Frenchman's Bay, Maine

Frenchman's Bay, Maine

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Sunshine All Around

Twas an absolutely gorgeous day in Heidelberg this afternoon. And fortunately enough, Jeff and I had signed up to walk the grounds of Heidelberg Schloss (castle) with the German-American club. Have a look.
Jeff is the man second from the right, and that's the Schloss in the background. Below, a view from the castle terrace overlooking Heidelberg. One of the prettier cities around, I think. Something about all those red roofs and the Neckar river winding through the heart of town.

A few of the interesting tidbits our guide tossed to us:

* Martin Luther dined at the castle in 1518. Thomas Jefferson visited the castle many years later and measured its giant wine vat, which holds 220,017 liters (58,124 gallons).

* The castle has a series of tunnels running underneath it, which soldiers used to move between different levels.

* Stonemasons who built the castle believed that they breathed life into the stones as they worked on them. Somehow, energy was transferred from people into inanimate rocks, and the wall came "alive." (I'm just quoting our guide!) If a stone was damaged during building, the masons gave it a proper burial.


3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're just trying to make me jealous bragging about the nice weather aren't you?

Anonymous said...

The schloss looks beautiful! You take wonderful pictures!

Beth said...

What terrific photos! Thanks so much - I made that trip myself over 20 years ago and had forgotten how breathtaking the view could be...

You are our own personal tour guide - thanks!