408 - My First Trip to Europe, Final

Stuttgart, Germany:

The Stuttgart office was quite nice, and everyone was wonderful to me. I met a new friend, Klaus Young, who helped show me around and I worked through the morning.

Around noon, Klaus and his boss (don’t remember his name) and I went to lunch and had a wonderful meal! The hospitality of these people was just amazing.

Working through the afternoon, I was sad on one hand to go home the next day, yet I missed my wife and kids pretty badly, even though I called them every day. I wasn’t really looking forward to a train ride back up to Frankfurt where I’d spend the evening at a hotel before heading to the airport the next morning.

Right about when I was dreading the train ride the worst (about an hour before leaving for the train), Klaus came and asked me if I would mind riding with him to Frankfurt, as he was going home to see his parents for the weekend just outside of town. I jumped at the chance and my outlook was much better now.

When we got in the car, I told Klaus how happy I was going with him instead of a train. We laughed, and he asked if I got to do everything I wanted on this trip, and I thought of it for a moment.. and said No. I hadn’t seen a castle, and I hadn’t gone to a Biergarten. He was pretty surprised, and asked what hotel I was staying at. I told him and he picked up his cell phone and spoke German to someone for about 5 minutes.

I asked what he just did, and he said “I called the hotel and told them you were going to check in late. I’m taking you to a Castle and a Biergarten!” I was beyond thrilled but wanted to make sure he wasn’t taking away family time. He just smiled, and said it’d be his pleasure as we slipped into Heidelberg, to see Heidelberg Castle.

 

Heidelberg Castle, (see above the town in the picture to the right) is absolutely gorgeous. We stopped in town to get some perspective on it, then drove up the hill, where Klaus would give me my own private tour.

 

The town was very picturesque, and the people very nice as we strode up to the entrance to the castle (seen at right below). 

The entrance was very ornate, and I felt like I was stepping back in time.

From Wikipedia:

“The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.
The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. It is served by an intermediate station on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway that runs from Heidelberg's Kornmarkt to the summit of the Königstuhl.
The earliest castle structure was built before AD 1214 and later expanded into 2 castles circa 1294; however, in 1537, a lightning-bolt destroyed the upper castle. The present structures had been expanded by 1650, before damage by later wars and fires. In 1764, another lightning-bolt destroyed some rebuilt sections.”

That’s me at right, up on one of the landings. The statues of the men behind me, are supposedly all of former owners of the castle.

Two more great pictures of the castle:

 

 

As you can see, it’s so very old, and so beautifully ornate!

 

 

 

 

 

With that done, and my eyes wide like saucers, we headed to Mannheim, to a local biergarten.

 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it was just a bunch of people gathering after work to eat, drink, and socialize! It was a wonderful time, and we sat and talked till well into the night.

I was real sad to see it end, but I did have to get up early for a 7am flight home.

My trip to Europe complete, I couldn’t tell you what was my favorite part, but I do know I met some outstanding people, and saw some gorgeous places.

I hope you enjoyed!