Europe 2019: Heidelberg Castle

Europe 2019

Heidelberg Castle

After spending the morning at the IMS, we drove about 92 kilometers to Heidelberg. Whenever we travel to Europe, the trick for me in beating jet lag is to just grind through the first day. Go as hard and as long as you can and then just crash. When I wake up the next morning I'm fine...I'm on Euro Time!

The first thing we did when we got to Heidelberg Castle was to have lunch. Sam got her first lesson in ordering water in Europe. Now that we're back, she still wants to order water as "still" or "flat".

Heidelberg Castle is a big place, and kind of a combination of restored and ruins. Heidelberg, in general, was one of the few places not destroyed during WW2.

It wasn't destroyed because the US Army actually set up shop here. It has a real charm to it and I highly recommend visiting if you're in the area.

They have English tours in the afternoons so we jumped in one and learned about the origins of the castle.

At first, Samantha was like "Eh, tour...", but she liked the guy taking us around (in the vest above) and sort of became his assistant tour guide....whether he wanted one or not.

Something interesting they have here is the world's largest wine barrel....and this isn't it!

This is the one. It holds over 58,000 gallons of wine!

I was worried about how Sam would handle the jet lag but we just kept her going with ice cream and whatever fuel she would consume.

Heidelberg Castle was also a really good stop for her because it was almost like a park and she could just run around and play. Kids really do need to play. It's as important to remember as feeding them or letting them sleep.

After touring and learning about the castle we spent some time enjoying the views of Heidelberg from the gardens. The entire castle is up on a hill and looks down over the valley.

On the way out we bought a piece of art from a local artist. Samantha wanted to buy it so she paid him...like a big girl.

I kind of enjoyed Heidelberg Castle. It was really hard to find - we ended up getting lucky and parking in someones yard I think, but our car was still there when we came back. I would check it out of you're in Western Germany.