Heidelberg, Germany

I'm still filtering through all the pictures I accumulated during our family's 2 week trip here a few weeks ago.  After spending some time in Switzerland in the towns of Zermatt and Sion our trip turned northward to Germany.  One of the highlights of our entire trip was visiting Heidelberg, Germany.  Heidelberg lies in the southern section of the country, and it is world renowned for its university (Heidelberg University.)  In Heidelberg we met up with our longtime family friend Isolde.  (There is a wonderful story behind how our family and Isolde's family became lifelong friends, but I'll save that for the next entry.)  

Isolde lives in a small village just south of Heidelberg, and she was gracious enough to take us on a great tour of the town.  From what I could gather Heidelberg wasn't as damaged as other German towns at the end of WWII, due to it being a university town.  So a majority of the old city center is still very much intact in its original form.  Nowadays Heidelberg is dotted with churches, university buildings, and countless restaurants and shops.  We began our day walking the "Philosophenweg."  Heidelberg's philosophers and university professors would walk along this nature path which leads you high over the city.  From there we crossed the "old bridge" and entered the old city center through the iconic city gate.  Right away we reached the "Church of the Holy Spirit," and walked in to see its beautiful interior.  Then we continued on up the hill and reached the ruins of Heidelberg Castle, which are really impressive.  Inside, the castle is home to some of the largest wine barrels ever made.  In fact, the royal family had wine piped throughout the castle from these giant barrels.  Later in the day we continued on through town and had lunch and toured some shops.  We also dropped in the "Church of the Jesuits" with its white interior.  Overall, we found Heidelberg very interesting and charming, and the kids did a great job keeping up throughout the hot summer day.