My blogpost count seems to be dwindling. Lord, please give me new destinations!
There are those stations, however, where no matter how many times you go, there'd always be something new to discover.
I was fortunate enough to meet a colleague this trip who was "on" enough to battle the piercing winter chills to checkout the nearby town of Heidelberg and the Christmas Market at Romer Square with me. Most of the rest stayed indoors.
The first time I heard about Heidelberg was through a German couple I met on my last visit. They spotted me looking at the map and approached me to offer help and promote the romatic, historic town of Heidelberg, where they were from. I remember them describing it as the "Paris" of Germany, apparently a romantic place.
I have to say that so far NOTHING compares to Paris. Although, Heidelberg, like every little town, has its own charm.
A little trivia courtesy of Wikipedia: Heidelberg is a city in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. It is an administrative district of its own and is part of a densely populated region known as the Rhein-Neckar-Triangle. Main attractions include the Old Town, Heidelberg Castle (or rather the ruins of the castle), Philosopher's Walk and the University of Heidelberg.
The reason why this town is considered a "romantic" place is because there was a famous circle of poets based here during the Age of Enlightenment. This Romantic epoch was described as a movement against classical and realistic theories of literature at that time.
The train ride from Frankfurt Hauptbanhof to Heidelberg took 1 hour and 20 mintues by regular train (56.40 Euros return for two in 2nd Class). If in a hurry, one can opt for the speed train, which takes only 50 minutes, but costs more, of course.
The walk from the train station to the Old Town takes about ten minutes at a pretty fast pace (especially when you're trying to keep your body warm!). Most of our day was spent walking through the Old Town and riding the fernicular train up to the mountains where the Castle was situated.
Woo hoo! We got our fahkarte to Heidelberg!
Enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate and a custard pastry while waiting to board.
At Platform 12, waiting to board the 10:06 train to Heidelberg. Actually, we couldn't wait to be seated and doze off during the journey. We were dead tired and jet-lagged after the 12-hour flight.
We're here! Brrr...
Walking from the train station to the Old Town through a pedestrian mall.
View of the Heidelberg Castle from the Old Town.
The arch entering one of the courtyards of the Castle.
Looks quite sad, doesn't it, to be left in a state like this.
What we think used to be a fountain or pond where royalty would sit around and enjoy their picnic.
View of the town and the Neckar river from the Castle.
The second stop on the furnicular train took us to the top most of the hill, which was white-capped and brrr...
Back down in the Old Town, sculptures guarding the corners of Jesuitenkirche, the Jesuit Church.
Pork knuckle with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut for dinner before heading back to Frankfurt. Mm mm! Delightful.
Our second day was spent in the Christmas Market at Romer Square, an annual event this time of year.
Such festivities! Simply gets you into the mood.
Leberkase (German version of luncheon meat) with fried egg and bratkatoffeln (pan-fried potatoes with onions and bacon) for brunch.
More Christmas-sy stalls to spread the yuletide cheer.
We couldn't resist trying the chocolate-coated fruits...
...and some sweets. I forgot the name of this chocolate-coated fluff, but it was everywhere! They were sold as individuals and in boxes as gifts. It had the After Eight flavour, which was minty in the middle. It was lighter than marshmallows. Something like what I imagine eating cotton must be (without the fibre! :p)
On the way back to the hotel, we made a pit-stop for some warmth at Cafe Laumer to mark the end to a lovely festive visit.
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