Heidleburg

 We Got to our hotel the hotel crocodile, but our room wasn’t ready. That’s OK, we put on our hiking shoes and ventured out into the city. We walked down through the old town and passed the University of Heidelberg. At the City Hall we saw too brides/grooms outside that had just gotten married. Another touching moment was when I saw a young lady holding a sign that said hug me if you’re for Ukraine. I crossed over the street and gave her a hug and she started to tear up. I told her I was praying for her country and as I walked away that’s when I began to tear up. I hope I never forget how blessed I am compared to this young woman who has been displaced due to war. We continued on our walk towards the castle. We bought tickets to ride the two funiculars up to the very top of the mountain. The first funicular took us to the castle and then we transferred to another older funicular that took us up to the top of the mountain. It was just amazing how high we were going as the city of Heidelberg kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller. At the top we looked out at the city which just looks like a miniature village and then we started our hike down the mountain. It was easy as we were going downhill, but difficult because the paths were very rocky. We passed a few mountain bikers As there are paths dedicated to mountain bikers and I saw some that were labeled for only expert riders. After a few kilometers we got to the castle courtyard. The Heidelberg castle is in ruins and I think it may have never even been completely finished being built. It is absolutely massive and we enjoyed walking around. When it was built there were supposed to be many gardens in the courtyard. We also saw the brick ruins where baths used to be. In the cellar was a large wine cask, but little did we know as we turned the corner there was an absolutely huge wine cask. We continued on our hike from the castle down to the village and this went much quicker except that the cobblestone road leading up to the castle was quite steep and we had to go slow. As it was now near dinner time we saw many people sitting outside cafés either eating or drinking. Europeans definitely know how to enjoy themselves. We got to our hotel and decided to eat at the restaurant adjoining, restaurant crocodile. I got small pork pieces in a mushroom gravy with Spitzley. The meat was so tender, it was absolutely delicious. Scotty had cordon bleu with chips which was just as good. The salad was great and I especially liked the salad dressing which tasted like oil and vinegar, but possibly with some paprika spices or meat spices in it. The waiter told me it was a restaurant recipe. And of course we had to have hefe weissens and celebrated another successful travel day.