Everyone loves a schloss

We arrived yesterday in Heidelberg to 31 degrees with a blazing sun. Today, however, is a very different story. It's probably only around 15 degrees but with the wind chill, probably feels around twelve. Boy, what a difference a day can make. Even worse, this morning we took Germany's longest and oldest funicular railway to Heidelberg Castle and then onto the city's highest point the Konigstuhl. At almost 1900 feet above sea level, it gives phenomenal views over the entire city and beyond, but it was freezing cold up the top. Needless to say, I was the only person in shorts and a t-shirt (seems to be my national dress whereever I go).

We are staying in the Altstadt, the oldest part of town. Believe me, when they talk 'old' in Europe they mean old, like six or seven hundred years old. There's not a square inch of asphalt in site, just cobblestones worn smooth by thousands of feet over centuries. It is certainly a lovely town (although, not so much the newer city), and full of tourists. 

The Church of the Holy Spirit, 1411 AD

One of the major thoroughfares in the old part of town, literally seconds from our place

The Neckar River, which joins with the Rhine at Mannheim a few kilometres away

View of the Schloss from across the river

As I said, this morning we took the funicular to Heidelberg Schloss (castle or palace). Fortunately for me, because of my mature years, I got a 2 euro discount on the fare. They even had a spot for me to keep my walking stick so that I didn't have to carry it (lol). On a serious note, we've seen countless elderly people on tour, mostly with groups, hobbling along at a snail's pace. I really don't know how they do it, or why they'd want to but I do admire their sense of adventure.

The castle is a most imposing building. To be correct, it is really three different buildings built at three different stages by three different rulers. At its oldest, it is very early 13th century, but the later stuff is very modern, at around the 17th century. It's the sort of thing you'd see on 'Renaissance Makeovers', if there was such a TV program in those days. To be honest, it all looks pretty old. Wikipedia tells me these ruins are amongst the most important renaissance ruins north of the German Alps. It was almost completely demolished as part of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries and has only partially been rebuilt since.

The Schloss

And again

The Palace inside the Castle

It is a very impressive palace, to be sure, but one building we found particularly impressive in the palace was the barrel building, where you can find the largest wine barrel ever to have held wine in the entire world. It has a staggering capacity of 220,000 litres, which is enough to keep Alison going for almost six months (there you go Pete, I beat you to it). The barrel is almost 300 years old, but I don't know whether it still holds wine today (I'm thinking not).

The Great Barrel, built for the Great Boozer

The Palace also has some beautiful formal gardens, although we should have been there yesterday when the shade would have come in most handy. Regardless of how cold it is today, they are still beautiful to stroll through and the good thing is not many tourists actually make it that far, so you can enjoy the peace and tranquillity.

View from the Schloss

Again from the Schloss