Adventure comes from all sides I say. Then sometimes you need a break from it. Day sixteen was all about rest and relaxation and a break from the adventure that kept coming. Oma went off doing things while mom and I stayed home. We had to buy provisions for Sunday, seeing as how the entire country shut down. Again. This happens every Sunday, every holiday, every time the country just decides to shut down. SO! We went off, we bought food, and we came back home. You know what happened next? We took a nap. It was glorious. Then we went to the main building for dinner and went home. We had a very empty, very welcome, day of rest.
Then the nonstop madness began again.
Day seventeen of this journey started early, with my Oma running out of the house at around 8am (this is somewhat reasonable, considering it was 0630 when we left for Nuremberg) to make breakfast for her mom. Of course, her getting ready woke the whole place up and mom and I were awake getting ready soon after she left.
You wouldn't believe how long it took us to figure out what to do.
We spent a week going back and forth between taking a train to Worms, the bus to Speyer, and the streetcar to Heidelberg. We picked Heidelberg, as it's our favorite city and we just didn't get to spend as much time as we would have liked there. My mom and I also didn't make it up to the Schloss when we went to Heidelberg with Markus. So what did we do? We took a train up to the castle. That's right, a train. A train that was engineered specifically to carry people up the side of a mountain.
If you think it looks like it's a long way up, you would be correct. The train wasn't so much built like train, but more of an engine-pulled elevator. It was quite interesting to say the least. It was super quick to get up there this way! A few tunnels, and we were there. We did a bit of wandering and saw some super neat stuff!
I maintain, Heidelberg is one of my favorite places in Germany. I mean, look!
This city is beautiful! Anyway, we went around to the front of the castle that truly looks down on the city. I don't have a picture of it this time around, but if you look up form the walkway you can see golden gargoyle heads suspended at what I can only describe as disguised gutters. This may seem odd, but it served a defensive purpose. In times of distress, those who defended the Schloss used these to pour hot oil all over the hostiles. I apologize for my use of the word "hostiles", but that would be a result of my five years of translating Latin. Anyway, we made our way down the mountain and to the old bridge, just in time to see fireworks going off on either side of the castle. It was pretty cool, considering it was a bit unexpected.
We went home, had brotchens for dinner and went to sleep. Oma and I had an early morning to prep for. My New Year's Eve post will be up shortly.
Cheers!
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