Hiding out in Heideberg

On my last day with my cousin Maria, I really wanted to visit the town of Heidelberg and its famous castle. By that point I had seen numerous acquaintances pass through there and their Facebook photos made me want to see the cute town for myself.

Jealousy FTW, because man, that was a good decision.

The castle stands on a hill, so you do have to do some climbing to get up there, but after the ropes course, I had the climbing part down.

And the view at the top was completely worth it. It's just as you expect - red tile roofs, cute white houses, the winding river with a multitude of bridges spanning it and the forest-covered jewel-green hillside on the opposite side.

 

The castle itself is a beautiful redstone and is quite expansive, but you can't actually go inside most of it. So we spent all the time hanging around outside, enjoying the view and breathing in the sweet sweet air of Heidelberg.

 The place was of course totally full of tourists, but it wasn't as bad as some other attractions I've been too (*cough* *cough* museums). Although this time, the crowd was a bit more interesting ...

 

Why yes, apparently people DO wander around in traditional German attire. I especially liked the shorts+suspenders combo that the tall guy in the back was wearing. Let's just say that when he was leaning on the railing and enjoying the view, the rest of us were as well ;)

(These weren't hired actors - there was actually a 'traditional German' themed wedding going on at a manor house next to the castle ... Note to self: have German-themed party sometime. Enforce strict dress code. Enjoy self tremendously.)

Later, we descended into the town itself and walked on its main cobblestone street. It was simply a relaxing afternoon spent enjoying a quaint little town ...

Of course the quiet life is so not my style, so we did get our adrenaline pumping in the evening ... and you'll see how much fun it was in my next post ;)