After leaving Ramstein, Vince, Mark and I headed north east towards Frankfurt. Mark is flying out of Frankfurt tomorrow morning, and Vince and I are staying on in Germany another week on 100%vacation. On our way to Frankfurt, we decided to make a stop a Heidelberg Castle - since it was basically on the way, and how can you just drive thru this area and not stop! So we stopped and toured the castle. We got there late in the afternoon and were basically the last tour booked through the castle - but it was perfect timing! The grounds weren't too crowded, w got to see the whole castle right near sunset, then got to see the sunset over the Rhine river and spend the evening in the old town marketplace.
The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle was built around 1196 and was destroyed in the 17th century. It has only been partially rebuilt, but was done beautifully. They have been able to capture what you expected to see during that time, but also have retained some of the original ruins of the destroyed castle.
The most interesting part of the castle for me was the wine room. Well, the wine barrel. The Heidelberg Tun is an extremely large wine vat contained within the cellars of Heidelberg Castle. There have been four such barrels in the history of Heidelberg. In 1751, the year of its construction, the present one had a capacity of 221,726 litres. Due to the drying of the wood its current capacity is 219,000 litres. One hundred and thirty oak trees were reputedly used in its construction. It has only rarely been used as a wine barrel, and in fact presently enjoys more use as a tourist attraction, and also as a dance floor since one was constructed on top of the tun. To say it was beautiful would be an understatement!!
After our castle tour, we walked down to the bridge that goes over the Rhine river. So, so pretty - and the views of the castle from here were amazing. We walked thru the little old town of Heidelberg. There is a University based right there downtown and the marketplaces were full of students walking around. There were streets lined with restaurants, bars, beautiful shops, ice cream parlours, etc. Everything you could imagine! It was a ton of fun walking around and finding a place to eat, just taking in the views and ambiance. As the night went on, the streets got more and more crowded with students coming out for the night. Traditional high class downtown college area. Loved it!
 |
| My wine barrel |
 |
| Stopped to watch this older gentleman have a conversation with these youngsters. The mix of old and new in these streets was a welcome sight! |
No comments:
Post a Comment