More Heidelbeg, Munich, Disney Castle

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We had an excellent day from start to finish in Heidelberg, starting with a funicular train ride up the hill to Heidelberg castle and a stroll along the grounds. The castle is crumbling a little, but it was still a sight, and the view from the courtyard was nice, Heidelberg is so quaint and peaceful. After the rather steep decent back to town me and Laura were feeling hungry, and the craving for a wurst hit, so we embarked on the hunt. It was disturbingly difficult to find a brat in Heidelberg, and I decided I should set up shop with a cart for a while. We found a place in the guide book to placate our cravings, and I tried some 12% beer. On an empty stomach it gave me a decent buzz. More sight seeing brought us to a "philosophers walk" which apparently was traveled by Hegel. It was a narrow corridor basically up the side of a large hill, but was very serene and one of my favorite activities so far. After our traditional sausages for lunch we gave dinner an American twist and had a burger at the hard rock cafe, which was actually remarkably cheap. After the burger we sat and had a beer and ended up sharing a table with two students at the University. As the night life picked up around us on a side street we talked and sipped our drinks, and I now have a free place to stay if I ever come back to Heidelberg (which I fully intend to). The next day we packed up and headed to Munich, were we took a stroll through the English Gardens (bigger than central park!) with what was left of our travel day. A walking tour, an art museum, the Olympic Park and a hefty hike back to the hostel rounded out another day in the capital of Bavaria, and I realized how little I actually did when I was here before (thank you sister). After Munich, before we left for Dresden (where I am typing this post from), we took a day excursion to Füsen to see the Neuschwanstein Castle, supposedly the inspiration for the Disney Castle. I fell in love with the natural setting, lush forest nestled against sharp Bavarian Alps, and the Castle was spectacular! Right now I cannot get pictures off of my camera, but as soon as I can several pictures are needed in this post. I bought an awesome traditional Bavarian hat that I plan to put pins in from everywhere Ive been (got some catching up to do). After a great day of hiking and castling we caught a train and got in fairly late to Dresden, where we will be for two days, and then it is off to Berlin (last stop for sister boo). Someones waiting for the computer so again, excuse the spelling and grammatical mistakes, and hopefully I will add pictures soon.

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Photos

Funicular tracks
Laura and the tracks of the train we took up to Heidelberg Castle

More Castle
Crumbling a wee bit but still awesome

The view
Heidelberg was a great little town

Philosphers walk
Me following in the footsteps of Emmanuel Kant. It was steep! But an excellent walk. Me and Laura both agreed we did not have any major epiphanies however...

The hardest sausage to find in Germany
It was a good one once we tracked it down. The high proof beer is in the backround

Me and the monkey
If you rub the mirror in its hand you are destined to return to Heidelberg. I did that and made a mask out of it.

Me in Munich
Just outside the English Gardens

Pretzel!
Laura enjoying (maybe a little too much) her pretzel at the Chinese Beer Garden in the middle of the park.

A bit closer view
It was a pretty cool castle. Laura informed me it is actually the most visited sight in Germany. I was skeptical at first but she was right (as usual).

Isn't she cute
Laura on the train to Dresden

Comments

[Greg]

Grant, I'm so proud of you for not giving up on the brat quest. That's some good work, and your perseverance will ALWAYS be rewarded.

[queue_t]

awesome to see my favorite castles
I lived in Heidleberg for 5 years, and I visited nueschwanstien a couple of times. I have lots of fond memories of my time spent in Germany. I am really enjoying these posts and pictures. Thanks for sharing them