Heidelberg for the Weekend

We had a great time in Heidelberg last weekend. The city was beautiful and we even did a little geocaching while we were there. Geocaching is something that I have always been interested in and I was thrilled when Phil presented me with the directions to a few containers. It is basically a treasure hunt using GPS coordinates to find secret containers at various locations. These containers contain a book to sign your name and usually various trinkets left by others.While we were hunting for containers I kept thinking about how much fun this would be to do as a family someday.

We decided to start out with an easy container located in a very public place. It was fun to try to find it without other people seeing us. We ran around the corner with the container to sign our names before returning it.


We had a great first experience with geocaching and plan on hunting for others when traveling to new places.

So now onto exploring Heidelberg.

Our walk along the Neckar river.


We walked around the Bismarkplatz, one of the main shopping/pedestrian areas.




After walking for a while we decided to stop in for a snack. We were pulled into Big Pommes by the delicious smell of fries. Not very healthy but it hit the spot.
Twister fries and a hot dog europa.


After our snack we continued walking through town on our way to Heidelberg castle.


The Market place and Hercules Well


Another snack stop to share a delicious chocolate cookie ball. I can not remember its real name but it is amazing. We visited a shop that offered you the choice of 21 glazes and fillings. I would compare ours to a chocolate graham cracker that is rolled into a ball and then dipped again into dark chocolate.


We saw the first signs of Heidelberg castle when we arrived at the Old Town's Market.


Eager to explore the castle we started the long climb up to the castle base.


The view from the top.




The castle itself was damaged during the 30 Years War, rebuilt and then damaged again by lightning in the 1800's.




Father Rhine guarding the entrance to the Great Grotto.


At this point the temperatures had dropped significantly so we decided to head back for a warm meal near our hotel.

We had a wonderful time exploring Heidelberg and we were so happy that we were able to fit it in before heading home.

Before closing this post I must leave you with one of my favorite pictures.