & I might have rested our eyelids. 

We arrived in Breidenbach, Germany where Michael gave us a tour of the Centerline Plant

Later in the evening we went out for dinner with a friend of Michael's and his wife. The restaurant was at the base of this castle. There are many castles in Germany. It was a casual and fun evening -- good food and good company.
 
July 27
After breakfast at our hotel in "Bad Laasphe" we did laundry. It was a down day where we relaxed while waiting for the laundry. Gave me time to work on my blog.

 I took a picture of a garden in front of a house. So beautiful and colourful.

A rose tree. Just loved it.

We left later in the afternoon for St. Goar, Germany. As we left this town there was a sign which read

    "Gute Fahrt" Interesting. Actually it made us laugh as we said it out loud. But it means something like good journey. 

 We saw many towns along the way with some houses and buildings right next to the road. They were quite neat to see. Road was quite narrow too. Sometimes there were fields on either side of us and sometimes lots of trees like a forest. We took a small side trip to Koblenz to see this city. And then continued on to take a ferry across the Rhein River to St. Goar Germany.