just you and me baby...: Heidelberger Schloss

Monday, May 2, 2011

Heidelberger Schloss

This weekend my husband and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. We drove to Heidelberg and had lunch and then visited Heidelberg Castle. It was beautiful! There was free parking up the hill from the castle. We followed the road down which led to some stairs and a path. The path will lead you through a garden that stretches on and on. (Some of the stairs and parts of the path are blocked off due to reconstruction.) The garden and fountains were all outside the area you have to pay to see. There was a gorgeous view of the outside of the castle as well. You can also see The Heidelberg Castle Powder Turret, split by an explosion, as described by Mark Twain in his 1880 book A Tramp Abroad! It's amazing to see such a historic place up close. Tickets to tour the castle cost 5 Euro for adults and 3 Euro for children. Our daughter (3) was free so I'm not sure where the age cut off is before you have to pay the child price. We walked through the gigantic wine cellar and over an enormous wine barrel. There was an amazing view of the town and river from the back side of the castle. We made the mistake of exiting the castle from that side and ended up following a very steep cobblestone path down into the city. We were told we could use our entrance tickets to ride the cable cars but it was getting late and looking like it was about to rain. We hiked back up the mountain (me gasping for breath the entire way. I really didn't think I was going to make it!) It did start to lightly rain as we wound our way toward the gardens. There was some we didn't get to explore this trip but there's always next time!