As it turns out, Heidelberg had a lot to offer. It was jam-packed with tourists, but well worth the visit. Cool medieval streets, a towering castle ruin, an old car show, and a stunning Art Nouveau library. And a little good food.
We stumbled upon the car show completely by accident on our first afternoon in town...had no idea it was there. Dad surmised that there was some sort of rally going on: all the cars had numbers, and some were lining up to drive out of one side of the main city square as others were coming in from another corner (with an announcer and everything). It was delightful to be strolling through these adorable cobblestone streets and have various classic cars drive by.
Fantastic old MG (...I think).
Look at this beast! I don't know how one manages to drive such a boat around tiny European streets, but seriously...that is style.
Completely fabulous Jag. Look at those ridiculous fenders.
This one was my favorite. Soooo sleek. WANT.
Meandering through the streets...and we found Kornmarkt Platz, with our first view of the castle.
Charming (and, finally, tourist-free) little medieval street. I could live here.
Karl Teodor bridge over the Neckar River. It's not that old--mid-18th century--but there were many wooden bridges before it, dating back to medieval times, which did not survive the frequent ice and flooding of the Neckar. This thing is apparently fairly famous, and I can only imagine that it's far more picturesque from the other side of the river, looking back towards the castle and the town. Next time, I'll get that shot.
Medieval gate at the end of the bridge, going into town.
View of the castle over the town, from the bridge.
Another weird little goblin-eared dude on the side of the building. I have no idea what their story is, but I like them.
In our second day's explorations, we stumbled across the university library. Positively monumental, and full of all sorts of Art Nouveau-y goodness.
Crazy detail over the main entrance.
Positively delicious details on the inside.
The library was currently holding an exhibit full of old books on the deities of various cultures. There were some really beautiful illustrations and even a German translation of Marco Polo from 1611.
The Babylonian King Balthasar kneels before an idol. From a Viennese world history dating back to 1420 (!). (Photo quality = not great...sorry, it was really dark in there.)
Next, a brief stop at Peterskirche, across the street from the library (originally built in 1485, but completely remodeled in the 19th century; and paintings by Hans Thoma [1902], purchased for the church by Wagner's stepdaughter's [via Liszt's daughter, no less!] husband...some nifty trivia there).
Then, on to Heidelberg Castle! The thing is mostly a giant, shambling ruin now, but in its glory days it was the seat of one of the Prince Electors, gradually built up between 1400 and 1619, with a giant footprint and massive gardens that took years to build. The Prince Electors were responsible for "electing" kings and keeping an eye on them, serving sometimes as kings themselves (if the king were indisposed), and occasionally becoming kings themselves. Due to their efforts (and vanity, one might say...), the castle became one of the most important pieces of German Renaissance construction. It was mostly destroyed by the French during the War of the Palatinate Succession between 1688 and 1693, and what was left was reduced further by a lightning strike in 1764. In the following century, the castle's ruined, overgrown walls attracted hosts of Romantic poets and artists, and the Duchy of Baden decided to rebuild only a portion of the castle as a museum. Due to the Romantic leanings of the era, the reconstructed portions were completed in the "historicism" style, taking bits and pieces from various historical eras. Utterly lacking in any kind of unified authenticity, but it makes for a gorgeous interior!
Our first view, through the Elizabeth Gate (built in 1615--legend has it, in a single night--by Elector Friedrich V for his wife, the English princess Elizabeth Stuart).
Inner courtyard, with the facade of the Friedrich building (~1601-1607)on the left and that of the Ottheinrich building (1556-1559) on the right.
Looking back towards the gate tower through which we entered.
Nifty model of the castle and gardens as they would have appeared at their peak.
A failed attempt by the French to blow up the castle wall...in part, failed 'cause the walls were THICK, and 'cause the gunpowder used was poor quality.
Gorgeous, frothy, wedding cake-y spiral staircase that extends at least 4 floors.
Some grand hallway.
The palace chapel...note glassed-in boxes on either side in which the nobles could close themselves off from the rabble.
The Big Barrel! The world's largest wine barrel, built in 1751, holds over 55,000 gallons. For scale, Dad's in front of it.
You don't really get a sense of the size of the thing, though, until you see the staircase by which one descends from the platform on top of the barrel. This thing is big.
View from the castle's terrace.
In the Pharmacy Museum. This is in the Ottheinrich building of the castle. I was totally uninterested until we went in (which we did 'cause it was free...). These are wooden herb storage vessels from around 1500 (!).
Old-timey pharmacist's shop. The furnishings were expensive and designed to be very impressive to the client, who was not allowed in the prescription preparation room, but could have a look inside.
Chemists had to make their own vials and dispensers...which are actually quite pretty.
One last look back at the majority of the castle, with the gate tower on the right and the English building (1613-1619) on the left.
Back down in town: Markt Platz and the town hall, built between 1701 and 1705.
Teeny little shops built between the buttresses of the Holy Ghost Church. I love these.
The Hotel Zum Ritter, built in 1592, located right on Markt Platz. The only private residence in the city that was undamaged by war, and pretty spectacular, too.
Heidelberg's Hauptstrasse: the longest pedestrian thoroughfare in Europe. Packed, but lovely.
And now, the food! If it hasn't become obvious just yet, I really love German foods. Schnitzel, wurst of just about any kind, potatoes, cheese spaetzle, the rich sauces...it's all pretty delicious. But sometimes you just need something different...so our first night in Heidelberg, we ate dinner at the Irish pub. Really, really good fish 'n chips; 'nuff said. And while I spent most of this trip being not hungry (believe it or not, German food is heavy and filling...!), it was hard not to drool over the gorgeous street food (wurst booths! frosted cookies! crepes! ice cream! roasted and candied nuts!) and window displays in Heidelberg.
The Germans do up some good bread, and apparently their cities can support roughly a bakery on every block. It's no wonder. This stuff is delicious.
LOOK...HOW...PRETTY. No offense, America, but these Europeans know how to do them some sandwiches. More often than not, they are super fresh and fantastically tasty. And so colorful.
Evening no. 2 in Heidelberg was dinner at Sudpfanne, in this little courtyard we'd spotted the night before. It was a lovely, if cool, summery evening, and it was so nice to eat outside. Mom had veal schnitzel with fried rosemary potatoes, Dad had the pork schnitzel with mashed potatoes and this amazing, creamy, almost maple-y cabbage concoction, and I went for the cheese spaetzle (lots of onions in this one!) with a lovely salad on the side. Delicious. (P.S. - all the food looks blue 'cause we were eating under a giant blue umbrella.)
Brains with cheese. Er, I mean...cheese spaetzle. I don't really go for plain spaetzle 'cause it's relatively characterless and is about as dense as a brick, but when they douse it liberally with cheese and onions, it becomes a scrumptious brick.
Mom's spectacular schnitzel and potatoes. Yummmmmmm.
Also in Heidelberg, we had one of the most interesting and delightful dessert experiences ever: schneeballen!! Invented in the neighboring town of Rothenburg, these gigantic delicacies are essentially long strips or scraps of an egg-based pastry dough, rolled into balls around some sort of flavored cream filling, then fried and dunked in chocolate and some sort of tasty topping. We saw them in quite a few shops, but the one we stopped in sold nothing but these guys.
Look at that variety! You could buy them singly, or all the way up to a dozen. Awesome. (Schneeballen = snowballs, in English.)
They weren't quite as delicious as they look, but they were pretty awesome, especially since A) the chocolate coating tended to melt all over your fingers as soon as you picked one up; B) they're super crunchy, so every bite produced a tiny explosion and avalanche of crumbs; and C) THESE THINGS ARE AS BIG AS MY FIST. If not a tiny bit bigger. They're like a meal in and of themselves.
Ahhh, Heidelberg...I quite enjoyed you. And we missed a few things, too! A couple of giant, hulking interesting churches; the student prison at the university; and the wood-panelled "Old Lecture Hall". Plus, we didn't really explore the castle grounds outside of the main buildings, and Mike didn't get to go with us, so...many reasons to return. And eat more snowballs.
What I'm reading: just powered through Tasteful Nudes, by Dave Hall; I Suck at Girls, by Justin Halpern; and A Bad Idea I'm About to Do, by Chris Gethard. For some reason, I got on a "men's comedic autobiography" kick and read all three of these sometimes-cringe-inducing, somewhat-laced-with-profanity, occasionally hilarious books in a row. If I had to recommend one, it would be Tasteful Nudes, for the sheer number of times it made me snicker (this guy has a way with words!), but be warned, this is not one for the easily offended. Now I'm on to something entirely different: Evening, by Susan Minot (fiction, gasp!). Just started it yesterday, though, so I'll report back when I actually have an opinion.
My favorite things: Letters of Note. Seriously, one of the most interesting and eclectic websites out there, and guaranteed to make you laugh, cry, think, and spend yet more time online. Seriously, you'll get sucked in. Maybe this should come with a warning as well.
Up next: Torgau and Berlin, Germany.
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