Our First Full Day in Heidelberg

On our first full day in Heidelberg it seemed a nice idea to familiarize ourselves a bit more with our surroundings, and what better than to explore the south bank of the river and the hills behind. This was really our only day with a mixture of mist and cloud. All other days would be bright sunshine or a mixture of sun and a few clouds. The Philosophers' Walk, Way or Path was a good start because from there we could enjoy the famous expansive view of the Old Town of Heidelberg, the Castle and the King's Chair behind. The Castle and King's Chair would feature on our various trips - walking, biking or sightseeing - in the next days.

Here is our view from the Philosophers' Path on the other side of the River Neckar. We spoke about this view on our "Arrival" page. The River Neckar, the Castle, the Old Bridge, the Old Town and the King's Chair appear together as if in some pre-arranged film set.

Philosophers' Path
= The Path with a View =

In a short time, we had scaled the heights from "Lotte" to the Philosophers' Path. I tried to get everyone into a group picture, but each time someone seems to get left out or gets covered by a railing or suchlike. As we know, a group of Cloggies being photographed is a dynamic entity. Hence you will see four pictures, so that no one feels they got left out!

Here's the first picture!

Now for the second!

Now for the third!

And now everyone who wanted to be in the picture
should have succeeded to the in the picture
- except Ash not quite this time - my apologies!

And now it's time to admire the view!

Bismarck's Column

Now Bismarck, as we mentioned on a previous page, was a well-known 19th century statesman - to whom we can attribute the introduction of pensions! He also seemed to have ensured that he had towers - one each - built and named after him in a number of German towns and cities. The towers came in different shapes and sizes and Heidelberg's one is a squat looking structure; despite its "squatness" it gives a panoramic view over Heidelberg and its surroundings which view, as you might imagine, is higher and arguably even more impressive than that from the Philosophers' Path.

Here are some of us enjoying the said view!

Open-Air Theatre

Even higher up, hidden in the forest, we find - well almost stumble upon - the open-air theatre, a relic from the 30s and 40s. These were of course politically charged times which take their unfortunate place in the history books. As we realized, this theatre was a manifestation of those times. Because of this, it has been a moot point locally as to whether the theatre should be preserved as a kind of memorial. It was decided to keep it, partly because its removal would have cost money, but also because of its historical interest. It has been used for events such as theatrical performances, and indeed, Shakespeare's plays such as "A Midsummer Night's Dream" could benefit by being performed in such impressive surroundings. However, whilst the theatre is used for some artistic and religious events, the past history of the theatre means that such events are limited in number, and their nature is strictly controlled. Of course, the open-air theatre gave us an opportunity to philosophize on politics, the world and everything, which kind of explains the title "philosophizing" to describe our first full day in Heidelberg.

From the top of the theatre we could look south towards Switzerland and see the distant hills lining one side of the Rhine Valley. At the same time, we could make out the stage at the far end of the auditorium, beneath the two flag poles. The misty weather seemed to enhance the scene.

Two Cloggies (in white and red) prepare to scale the heights of the auditorium.

The mist has momentarily cleared.

Back to Town

We were going to visit the ruins of the basilica higher up the hill beyond and to the north of the theatre. This would have been of especial interest to our history devotees. Unfortunately, the basilica (or what was left of it) was closed on Monday. We retraced our steps along some forest trails and regained our Philosophers' Path. Along this we headed westwards to descend to the river and the Old Bridge by some steepish stone steps.

Here is another view from the Philosophers' Path
over Old Heidelberg and the towards the King's Chair.

We have descended the stone steps to the river and the Old Bridge.
Our immediate "task" is to decide where to eat in the evening.
We were, of course, spoilt for choice. So, a bit of a challenge!

Our Evening at Vetter's

We made our way back to "Lotte". After a coffee we then made our way back towards the Old Bridge. We decided on "Vetter's" restaurant which was on the busy street between the Old Bridge and the Church of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, "Vetter's" was virtually next door to the "Hackteufel" restaurant a number of us visited yesterday when we arrived in Heidelberg. Another attraction was that "Vetter's" had its own brewery. Compared to some places, people eat quite early in the evening in Heidelberg. We therefore wanted to find tables reasonably smartly, but we were very happy with our choice - as you see from our pictures!

Here are some of us at Vetter's.

Here we are again ...