02 July - Heidelberg

Rainy day, or rather a drizzly day, but still pretty warm. The hotel has a traditional german breakfast (salami, cheese, bread, yogurt, muesli, and of course soft-boiled eggs) and great strong coffee. We can't think of a better way to start the day.

After our lovely meal, we took the strassenbahn to the Bizmarkplatz, did some shopping (first order of business - an umbrella), then walked up the Hauptstrasse, the pedestrian-only main street of the town. It's full of fun shops (or at least ONE of us thinks they're fun!). It's a very interactive experience. All of the shopkeepers say hello and goodbye to you and you are supposed to do the same. If you make a purchase, you will definitely need to make these pleasantries with the person ringing you up. That said, they really do leave you alone WHILE you are shopping which is nice. Lynne said 'danke' (thanks) and 'tschuess' (bye) to many of these folks today.

Next we headed to an internet cafe, the one up the sidestreet that Jonathan I went to a few years ago). We had hoped to get to a bit of walking on the Philosophenweg, but ran out of time and there was a constant threat of rain.

The hotel clerk pointed us to a great place for dinner - a place called Spriedel (I think). It is right below the old bridge and all of the customers were Germans which we took as a very good sign. The place was all dark wood with little decoration besides hearts carved into the backs of the clunky wooden chairs and a crazy decorative wreath thing made of huge felt flowers. Odd but really cool. Robby had rindrouladen (thin strips of meat wrapped around yet more meat in a rich wine sauce), rotkohl (pickled red cabbage), and dumplings. Lynne had krautwickel (cabbage leaves wrapped around spiced meats), kartoffel (sauteed potatoes), and salad. This was the first place where the beer was served in huge ceramic steins instead of glasses. We were completely stuffed but happy for our long walk back to the hotel. Biking starts tomorrow!!


Hotel Ibis Heidelberg
Willy-Brandt-Platz 3
69115 Heidelberg
Tel 0049-62219130

Heidelberger webcam

General Heidelberg Info Here, the Tourist bureau
Heidelberg Aktuell, news and updated info
Historic Highlights of Germany's Heidelberg Page

The tour has this:

Day 1 - Heidelberg – Individual arrival
Tour information and handing over of bicycles. Enough time remains for an evening stroll to the famous castle of Heidelberg, down to the banks of the river Neckar and the bridges and through the idyllic old town.