Heidelberg and Schwetzingen

We were off to another castle- about one hour away- to the town of Heidelberg! We first

 looked at the Church of the Holy Ghost, located in the center of old town.

Then above the rooftops of the houses surrounding the town square we caught our first glimpse of Heidelberg Schloss---or the ruins of it!  Magnificent!!!

We rode a funicular up to it and began our English tour of the grounds. It was begun in 1214 and added onto by each succeeding Prince Elector.  In 1764 it was destroyed by fire caused by lightening.  It was considered too "old fashioned" to rebuild.  Three times a year there is a reenactment of the Castle Burning with lights and fireworks.

This model shows what it used to look like before the fire.  

Notice the extensive grounds in the background.

This is part of the inner courtyard.

Notice the blue sky through the windows. 

One wing of the interior courtyard has been restored and 

events such as weddings are held here.

This wine barrel held the king's fine wine!

But this is the world's largest wine barrel.  All the farmers had to pay a tax of 10% of their wine to the Prince Elector where it was given to the servants and the soldiers. It holds 58,000 gallons!

The ruins from the grounds were very impressive!

The view from the Castle is gorgeous, overlooking the Neckar River and it's famous bridge!

We then traveled to Schwetzingen which is known for it's palace gardens.

Another Saturday in the life of the Roberts in Germany...next week Cologne!

Rudesheim Adventure!

While the weather is good, we decided to spend our Saturdays exploring Germany!!!  Our first adventure took us one hour away from Frankfurt to the village of Rudesheim on the Rhine (or Rhein) River.  This street, Drosselgasse, is the most famous in the Middle Rhine area.  You can see how narrow it is and it is filled with shops and cafes.

We then bought a ticket for 14 euros for our adventure that began with 

a cable car ride over some beautiful grape vineyards to a monument.

There are 1000's of acres of vineyards all along the hillside.

This is the top of the monument...most of it  was covered in plastic!

This commemorates the German  Empire being reestablished after a victory over France.  

Then there was a 30 minute hike through the woods.

We then took a ski lift down to a quaint town called Assmannshousen.

This is such a quaint German town...and we would have loved to explore it but the 

ferry was due to take us across the river to our FIRST CASTLE!!!

 We were sooooo  excited to explore Burg Rheinstein!!!

It was built in 900 as a customs house and was later a fortress.  

Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia bought it in 1825 and  rebuilt it.

We has a blast exploring the castle!!!

My favorite rooms were the Knights' Hall  and the Princesses Bedroom:

The castle had it's own tiny chapel.

And what castle would be complete without a drawbridge.

It was time to return to Rudesheim on the ferry.

It was a 45 minute journey back with gorgeous views of the

vineyards on the mountainside and a great view of these

 ruins of Burg Ehrenfels.

It was the ending of an amazing day exploring Germany!!!

WE'RE IN FRANKFURT!!!!

     We're in Frankfurt, Germany now...4 weeks today...and it is beautiful!  Paul is doing finances for Young Single Adults and also for church leaders in the Europe Area.  Bev is learning to be an administrator for JPMorgan Chase church credit card holders (about 800).  We are both learning to do audits of temples and other church programs. There is a lot to learn but Saturdays are reserved for sightseeing in this beautiful country.

    
  We are temporarily living in a city called Bad Vilbel (pronounced Bod Feebell) about 15 minutes north of Frankfurt. In 6 or 7 minutes from our apt. we can be in farm country with the Frankfurt skyline very visible.     We live 1 block off the main street and this building is at the end of the street.

Just around the corner is this charming bronze, showing how water bottles were filled.

There are fountains with mineral water in town,  and people fill their water bottles with it!

The Nidda River runs through the center of town, eventually 

running into the Main River and then the Rhein.

These castle ruins are from Roman Era,1160!  It is gorgeous and located in the middle of the city park.  Summer theater is held there in a beautiful amphitheater.  All the plays are in German so we will not be attending but the ticket takers gave us a tour.  We love the moat!

Another view of the castle ruins!  We took a 4 hour walking tour of Frankfurt 
and learned so much about the history!  This is a picture of the 
Roman baths, just off the main square in Old Town.

The Town Square is very German and very charming!!!

The Cathedral of St. Bartholomew is where Roman Emperors  were coronated for 300 years.

The white lines are just painted on to give the appearance of blocks.

The wood carvings were exquisite!

As were the pipes of the organ!

This has been the City Hall since the 1300's:

The skyline looks a little strange behind Old Town

The Main (pronounced Mine) River runs through the center of Frankfurt.

This commemorates book burning in the 1930's.

This Jewish memorial has a stone block for each of the 1400 Jews

 from Frankfurt  who were killed in camps during WWII.

Finally we loved this old arch and the farmer's market!!!

This is just the beginning...our next blog will tell of our fabulous day in Rudesheim!!!