Day 5 - In the Ghetto

We spent Mon. morn lazily hanging out with Gerald, who had, by reason of foul weather, graced us with his presence. Jane made us an awesome omelet out of our raclette leftovers. G allowed us to lie down on each side of him and love him bald. We made a G sandwich and he ate it up.

While he was sleeping we sneaked out to the grocery to pick up provisions for Heidelberg, including more chocolate for our ongoing scientific experiments. We were surprised to see him still there when we returned, and our departure was delayed for more kitten mojo.

We finally left for Heidelberg around 4:30 and it was pouring. The traffic wasn’t horrible – at least there were no big tie ups or anything, and we rolled into Heidelberg around 6:30. Just before we came into Heidelberg, the skies cleared and were a gorgeous blue. Jane’s dump (as she calls it) is high up on a very steep hill. She wants to get out of here before she has to worry about driving up in the snow. We drove through Heidelberg to get to the apt., along the Neckar river. We could see the castle ruins all lit up on the side of the Huckleberry Mountain (it’s said that’s why Mark Twain came here.) And they WERE ruint when we got here.

We drove up and up and up a steep and winding and narrow road to get to Jane's apartment. It was once used as housing for visiting professors (for the University of Heidelberg) which explains its dorm-like atmosphere.

So…who put the dump in “Jane’s dump?” Not Jane. The thing about it is that it is exactly like a college dorm. It even SMELLS like a dorm. As Jane says, “If you were 20 and this was your first apartment, you’d probably be thrilled. But when you are 49.9999 years old…” It’s pretty dismal. She has one room. Not one bedroom, one room. Her bed is clearly a dorm bed. The landlord brought me up a rollaway bed, and I think it was the same one “Cousin Ernie” used when he came to visit “Cousin Lucy” and “Cousin Ricky” in New York. It would have been more comfortable if I used it the way he did, still folded up. We weren’t in bed 10 minutes before I had the mattress off and on the floor. You can see more of Jane's Ghetto by looking at my entry titled, "Living in a Hell Hole."

Anyway, after we dumped our stuff in her dump, we decided to take the footpath down to the main street that runs along the river and get a bus into Heidelberg. Of course, by this time it had started pouring again. The road up to Jane’s apartment is very steep, and the footpath is a shortcut, so you can just imagine how steep it is. It was actually a little scary going down in the rain because you kept gaining momentum. I was afraid I was going to slip on one of the “naked snails” (slugs) on the path. They were as big as cigars. By the time we made it to the bus stop, my pants were soaked with the water that had dripped off of my raincoat.

We caught the bus and took it to Bismarkplatz (mom – it’s right by WOOLWORTH’S!) and then took another bus to the train station in hopes of getting me a Heidelberg Card which would let me take public transportation and get into a lot of things free or at a reduced price. Unfortunately, the tourist info office was closed. We took another bus back to the Bismarkplatz and took a stroll down the main pedestrian-only shopping street (the Hauptstrasse). It was after 8 pm, so all the stores were closed. We were starving, of course, and finally chose a pretty restaurant with a menu of mostly German food. The name of the restaurant is Perkeo, and there was a picture of a little short guy dressed in 17th century garb on the sign. We had good local pilsners and Jane had a Thai salad. I had the turkey schnitzel in paprika sauce with a great salad and mediocre fries. Later on during my visit, I was to learn MUCH about Perkeo, the "little short guy," and you can see other images of him in this blog (check the label "Perkeo.") His image was in the castle, and also in the Student Prison.

We walked down to the river to catch the bus back to the Gulag, and when we got on (it was very crowded, nowhere to sit) the driver wouldn’t take our money. Jane’s stop is only 4 stops down, and when we got off, Jane gave him a chocolate. He was very surprised and grateful! Wow! We’re keeping our pockets loaded with Ritter Sport from now on.

The climb back up the footpath, even though it was raining, was BRUTAL. I was dying. But we did finally make it, got to the apt., jumped into our jim-jams and watched an episode of Family Guy before lights out.

Day 13 - Crime Pays

My first ride as a criminal – got on the bus, pretended to be bored and didn’t pay. No one blinked an eye. In the 2 weeks I’ve been riding the bus, I have NEVER seen anyone pay, except me.

Went to Mike’s hotel and up to his room, no answer. (I was about 10 minutes early.) Back down to the street, waited 10 minutes and walked the two flights back up to his room. Still no answer. Getting antsy! Finally he came down the street – he had been on a mission to find a new mouse and an Allen wrench. Mike brought along a banana and a pear, and we ate as we walked up the Kornmarkt.

We got tickets for the funicular, which goes to the top of the second highest peak in the area. We were accompanied by a lovely girl from Chicago who works for the Jim Beam company. She said that tequila is going to be the next big thing in Europe.

The first part of the funicular ride takes you to the Schloss (castle). The second part takes you to the site of a second (and no longer visible) castle, which was subsequently the home of a goat farm which promulgated a “whey cure” for anemia. At this point, you change trains and get on the really old funicular (the wooden cars date to the 1900s and go up a 42% grade to the tippy top, called the Konigstuhl. Literally it means the King’s Throne, but Jane & I called it the King’s Stool Sample. I got some good photos of the Funicular trains, including the old-style phone in one of them. When you get to the blog entry about me climbing to the top of the Holy Spirit cathedral, you will see pictures I took from there of the funicular tracks. Then you can really see how steep it is.

The view was spectacular. I’m quite sure you could see all the way to Mannheim and we could see a mountain range in the far distance. Unfortunately, it was pretty overcast.

We walked over to a lovely old restaurant (the Aussichtsrestaurant) and had lunch in a large room with a fabulous view. We were the only ones in the room. I had a terrific bowl of goulash, and Mike had a salad with grilled turkey. We both had good beer. I noticed they were prepared for anything, there was a high chair AND a dog dish.

We left there and while waiting for the funicular to take us down, we saw, in a small meadow below the lookout, a guy with an enormous blue and white pack. We thought he might be a hiker. Before the funicular came, we toured a small museum about the history of the funicular, along with other items related to transportation, among them a hat from an Atlantic City Transportation Dept. employee.

We took the funicular back down to the castle and got our tickets. When we got inside, I wanted to see an exhibit of German Romanticism, but you had to have a ticket for a guided tour to do that. Mike and I had tickets which could be exchanged for tour tickets, but we had decided to blow off any guided tour and go around ourselves.

The guard talked us into getting guided tour tickets and joining the English tour which had just started. We did, and we ended up really glad we did. The guide was terrific, and we got to see parts of the castle you would never see otherwise. He knew all the legends and myths and made the history very interesting. After the tour, Mike got the guide's card. He's a former history professor from the University of Heidelberg. I had noticed (and taken a picture of) a portrait in the castle, which looked to me just like Henry VIII, and I've been on a tear reading about the Tudors so I was intrigued. The prof agreed with me about the resemblance, but it was a different Henry, Otto Henry, Prince Elector Ottheinrich (1556-1559) who began the transition of the castle into a splendid Renaissance building by commissioning the Ottheinrich Palace.

We learned that the gardens, which were never finished because of DUH, WAR, were expected to be the 8th wonder of the world. There was a replica of what the gardens were to have looked like. The replicas of the castle before it was ruined was also interesting. The castle has been ruined through both war and then, ultimately, because of fires caused by lightning. The "Blown Up Tower" which is the subject of many works of art because of its eerie beauty, was damaged by King Louis XIV. There is a picture of it here with me standing in front.

The castle is fascinating – it has so many different architectural periods represented.

Inside there were beautiful tiled stoves, one with feet which looked like lions. There was a chapel with the most beautiful altar. It looked just like marble, but was just faux-painted wood!
While we were in the castle grounds, we looked up and saw the “hiker” we had seen – he was paragliding from the top of the mountain.

On the outside of the castle we saw one of the first toilets - basically an alcove jutting out from the side of the castle, from which the "product" would just drop onto the ground. Must have been nice grounds. I bet the flowers were healthy, even if they didn't smell so great. There was also a tower used for keeping prisoners. It was known as the "Never Empty Tower" because there were always "guests" in it. On the side of the castle ruin, I saw a bromeliad growing! I was surprised at that. Bromeliads are part of the orchid family.

Another interesting aspect of the castle is the "Elizabeth Gate." It was built for the birthday of Princess Elizabeth. It was to be a surprise for her, to view upon awakening in her rooms. So it went up very quickly overnight. Unfortunately, the builders put the beautiful side of the facade facing in the wrong direction, and put the symbolic keyhole upside down.

About Perkeo - I already said that Jane and I ate, our first night in Heidelberg, in a restaurant called "Perkeo," which had a picture of a funny-looking short guy on it. Inside the castle was a portrait of Perkeo, and the guide told us the story. Perkeo was an Italian dwarf who worked as a court jester during the reign of . He was renown for his ability to drink even full-sized men under the table. Legend has it that whenever anyone asked him if he'd like a drink, he's answer, "perché non?" ("Why not?") which the locals twisted into "Perkeo," and by which name he henceforth became known. Legend also has it that he died when someone gave him a drink and when he knocked it back and discovered it was water, he cause him to croak. He is now sort of a Heidelberg mascot, and you see his likeness fairly often.

Inside the castle is the Great Tun, which is a wine barrel which holds gallons of beer. There is a statue of Perkeo there. I left a bookcrossing book by the Tun, and someone actually found it and journaled it!

The facade of the castle has many interesting carvings, including 2 lions which reminded me of the Cowardly lion. See if one of the ones shown here doesn't make you here Burt Lahr saying tearfully, "You didn't have to hit me, didja?" After the tour, we sat in an outside café inside the castle walls and had beer and apfelschorle. Then we headed across to finally see the Romanticism exhibit. It was just wonderful, with paintings of the castle which were done during this period, as well as the result of the artists making the castle a popular destination for tourists. The Romantic Period artists found the ruins the perfect subject, as it juxtaposed a beautiful natural surrounding with the ruins of something man-made. What is made by God continues forever, while man, and what he makes, does not. You can still see why they found it so fascinating.

Upon completion of the tour, you go right into the German Pharmacy Museum. When I read about this beforehand, it sounded pretty boring, but it wasn't. One thing that struck me was the use of a word I'd never seen before, "medicament." It was used instead of medicine. Since then I've noticed it used in a British book I was reading.

We went to an internet café for a bit, and when I finished earlier than Mike, I took a stroll down the Hauptstrasse, picked up a few gifts, and then went to the Palantinate Museum. It contained the reconstructed rooms of the palace portions of the castle, many beautiful paintings and porcelain. We saw another cool picture of Perkeo. Mike met me there but we had a only a short time left before we had to meet Jane. While we were waiting, we took note of 2 things: a sign with three S's in a row (the first we'd seen) and a drink cooler with NO BEER in it (also a first.)

We booked down to the Bismarckplatz and around the corner to meet Jane, jumped in her car and headed to a pizza place near her dump for dinner. It turned out to be a pizza take-out. So we walked to where there was supposed to be another restaurant, but it was gone and a bakery was in its place. Jane asked the stunningly beautiful woman behind the counter if she knew a good place to eat, and she very animatedly told us about a place in Neckarsteinach, across the river and down a little bit. She even gave us a card for the restaurant.

It was an absolutely gorgeous evening, the sun still shining brightly (it doesn’t get dark until very late here) and we were just zooming along with the top down when we saw a fantastic castle ruin! We pulled over for a photo op, and a short distance later, there was another one! And this one you could clearly climb up to, so we did. It was the Hinterberg ruin. We climbed all the way to the top of the tower, from which we could see our first castle ruin to the right (I later learned that it's called "The Swallow's Nest"), a second castle to the left, yet another farther down on the left, and a tiny village on the tippy top of the mountain directly in front of us on the other side of the river. (I learn more about that when we go on our boat trip.) That village too looked like it might have a castle on it! We could look down onto the Neckar river and see the Rhineships. As we looked over at the Swallow's Nest, we saw a balloon rising over the mountain. ccording to the signs, there was a trail that took you to all the castles. But we had a dinner to eat, and we could see the restaurant from the ruin.

The restaurant was called “Schiff,” and it was right on the water, a very old restaurant that had been in the same family for ages. It was beautiful, with the exception of a hideous light fixture made up of wire and what looked like dirty sheets. When the waiter brought our drinks, we told him that the restaurant had been highly recommended to us by the woman at the bakery. He knew who we were talking about, and at that very moment, in she walked! It was obviously a lot of fun for her to find us there, and we were delighted as well.

The food was fantastic – Jane had rosti with cream sauce, broccoli and roasted potatoes, Mike had a salad with grilled turkey and I had trout with almonds.

We dropped Mike off, and Jane and I came back and watched some more City Slickers.