Baden-Baden and Heidelberg

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Geo: 48.7598, 8.23979

I don't even know how to begin to describe Baden-Baden, let alone Baden-Baden on a cool September morning. Magical is one word that comes to mind. Fairy tale like? All I know is there are only a handful of times in life where I truly wanted to stop time ..... and this was one of them. It was around 9:55 am. I was standing by the fountain in the center of town, church bells from the cathedral were ringing. The air was cool
and crisp. That perfect temperature and smell ... end of summer\beginning of fall air. Heather was pressed up beside me and I had my arm around her. The morning sun was cascading softly across both of us, making it appear as if we were almost glowing. It was indescribably beautiful and perfect. I wanted that moment to last forever but I knew it couldn't ..... So I grasped every millisecond of that few minutes with all my being. I pray it's the last thing I think of when my time on this planet ends.

Before I was blessed with life's perfect moment, Heather, Tim, Laurie, and I checked out of the Novotel in Karlsruhe and headed south to Baden-Baden. While stationed in Karlsruhe, I had been to Baden-Baden many times ... But I had never stepped foot in the town. It was always to either take someone to the Altes Schloß, or to go rappelling on the rocks high above the town. Looking down I remember always thinking it looked like a cool little town. I couldn't even imagine. One thing is for sure. That's definitely a 2 dayer next time ..... Minimum.

Baden-Baden is a money town. Probably the reason it's so well maintained, and so beautiful. There's a what has been described as a James Bond movie type casino in town. Not to mention several natural spring thermal spas. If you think about it, it makes sense. Baden-Baden literally spells "Bath-Bath." The old German Black Forrest architecture, the meticulous cobblestone streets, and the many fountains, sculptures, and bridges officially make Baden-Baden my new favorite German town. If you've never been. Trust me in this one.

After a little over an hour wandering the streets of the town it was time to take the Silfies Van Sweesy crew to the Altes Schloß. The old castle on the hills over looking Baden-Baden is a 12th century medieval castle. The cafe gift shop was closed, but the castle was open for exploration .... Free of charge. We drove up the switchbacks until we got to the Schloß parking lot, and then took the short hike up to the castle. This castle is amazing. Standing in the Knights hall you can almost imagine the scene at one point in history. Medieval knights riding back from battle on horseback to victory feasts of pork, duck, quail, beef, and copious amounts of wine ..... I never remember the old castle being as accessible as it was today, so the photo opportunity was incredible. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

Around noon, we decided we needed to be getting along to Heidelberg, so in the trusty VW Touran we piled and headed north.

We had to make one stop though. One stop that was a very hard, bittersweet stop to make. We had to stop in Durlach to say goodbye to my old friend .... Mein deutsche Brüder .... Daniel.

After our goodbyes and thank you's to Daniel for being such a great friend and tour guide, we jumped on the B3 and headed north to Heidelberg. Time was getting in front of us at this point .... and to be honest, we could all feel it running out quickly.

Our accommodations in Heidelberg was the Marriott. Part of the reason this trip is such an amazing success is because each one of us brings their own special skill to the table. I know German and Germany (kind of). Laurie is the best ground co-pilot one could ever ask for. Heather is the calming voice of reason cruise director that keeps things running smoothly, and Tim is the veteran traveler who knows all the idiosyncrasies involved with dealing with hotels .... We are truly the Fantastic Four of travel.

We checked into the Marriott, hopped on the water taxi, and headed into Heidelberg. We dropped ship at the old bridge, and decided to stop for a beer and a bite, and plan our next day. We decided to do the castle today, and the river tour tomorrow. It was a wise plan.

We took the funicular up to the castle. I was a little taken aback that it was €9 each way but hey. We're on vacation, and I'm finally allowing myself to be a tourist in Germany. In my 20's while I was here .... I dunno if it just wasn't "cool" or what but I never wanted to do the touristy things. I wanted to hang with Germans on their turf, go to German clubs, go to German concerts, and immerse myself .... I think I missed a lot with the that mindset. We get to the top and go to buy tickets in to the castle courtyard and wine fass ..... and lo and behold the €9 was for round trip on the funicular, AND admission to the courtyard and wine fass! Score!

Heidelberg castle is truly a sight to behold. It's like the Baden-Baden castle on steroids. Granted it's not as old but is truly an amazing place to visit. The Wine Fass is a big ass 2 story wine barrel that hold 58,000 gallons of wine. That's right. There's a few pics for you to get the feel. Aside from the oriental teenage selfie stick girls, it wasn't too bad walking around and on the Fass. After that we all did a 3 glass wine tasting ..... Because when standing next to a big ass 58,000 gallon wine barrel .... What would YOU do?? After the Fass we went out on to the grand patio overlooking Heidelberg. Again .... If you have he imagination .... Quite a picture emerges for you. We spent about 20 minutes on the balcony taking time to absorb all the awesomeness.

I'm really not sure what type of moronic imbecile could graffiti the statues or walls .... Or sit there and put out 10+ cigarette butts on the ground there but obviously, our planet it filled with disrespecting assholes. This was sadly a scene we encounter repeatedly over the past week. I don't get it. I should be used to it but I'm not damnit. It doesn't take much to throw your sit away and not graffiti historical monuments. Oh I know who the main culprits are because I witnessed it first hand. It's the people there who could give a shit less about Germany aside what the country can give them for free. Destroying, disrespecting vultures ..... I'll stop there ..... Sorry.

As with the rest of the country, the gardens and fountains were all under construction. Germany ..... all of Germany is under freaking construction LOL ...... But beautiful in spite of it.

By the time 7:30 .... ish was rolling around we all were ready to head back down so on the funicular we hopped. We decided to take the up first to the top of the hill. It was pretty uneventful, so back down to the bottom we went. We strolled down Hauptstraße and checked out the shops. Tim and Laurie went into the Hard Rock Heidelberg to pick up a shirt only to be let down. The Hard Rock Heidelberg is sans gift shop! Imagine that!! By the time we all really needed to stop .... We stumbled across Zum Güldenen Schaff. This place was awesome!! The inside was extremely old school cool and the food was marvelous. It seems our waiter had a little bit of a problem with us but that was his problem ..... Not ours. All in all we have been treated exceptionally well. Every so often though .... We run across someone who is not starting USA chants at Oktoberfest. After an very enjoyable meal and realizing we've several cuckoo clocks this trip .... what's that? No .... We're not literally eating cuckoo clocks. It's our joke about how much we've spent eating and drinking ..... If you figure an average cuckoo clock is between €300-€500 .... Well you do the math ....

So we grab a cab back to the hotel for a nightcap on the rooftop balcony. On the right side of the balcony we have 3 drunk, loud, obnoxious Americans who are the screaming caricature of why the global community has such a piss poor view of us. To boot, these ugly Americans get up and leave and just leave all their shit laying on the table. Entitled little pricks. So infuriating. Politics and posturing aside, when you are in a country that is not yours. don't act like an ass.

That was my queue to go to bed. I guess it was the right call because I was asleep within 2 minutes of hitting the bed.

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