Heidelberg/Rhine River September 2019

Germany is a place where everything is simply done right and we always enjoy visiting. This is our fourth time and what made it particularly enjoyable, was that we shared it with our good friends Anna and Gary.
This is the first leg of our holiday, staying in lovely Heidelberg for a few days and visiting the Rhine River on a great day cruise , enjoying the great food, wine and beer the area has to offer.

You can find our second leg of our trip to Southern Italy here.

You can find our third and final leg of our trip to Malta here.

Day 1

We arrived in Frankfurt early in the morning and, after picking up our rental, decided to waste no time, heading straight for Rudesheim to arrange the cruise for the following day and explore this perfect little village. The bakeries in Germany are soooo good and reasonably priced.

Gary gets stuck into it.

After a late breakfast we head out to see the area on foot. Rudesheim was a walled village and this is one of the original watch towers that surrounded the place.

This path follows the Rhine and passes a lovely park along the way.

The town of Bingen  just across the river.

This area is simply perfect to see, with it's typical German architecture.

With the odd palace thrown in.

We then head back in to town to have a closer look.

This old plaque embedded in an existing section of the old wall.

Pretty as a picture in a fairy tale.

This tourist office is a must do, to unlock the secrets of the town a nd to purchase the cruise tickets.

Heading in to the town centre with it's cafes, shops and of course brew hauses.

Would never think of taking a pic of a window in Australia, but when in Europe.

This area is well known for it's great wines. They even use the humble grape vine for decoration around these parts.

Gary falls in love.

Check out the wood carvings, and they were quite common.

Gary and Anna loving life and in awe of this beautiful village.

You know you're in Germany when .....

You can't not enjoy yourself here.

More of beautiful Rudesheim.

The geraniums looked perfect in their window boxes.

These bells went off on the hour, sounding out a German tune.

And these figurines did their thing while the bells chimed.

One of many perfect places to eat in the town.

Beautiful old German architecture, well kept to enjoy.

Cathy and Anna, flowers among the roses.

A small example of a vineyard on the outer edge of town.

Would you believe they have beer in Germany?

I really liked this mug. Really really liked it.

And of course the wooden carvings that Germany is famous for.

So many to choose from.

These old fountains continue to flow today..... Wait, is that another Bier Garten????

Simply perfect.

A drop of wine anyone?

So many beautiful old churches throughout Europe. 

The effort taken here to entice diners in to the restaurant.

Leaving Rudesheim, we head to Heidelberg, but not before we stop to check out Castle Auerbach.

Cathy charges ahead.

This is a must see in the Heidelberg area and entry is free.

Notice that tree is growing out of solid rock walls. How?

Peekaboo! 

Perched up high on a hill, the views are great.

Although parts of the castle  have deteriorated, most of its walls stand strong for all to see.

Gary was a lot of fun to travel with and a good laugh.

And another tree decides to grow out of solid rock.

If there's a tower or church steeple to climb, Cathy's always up there.

Arriving in Heidelberg, we find our accommodation in the middle of the old city, in a perfect location and traditional rooms. Pension Jeske. 

Highly recommended and great value.

The centre of Heidelberg, virtually outside our front door.

A huge church in the main square.

The church walls were adorned by carvings such as these.

We chose the Vetter Brewery  for our first dinner in Germany.

They offered authentic German meals and oh look, more beer!

Gary and I may have had a few beers in Germany.

Day 2

We all slept so well that night, but got up early,to head straight back to Rudesheim for our Rhine River Cruise.

As you can see, tickets were just 23 Euro each.

The weather was perfect too.

As soon as the boat moves, the views slap us in the face.

It doesn't take long before,the first castle comes into view, not to mention the endless grapevines.

Passing the Niederwald Monument, symbolising the establishment of the German Empire.

Another beautiful old castle passes us by.

And acres and acres of perfectly cared for vineyards.

This section of the Rhine is dotted with lovely old German towns.

And did I mention castles?

And another castle. All different from the one before.

This one was particularly large.

Notice the camp ground below, on the river bank.

And they just keep coming.

Beautiful little villages also dot the banks of the Rhine.

And of course these picture perfect, larger ones, looking like they're straight out of a fairy tale book.

Here we approach our first stop, the town of Bacharach.

Once again, this beautiful German village was once surrounded by large stone walls, like so many in Europe.

Cath and I have been here before, but so great to explore and see Anna and Gary's faces as we walked around.

Traditional marionettes hung from the wall of this shop.  

And there's those window planters again.

Perfect German architecture around every corner.

We then head up to Postenturm, The Post Tower.

Passing through the vineyard along the way.

One of many flights of stairs we climbed on this European trip

Just halfway up, this gorgeous view over the town.

And now from the top, with the Rhine in the background.

Burg Stahleck high above the village.

And the remains of  an old cathedral still standing.

Bloody Gary. Can't take him anywhere.

Cathy and I, fashion gurus as usual.

One more pic on our way down.

And continuing on through the vineyards on our way down.

The farmer hard at work, tending his vines.

Back in town, we had time for some more walkabouts.

Anna, hard at work with her camera.

Back on the boat, we enjoy some beautiful German white wine. The best I've ever tasted actually.

Oh, and another castle.

Picture perfect.

And the wine kept coming.

And, another castle. As you can see, we had perfect weather.

And the old churches were just as majestic.

Lovin life.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that the Rhine is also a thoroughfare for shipping throughout Europe.

Yep, another one. This time overlooking St Goar.

Arriving at our lunch stop in St Goar.

Photo opportunities everywhere.

Just to give you an idea of the age of these towns.

 

We simply couldn't get enough of these lovely old buildings.

The largest free hanging cuckoo clock in the world, at 3.5 meters high and 2 meters wide.

We stumbled upon this pizzeria in the back streets and enjoyed a lovely lunch in a perfect atmosphere.

What a great idea.

On our way back, passing the old customs house in the middle of the river.

Gary was wondering how they knew.

The cruise started at 9:30 am and took us through one of the most picturesque sections of the Rhine, returning us to Rudesheim at around 6:30 pm, all for the grand total of just €23 each. We really recommend anyone does this to get a real taste of Germany, one of our favourite countries to visit. It never disappoints.

Day 3:

Our final day in Heidelberg was going to be all about  Heidelberg Castle, the old town and a great Bier Garten high above Heidelberg.

We start off reasonably early, so as to make the most of our last day in beautiful Germany.

Climbing higher and higher toward the castle.

Our first glimpse of the view below from the castle grounds.

Still a while to go.

Our first close view of those grand outer walls from it's surrounding gardens.

Reaching the top level of the castle grounds, we get this great view over the river and Heidelberg Bridge.

Time for a touristy pic.

Yes, we were there too.

Exploring the gardens, we came across several of these nesting boxes. Gave me ideas for back home. 

Then this large fountain statue.

These stone figures built into the walls were incredibly detailed.

Gary moves in for a closer look.

Walking right along, we come across a whole section of wall that has completely slid of from the rest of the structure.

Cathy and I have visited Heidelberg before but did not have time to enter the castle itself. This was now our chance.

And in we went.

More of that stunning architecture.

Gary gives us a running commentary as we walked through the complex. We had no idea how well informed our mate was.

This old grape vine looked as old as the castle itself.

So many of these natural wells have water flowing from them through the higher ground above.

More of that beautiful German architecture.

Imagine having enough money to have a statue of yourself decorate your palace walls.

This simple but accurate sun dial told the time precisely.

It was 9am, or is that 10am. You decide.

So the palace houses the largest wine barrel on Earth. But it turns out, this isn't it.

This is the largest wine barrel on Earth.

This pic gives you an idea of it's size. That's Cathy and Anna standing on top of it. 

 

Hi girls.

The spiral staircase winding down from the top of the barrel.

Old tools and instruments hang from the walls.

The views from within the palace were breathtaking.

From one of the watch towers.

The old town of  Heidelberg in all it's glory.

Those magnificent walls still standing strong.

Finishing the tour, we explore the other side of the castle grounds before heading to the old bridge.

Much of the castle was damaged by war and fires.

This is a close up of our BnB, right in the old town's centre. It's the small brown roof in line with the front of the cathedral. We were certainly in the thick of it.

Here we arrive to the gate of the Old Bridge.

More stunning views from every direction of the bridge.

And looking back toward the castle.

And that picture perfect river.

Gary was loving Germany as I knew he would.

The girls were all smiles too.

There's always some self entitled ding bat that thinks this is OK.

Back in town, the plaza has come alive, so after some quick poking around, we head up to see the Thingstatte. 

Before exploring the Thingstatte, we take time to look around the remains of an old cathedral. Over 920 years old!

Of course we climbed the tower.

Well, most of us.

This gives you an idea of how high we were. That's the castle below us, zoomed in.

Normal zoom.

The entry to the tower.

While Gary kept his feet on the ground.

We then head over to see the large amphitheatre once used by the Nazis, known as the Thingstatte. 

This place is huge.

There goes Cathy again.

Looking back toward the stage at front.

Anna and Gary, taking it all in.

This place is awesome and the there seems to be an eerie atmosphere about it.

Meanwhile, Cathy makes it to the top and finds someone to chat to.

The stage viewed from one end.

Meanwhile, I take to the top of the stage area for a few shots.

As Cathy makes her way down the stairs.

Well, this was all hot sweaty work. Lucky for us, there's another Bier Garten close by. Well what do ya know?

The perfect way to end our stay in Germany. These are true Beer Gardens as only the Germans know how.

Saying farewell to beautiful, perfect Germany with a traditional German meal and a few cold German beers.

Cath and I highly recommend a brief stopover in Germany when travelling to Europe. It adds hardly anything to the cost of flights but the rewards of this country are well worth the effort, and I'd say Anna and Gary would agree.