Heidelberg, Germany

This morning I was off to the city of Heidelberg..........having been there twice before, in 1982 and 2007.  After breakfast, I hopped in the car, and as usual took the "back roads" to my destination.  The first major point along the way to Heidelberg is the city of Baden Baden.  Baden Baden is located in the northwest section of the Black Forest and is a famous international health & spa resort.  The road from Freudenstadt to Baden Baden, known as Die Schwarzwaldhochstraße, or the Black Forest High Road is a panoramic road with many fantastic views. I took many photos en route, but unfortunately the sun was not in the most cooperative place to get great pictures.  One stop along the "high road" was the Mummelsee, which is a small lake, resort.  Continuing on toward Baden Baden, the road was quite winding, as most other roads in the Black Forest.  When reaching Baden Baden, I ran into my typical scenario in the German cities;  "Umleitung" or detour.  The GPS is worthless in situations like this, so I had to figure my way out of the city.  After losing a bit of time, I decided to get on the Autobahn for awhile as I headed north to Heidelberg.  Many BMWs, Audis and Mercedes were flying by in the left lane, at speeds that had to top well over 125 mph.  At one point, I decided to join them in the left lane and pushed my BMW to approx 200 km/h (124 mph).  I reached Heidelberg about 2:00 PM, checked into my hotel and was on my way into the Altstadt (old city).  I walked around a bit and went up to the Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Walk) which is an opportunity to see Heidelberg from high and above the Neckar River.  It actually offers the best views of Heidelberg.  After a strenuous walk up and down, I returned to the Altstadt for a fresh seasonal bier (Märzen) at the Vetter Brauhaus.  By 6:30 PM, I met one of my former students from Rhinebeck High who is attending a university here in Heidelberg. We had dinner and a bier, chatted a bit and the by 9:00 PM I was on my way back to my hotel for some well needed sleep.

Be sure to click on any of the photos to see them in a larger size!