July 27-28 Heidelberg, Germany

We left Switzerland and arrived back in Germany yesterday.  The drive through Germany's Black Forest was breath taking.  Unfortunately, we couldn't get a picture to do the area justice.  The pictures just looked like one tree truck after another.  We went through one lovely small town after another too.  Here are a few pictures we took on the way to Heidelberg:

We arrived late in Heidelberg.  Heidelberg is located on the River Necker.  This is one of Germany's favorite towns and you can tell by the number of tourists visiting.  For centuries, it has been noted for it cultural life.  In 1036, Germany's first university was established here.  Late in the 17th Century, a French invasion unfortunately destoryed medieval Heidelberg including its castle.  However, today we walked the old town area and went to see the castle on the hill overlooking the city.  Here are some pictures you might enjoy:

We stopped at a small restaurant for some cake.  Little did we know that it had a lovely garden in the back to sit and enjoy our cakes.

Lots of bikes and tourists

The hillsides and river make this city look a lot like Pittsburgh

We did go off and visited the castle.  Although it is a medieval castle, there has been some rebuilding.  We are sure that you can tell the difference between the old and the new.  Everything looked enchanting.

At the castle, we ran into our friends Shannon, Bill and Dillion

This city holds a special place in Jack's heart since his grandfather on his mother's side (Ruetter) was from here.

Heidelberg will be our base for a few days.  Tomorrow we are off for a road trip.

Jack and Nancy