Heidelberg

Ich hab mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren

- Fritz Löhner (I lost my heart in Heidelberg)

Finally I visited Heidelberg today with Hong Keat, even though it is a only 15 minute train ride from Mannheim. In fact initially Heidelberg was the city that I wanted to go to for my exchange program in Germany, but later on I decided to go to Mannheim instead. Heidelberg is one of the must-go for all tourists for visit Germany, and in fact almost the whole city sustains its economy on tourism. Heidelberg one of the most beautiful city in Germany, especially the scene of the old bridge with the castle and the old city in the background.

The old bridge and the old inner city with the castle

Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Walk)

This is actually a trail on the other side of the river facing the inner city and the castle. If you see in the picture, the trail is above the houses across the hill and we had to climb up steps to reach the trail, but thank goodness it was not as tiring at the one I experienced in Weinheim.

climbing up the steps

Why is it called the Philosophenweg? It is believed that Heidelberg's Philosophers and University Profs (The Uni of Heidelberg is the oldest in Germany) used to walk there and perhaps gathered inspration in the process of doing so. While walking along the trail, we saw that it was not only a place where people sat there to read, enjoy the view of the other side of the view (as seen from above), but also pursue romantic persuits.

Crossing the old bridge and entering the inner city

Here is the gate of the old bridge which brings us into the old, inner city. The inner city is very much the same as most inner city in other cities in Germany. There you could find churches, a Markplatz (marketplace), Schloß (palace) as well as a Rathaus (town hall). Heidelberg is no exception. However its Schloß has a very beautiful garden which also provides a great scenery of the old bridge and the innercity, as can be seen in one of the pictures below.

Huge church organ inside the Heiliggeistkirche (Church of Holy Spirit)

Hotel zum Ritter built in 1592.

The view of the old city from the castle garden. I think it is a great place to just lay a mat, have a picnic and watch the world go by. From the castle garden we could see part of the damaged castle, to enter the castle would cost us 1.5o Euro. I did not enter this time, but I am deciding if I should go in the next time I visit Heidelberg.

The shopping street above is called the Hauptstraße - main street in German. It is a 2km street leading to the way up to climb to the castle gardens.

Today was my first visit to Heidelberg, but I did not see much, only the main areas. Heidelberg is really a romantic city and it is no wonder why I see people all over the world there. In fact I think I will return to Heidelberg very soon, since its so near and I do not have to pay for transport. I would be interested to actually learn more about the oldest Uni in Germany as well as check out the nightlife there!

Dinner at Hong Keat's

Hong Keat lives the next block and on our way back we met Charmaine n Zhenle on the bus, and since he had chicken, rice and some lettuce he asked us to come over where we had chicken soup, rice and wurst (susages), and of course chips and beer. It was also the first time I met Zhi Wei (not sure if its spelt correctly) from NUS Business and this American girl (can't remember her name though) from Carolina.

They commented that I blog real fast... but I think my blogging days are limited already. When lesson begins, all these fun has to stop!
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