Heidelberg

 

Trying to find the train station again today.  The big lot outside of our hotel transformed overnight into a beautiful farmers market.  I just wish I had time to shop before catching a train.

These are both soccer statues.  Kaiserslautern has a football club and a huge following.  

I found the train station!

After one train broke down and I had to switch trains and platforms, I finally made it to Heidelberg..only an hour or so after scheduled.  Look at ALL of these bikes parked at the train station.  I have no idea how you find your own when you get back from a trip!

Across from the train station there is this huge horse statue.

The visitors center here was very helpful.  They told me which bus to take and where to get off and this is what I see.  I guess it's time to start walking up.....

 

After seeing Berg Eltz, I'm shocked at the sheer size of this castle. I only walked around the grounds at this castle, but that took plenty of time as it was. 

 

Obviously, this castle has seen war.

This is the view from up here. You can see the church and the old bridge.

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Yep, those are the steps I just walked up!

A few more pictures of the castle grounds.

This is a statue in the old town.

Lots of people and really cool buildings.

Here is a picture inside the church.

This is the old bridge you could see from the castle.  It is a pedestrian bridge (at least during the day!)

This is one of the statues at the entrance onto the old bridge.

A view of the castle from the bridge.

The streets are VERY narrow in places, but that does not stop cars from driving on them!

 
This one is very narrow and has a sharp turn in the middle of it, so there is a bent mirror on top of a big sign for drivers to see slightly around the corner to see if they can go.  We saw this a few places on our way to Berg Eltz on Sunday.

Today was a very stressful day for me as my train broke down on the way there and I was really worried about catching the right busses back to the train station and getting on the right train again to get back to Kaiserslautern in time for dinner. I could have spent more time exploring Heidelberg, but the first bus I saw going back to the train station, I caught just to make sure I'd make it back.  I think I would enjoy this town more if I was able to relax and explore some of the shops and bakeries.