Heidelberg

a square in the old town of Heidelberg

inside the castle courtyard

view from the castle

Yesterday I went on a day trip to Heidelberg! Since Heidelberg is in the same Lander (the German version of a state) as Konstanz, Baden-Wuerttemberg, I was able to buy something called a Baden-Wuerttemberg Ticket. This ticket is 21 euros for one person or 29 euros for up to 5 people, and allows unlimited travel within that state for one day, starting at 9 am. Unfortunately it limits you to the slower regional trains, but that meant I got to take the Schwarzwaldbahn again! Of course, as I was leaving Konstanz a huge thunderstorm began, including pouring rain, but that cleared up somewhere in the Black Forest. It took about 4 hours all told to get to Heidelberg, and I only had a few hours before the last train that would get me back to Konstanz in time to take a bus back to my apartment. Heidelberg is pretty small, though, so a few hours was all I needed!

I started my visit with the Schloss Heidelberg. It's pretty far up a steep cliff (Heidelberg is situated on the cliffs over the Neckar River), so since I had limited time and it was 80 degrees out I decided to go with the Bergbahn--one of Germany's oldest cable cars, which carries you up the side of the cliff to the castle and even farther up! I got out at the castle. You could take a guided tour, which would have been cool, but I was really short on time and wanted to spend awhile in the old town, so I just wandered by myself. The castle is a mix of architectural styles and part of it is in ruins. Its first building was put up in the early 1400s, and it functioned as a castle for awhile, then later became a fort. The reason part of it is in ruins is due to a few wars in the area: the Thirty Years' War and the Palatine War of Succession. Apparently Goethe, the famous German author, used to like to wander around the park surrounding the castle. Since it's so high up, the castle has beautiful views of the Altstadt (old town) of Heidelberg. The castle also includes the Grosses Fass and the Kleines Fass--two GIGANTIC wine barrels. The Grosses Fass holds over 58,100 gallons of wine and had to be at least 30 feet high. It was huuuge.

After seeing the castle, I headed down a very steep, uneven path to the Altstadt (still wondering how I didn't fall and hurt myself) and decided to spend the remaining time before the train wandering around. The Altstadt is bigger than the one in Konstanz but still small, so I think I got a pretty comprehensive tour. There was the Heiliggeistkirche (Holy Ghost Church), a really pretty Gothic church, as well as the Jesuitskirche. The Hotel zum Ritter is one of the few buildings to survive from the Renaissance because of all the wars--it was really pretty. Heidelberg's university is really well known so I got to see some of the older university buildings as well. The adorable windy streets and shops and restaurants were really fun to see! There was even a tiny Hard Rock Cafe crammed in, as well as two Starbucks....ah, Westernization...but I did get iced cocoa from a more unique chocolate shop. Iced cocoa is really a concept we should import to America. I also got to check out the bridge across the river, and take pictures of the castle from below. Luckily, the weather held off! It was warm, humid, and cloudy, but it didn't rain (until I got back to Konstanz in the middle of a huge rainstorm, of course). Heidelberg was a really beautiful town! I wish I had gotten a little more time there, I would have liked to explore things at a slower pace, and check out nearby Mannheim as well. Another time!

In other news, I found out that Alessia and I accidentally wandered into Berlin's biggest prostitution district while we were making our long walk as a result of the metro closure. I thought the area looked somewhat sketchy, and there were a few younger women standing in doorways, but it was daytime and no one was bothering us, so I wasn't concerned. I looked it up when I got home and found out we were walking on a corner that is home to a huge brothel. I was telling the head of the PhD Welcome Center about it, and he laughed and said that it happens, since it's not that far from Potsdamer Platz and the tourist areas.