Heidelberg has been a long wait for me! I had first heard of Heidelberg's castle in middle school, and since then the photos of it have always fascinated me.
The power of the internet can make your dreams feel so close, yet so far away sometimes.
I'd flip through photos of castles that sit in ruins just for the fun of it, but something about Heidelberg had always sparked my interest, above the rest. Never did I imagine, even in my wildest dreams, that I'd live a short drive away from this amazing place!
We actually hit up Heidelberg on our return home from Kaiserslautern. From K-Town, Heidelberg is only about an hour or so away. We got there early in the morning, so we had the day to spare.
Parking was FUN. Kidding. We couldn't find any directional signage telling us where to park. Our GPS was set to the castle itself, so we just assumed we'd eventually find somewhere to rest the wheels. And we did, but once again, our lack our German reading skills didn't help us. One side of the street seemed as if it were for a special event (the people parking there were all dressed in their Sunday best), and the side we parked on had touristy people holding cameras getting out of their cars. Because of that, we assumed we were good!
You are allowed to tour the outside grounds without paying for a ticket, but I'm not a cheapass. Seriously, every touristy place in Germany we've been to has been well priced. Extremely well priced. Even if it were pricey, why wouldn't you pay to get in? I mean, it's not everyday you have the luxury of touring the inside of a castle!
Considering our family paid a small fortune and our first born to see the big ass dirt crater in Arizona this past summer (which was kind of a snooze fest), €26 for a family of six to walk the inside of a medieval structure was nothing.
The first thing we looked upon was a weird large courtyard type of area. It was located beneath the parking lot. There was a fountain (not in operating condition) with a statue of some dude chillaxin' with his bitchin pot in hand, whilst wearing a grape leaf. I have no idea what's behind the iron barred gate, but me thinks I'll investigate, eventually...
After roaming around the outside, we ventured inside. Now, we didn't opt for the guided tour (because I hate them), but we found the world's largest wine barrel! I knew it was here, but seeing it in person was nuts compared to seeing it in photos. When we first walked into the room, we saw two huge barrels and assumed one of them was thee one. So we posed for dorky photos next to it, and then realized we were WRONG. The big daddy barrel was behind the first two we laid eyes on and posed with. It was HUGE. Unfortunately it sits in a dark ass room, so getting a photo of it (slow shutter style) without someone walking in front of me was hard enough. Posing in front of the big beast didn't happen.
All in all, Heidelberg was exactly as I had imagined it to be! We may just return for a Christmas market this winter, or maybe just because.
The power of the internet can make your dreams feel so close, yet so far away sometimes.
I'd flip through photos of castles that sit in ruins just for the fun of it, but something about Heidelberg had always sparked my interest, above the rest. Never did I imagine, even in my wildest dreams, that I'd live a short drive away from this amazing place!
We actually hit up Heidelberg on our return home from Kaiserslautern. From K-Town, Heidelberg is only about an hour or so away. We got there early in the morning, so we had the day to spare.
Parking was FUN. Kidding. We couldn't find any directional signage telling us where to park. Our GPS was set to the castle itself, so we just assumed we'd eventually find somewhere to rest the wheels. And we did, but once again, our lack our German reading skills didn't help us. One side of the street seemed as if it were for a special event (the people parking there were all dressed in their Sunday best), and the side we parked on had touristy people holding cameras getting out of their cars. Because of that, we assumed we were good!
You are allowed to tour the outside grounds without paying for a ticket, but I'm not a cheapass. Seriously, every touristy place in Germany we've been to has been well priced. Extremely well priced. Even if it were pricey, why wouldn't you pay to get in? I mean, it's not everyday you have the luxury of touring the inside of a castle!
Considering our family paid a small fortune and our first born to see the big ass dirt crater in Arizona this past summer (which was kind of a snooze fest), €26 for a family of six to walk the inside of a medieval structure was nothing.
The first thing we looked upon was a weird large courtyard type of area. It was located beneath the parking lot. There was a fountain (not in operating condition) with a statue of some dude chillaxin' with his bitchin pot in hand, whilst wearing a grape leaf. I have no idea what's behind the iron barred gate, but me thinks I'll investigate, eventually...
After buying our tickets, we wandered part of the outside grounds first. It seemed that everyone else was buying their tickets and rushing to the inside of the main gate. I'm all about taking my sweet time, therefore having few amounts humans in my photos. Well that, and I am just not a person who CAN be rushed. A character flaw? Maybe so.
After walking around what I believe to be the front (it faces the city, so I assume it's the front), we headed beyond the gate.
And there we were met with hoards of people. Some were in tour bus groups, some were with family,and some were alone reading a book in a corner. I thought the readers to be odd. This is not a quiet place, nor peaceful with folks tripping over each other to get the perfect selfies. The outside grounds are a park like setting with room to roam. Reading a book there would make more sense...
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| I asked my daughter to get a picture of me because the husband disappeared. Out of the 30 pictures she took, this was the only one in focus! Ha dur. |
After viewing the barrels, we headed to the Apothecary museum, which had a beautiful herb-ish, medicinal smell. Like lavender, sage, rosemary, and sandalwood with a hint of eucalyptus. I could've stayed in there and sniffed the air all day! Something tells me they would've sent me to the German funny farm if I attempted it. The smell in the building is worth the visit to the museum, in my opinion.
Aside from the wonderful scent, the museum was interesting, but I am going to go ahead and guess that not everything was authentically medieval in here. Some of the pottery looked pretty modern (late 1800s or newer), according to my pottery knowledge.
We headed out of the apothecary shop and left the ticketed castle visiting area. We took the long long long stairway down and around the castle to it's gardens, which left each of us out of breath. Glad I didn't have a kid strapped on my back like other folks we had seen. I do thank the Gods that my kids are at a responsible walking age while living here. I can't imagine doing some of these trips in Europe, especially this one, with tiny children.
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