Europe: Day 6, May 6, Heiderlberg, Rothenburg & Bobingen, Germany

Went to Heidelberg today and visited the Heidelberg castle. It is a big one and very interesting. Much of it is in ruins, but a lot of it is intact.  It amazes us that they were building these kinds of structures at the same time the Anasazi were building their houses of rocks and mud in caves in San Juan County. What a different level of civilization.  We then walked around the old city.  We bought and ate a schneeballen.  It was a deep fried pastry with chocolate and almond slivers. Very good. Tasted kind of like a donut. 

Then on to Rothenburg, an old medieval city.  Beautiful.  We went into an old church with a large carving of the last supper all from a single log.  A very ornate church but a very cold feeling.  Then walked around the old city. At one point I remember our guide talking about a building. She said it wasn't very old, only 200 years.  I think we don't even know what historical means in our country. 

Spent quite a bit of time in our bus driving from city to city. We are impressed with the order of things.  No trash anywhere. The fields and vineyards go for miles and miles and are immaculately cared for.  The rows are all perfectly straight.  No weeds anywhere.  Nothing unkempt. Very green and very pretty. Impressive.  

                   A giant wine vat in the castle.

Tonight we are in Bobingen, near Munich. We will go there tomorrow, then on to Innsbruck, Austria.  In preparation for Austria, we watched part of the Sound of Music on the bus.  Our tour guide is a charming Italian lady with a fun sense of humor. We love hearing her speak with her accent.  I don't know how many languages she speaks, but apparently several. She does well with English, obviously speaks Italian, is married to a German and lives in Germany and speaks German. She spoke Dutch in The Netherlands. Who know how many others she speaks? 

We are tired, but having a ball and enjoying the different cultures. Each night we eat something typical of the area we are in.  Tonight we ate sauerkraut and sausage. It was good. I thought the sauerkraut might be pretty strong, but it was quite mild. All in all, the food has been good and way too plentiful.