Heidleberg

I decided to take John and Sue to a small town near us.  I gave them a few choices and they choose to go to Heidleberg.  So after a few wrong turns because I was talking too much, we found the parking garage I like to park in when we go.

 

 

We took the tram up to the castle first.  We didn't have the best forecast, but we were hopeful that the rain would stay away.  It was a little cloudy but the view was still absolutely gorgeous!!!!

This is just a little perspective of how tall part of the castle is.  It is amazing their feats of architecture way back when.

One of the things that really stuck out for me on this trip was the green, it was so vibrant and beautiful!!!!  I just couldn't get over it.

Standing guard over the castle.

A different shot of the town, so beautiful from up here and down below.

John and Sue up on the castle wall!!!



Like I said before I love the green on the castle this time!

John and Sue at one of the entrances to the castle.  The detail in the archway is amazing!

Inside the castle walls, on the far wall are statues up and down the wall.

One of the things that I like about this castle, is it has a pharmaceutical museum.  The other great thing is that almost all of it is in English.  John and Sue checking out some of the history.

This is a typical pharmacy in Germany, so many different herbs and  possibilities.

Sue checking out all the equipment to distill different medications.  It was interesting how far medicine came and has come since then.

The other side of the castle looking out over the river.

While we were there, we saw these guys  bringing chairs down a level.  They used a rope and when the chairs landed, they were upright and ready.  Much better than walking them all the way down and around.

Thankfully the rain stopped so we had a dry time to go through the rest of the castle.  Looking around at the town.

Going down into the basement, they had some beautiful curtains!!!

I showed Sue the "small" wine barrel first.  She didn't know there was a bigger one.

Then I showed her the big wine barrel!!  You can see Sue down at the bottom and then us at the top.  It is HUGE!!!!

We decided we had to try some wine and beer in the castle, so of course we did have some good wine!!

This building has been struck by lightning twice.  After the second time they decided not to try and fix it.



This is the tram that we rode up and down from the castle.

Next we headed down to the bridge for a beautiful picture of John and Sue with the castle above.

The castle without any scaffolding in front of it!  It seems like every other time I was there, they were doing some reconstruction.

I told Sue she had to go and get a picture with the "lucky" monkey!!

Last time we were here, there wasn't a fence in front of the statue.  I am guessing they must have had some  damage done to it.

The river looks so peaceful, we also saw quite a few paddle boarders later in the day.

The front part of the bridge, it was built over four hundred years ago.

We headed towards the Catholic church in town.

The one thing that was very different about this church is that it was almost all white.

This was something new in the church, it almost looked like recycled art work.

It was actually pretty cool looking.  Unfortunately the information was written in German and I couldn't read enough to understand it.

 

 

We walked by this fountain and couldn't figure out what the heck it was.  So you take your best guess as to what they were trying to make.  We had a great time in Heidleberg!  It is always a beautiful city!

Fest - Day 2

David, John and Sue didn't get back home until the wee hours of the morning, they slept in quite a bit.  That and they were still getting over some jet lag.  Because of that they woke up too late to go to Luxembourg.  So we decided to take them to the fest to show them what a German fest is like.

So where do you think the boys wanted to go first?!?  You guessed it, the claw game!  They boys are taking views from every angle to see if they can get it.

 

Grandma Sue checking out how the boys are doing! 



And the big boys just sitting back waiting for the boys to finish with their games.

Then, you guessed it, we headed over to the bumper cars.

AJ going after anybody he could find.  Though he and Michael had a truce not to get each other.

Michael having a great time!!!

The boys wanted to play more games, but they were over- ruled because the rest of us were hungry.  So the boys decided to take a break in these great hammocks!!  David and I really think we need them!!!!

John and Sue trying some of the festival food!  They really enjoyed it!!!

David and I with our steak sandwiches!!

The boys wanted to go on Take Off, so of course I said yes!!  It looked like fun!!

And then we took off - and we went around and around and around!  We all had a blast!!!!

Michael, AJ and Grandma Sue in the volkfest sign!!  Aren't they too cute!!!

We headed back to the bumper cars and Michael asked if I would go with him.  He is just a little short in the legs to push the gas and steer comfortably.  I am not sure why I said yes, because I got beat up pretty bad.  LOL

AJ all smiles on the bumper cars!!

The boys trying to get me to do their bidding with their pouty lip.  They thought it might work, but not so much on me, but on Grandma Sue it did.  :-)

 

AJ and I on the bumper cars.  I must really love these boys to go back on them!!



The boys riding together, I love when they get along this well!!!

We bought a few new cleaning items at the fest and the boys were having a lot of fun with them and Grandpa John was putting up with it!!! ;-)

The crew at the fest!  All smiles from all the fun they were having!!!!

AJ on the roller coaster - it was actually a pretty long one for the fest.

 

 

Guess what Michael wanted at the fest?!?  Yep, more cotton candy and I think this one was bigger than his head!!!  We had a great time and it was a nice for them to see what a small German fest is like!