The title of this post consists of lyrics from an old well known German song, I lost my heart in Heidelberg. It really is a schöne Stadt (beautiful city), nestled on the banks of the Neckar River. At the top of the hills surrounding the river, one is treated to a breathtaking view, not only of the city itself, but of the Heidelberger Schloss (castle). This will be a blog full of pictures because it is easier to describe things for you.
View from the castle of the town
Castle ruins
Once upon a time, I was a moat, and I wasn't even good at that (the stone was not right to keep water in)
Look how European I look because I have a scarf.
Check out those two cannonballs stuck in the wall. The French just don't clean up after themselves.
Courtyard. Look at the different architecture styles you can see (Each prince added his own building and flair)
Old clock
Newer clock
See that bridge? I helped my brother build a model of that for his German class. I had no idea where it was located and the first time I came to Heidelberg, I yelled "HEY, I BUILT THAT BRIDGE!" thus scaring the multitudinous amount of Asian tourists. For whatever reason, they are really attracted to this spot.
Cannon say boom.
Hey sweet dragon rainspout
I wanted to steal this baby SO badly. She loved me.
Biggest wine barrel to ever actually hold wine (as opposed to the one in Bad Dürkheim)
From the top of the barrel
My boyfriend, Perkeo.
This statue is of a midget court jester whose nickname was Perkeo (based on his oft quipped Italian phrase "perché no" or "why not?" when asked if he would like more wine). Legend has it, he only drank wine from his childhood on and ended up dying in his 80s after having water for the first time (ridiculous sounding, but consider the sanitation of the water of the era, the reason for wine consumption). (ps I have no idea how to un-highlight this passage...?)
This photo recreates my first visit to Heidelberg.
Apparently they've changed the sign slightly since my last visit.
Hogwarts?
This? This isn't a castle! This is a castle for ants! It has to be at least...3 times the size! (Zoolander, anyone?)
This was a prison. They used to tie a rope around people's waists and lower them out the window. Fun.
A "modern" toilet system. Using gravity, all the nasty comes out of the castle.
This prince had 253 illegitimate children. Yowzas.
I'm a pretty ceiling.
Wurst.
According to legend, whoever could bite through the iron handle would own the castle. A witch made the attempt but vanished when unable to complete the feat. Instead all that remains is the mark from her teeth (see lower right of handle)
Elizabeth Gate- One prince had this gate built in ONE night for his young 19 year old wife on her birthday. It is an early pre-fab, if you will, since all the stones were fabricated and numbered in the preceding year and then put together.
Me and Dom, best German pallies
THE BRIDGE I BUILT
Cute little street.
I bought nothing from this shop.
On another note: tonight was my first meal that had nothing to do with piggies. Yay for chicken!
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