Heidelberg and Two Farewells

The Heidelberg area is so awesome and has so many cool sites that we split the area into two days for my Mom. I think I have said before that this is my most favorite place in all of Germany, and it is still true.
On Friday, we went to the Heiligenberg (Holy Mountain) across the river from the old city of Heidelberg to catch an few sites and walk throught the forest a bit. The best view of Heidelberg is from and old tower at the top of the Heiligenberg. Its perfect...you can see the castle and the old city underneath it.


Just up the hill from the tower lies Thingstaette, an ampitheatre built by the Nazi Party in the 30's as a gathering place. Hilter was here along with 20,000 of his supporters at one time. My Mom is sitting at the top and the theatre stage is at the bottom.


And just beyond that is a very old Monestary...well the ruins of an old one called St. Michael's.

After cruising through these places we decided to take Tutter for a short walk through the woods. The forest area is called the Neckartal-Odenwald area and s so beautiful. This also happens to be one of Tut and my favorite hiking areas. This is one of the paths...

We headed back home as the heat set in, but then returned with TJ on Sunday afternoon to visit Heidelberg Castle and the Altstadt. I was so proud of my Mom for hiking up the main path to the castle as it is very steep! Here we are and you can see some of the path behind us.

Once you get up there this is what you can see...

The castle was built sometime in the 1100's and then was occupied and attacked by many through the years.

You can really tell how old it is after you move through the main gate and can see the stones on the walls and ceilings.

Once we got inside TJ took our photo with the castle gardens behind us. This is easily the best picture of us from the trip!

The castle itself is a ruin...but some of it is more in ruin than the rest. Like this wall. Clearly it used to have 3 other walls and a ceiling, but I am so glad it doesn't any more. So pretty!

And another. This was one of the newer wings built for the wife of one of the electors...it didn't last long with the castle being attacked so many times!

A fire broke out in the castle at one point and reached the armory...and this was the result.

After the castle we walked the streets of the old city...this is a peak!

Then we browsed through Kathe Wolfahrt and TJ treated us to dinner at Supan's, one of our favorite Thai restaurants in town. It was a lovely afternoon!

Monday and Tuesday we hung out here and ran errands as my Mom wanted to spend her last few days just hanging out. And then all too quickly this morning arrived and I drove her and my darling puppy to the airport to head to the US. I am so thankful that it worked out with her coming and being able to accompany Tut back to the States for a vacation with Grandma and Grandpa. Of course I will be there as well in a month for my US trip so I won't be able to miss them for too long!

Auf Wiedersehen!