Heidleberg

We're now in Heidleberg.

Heidleberg's main claim to fame is the fact that it has the oldest university in Germany. It also has a partly ruined castle that contains the world's biggest wine vat. We didn't actually see the vat as it was starting to get late by the time we saw the castle.



Speaking of castles, I told you the other day we were visiting Castle Neuschwanstein (the fairytale castle).

It was a good day out. Two hours on the train to Fussen, with pretty much the whole carriage to ourselves, as our Eurail pass allows us to travel first class. Then a quick cab ride to the ticket office down the hill from the castle, followed by a 1.5 kilometre hike up a steep hill to the castle itself. Luckily there was somewhere you could buy bratwurst on the way up.

The tour of the castle would have been better if the groups were a bit smaller, but it was still interesting. King Ludwig II, who commissioned the castle, actually died before it was finished. As a result it never did get finished.



It would have been good if we could have got in a position to take some better pictures from the outside. The usual pictures you see of the castle must have been taken either from that cliff you see to the left, or from a helicopter.



With all the walking we'd done by the end, we didn't feel like walking all the way back down the hill again, so we took advantage of the horse and carriage to get back down.

As you can see, we got the seats at the front. You never quite forget the smell of horse fart.