Wednesday 10th July

Ches had already seen Heidelberg on a previous trip when
we attended the Frankfurt Book Fair. She decided to have a quiet day on board while I went to Heidelberg. This town has a population of 139,000 people of which 28,000 are university students (Law and Medicine are the biggest schools) and 20,000 are Americans (military personnel
and their families)

We started out at the Castle. This was or is as much a palace as a castle. We began by walking around the outside which is largely in ruins. I don’t know if it was ever attacked and that’s the cause of the ruins or if the foundations just weren’t stable enough. Half of a massive tower on the rear of the castle has collapsed in one piece. I’ll attach a photo. I don’t remember ever seeing a ruin where a curved section of a tower has broken away from the main structure without disintegrating into a pile of rubble. Now I remember, I went to Wikipedia and it reminded me that it was hit by lightning twice and they decided to abandon the rebuilding. I copied the entry here:

Heidelberg Castle (in German: Heidelberger Schloss) is a famous ruin in Germany and andmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. It is served by an intermediate station on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway that runs from Heidelberg's Kornmarkt to the summit of the Königstuhl.The earliest castle structure was built before AD 1214 and later expanded into 2 castles circa 1294; however, in 1537, a lightning-bolt destroyed the upper castle. The present structures had been expanded by 1650, before damage by later wars and fires. In 1764, another
lightning-bolt destroyed some rebuilt sections.

Probably the highlight for me was seeing a stand full of children watching a musical production by actors in royal court costumes performing in an outdoor theatre built into the ruins above the moat. Apart from going into the cellars where there is a wine barrel with a capacity to hold thousands of litres of wine (it’s about 6m Diameter and 10m long with a flat top on which 14 couples could dance). Why they would want to is not the point. Initially I considered it a gimmick however after tour guides in every town we visit repeat the same story about water being so contaminated in the middle ages that they drank wine (2%-3% alcohol) rather than water I figure that this
was the drinking reservoir for the entire population of the castle and there would have been thousands of them.

Here’s a question for Bill & Lee. At what alcohol % does it become grape juice
rather than wine.

The guide was really informative, however when I couldn’t understand how Queen Elizabeth could have inspired the Elizabeth Gate and I started to confuse my English royal family with the German royal family, I was about to give up when a much more enlightened tourist advised that
she was Elizabeth Stuart. Ahhhhhhhhh!

Down in the medieval heart of the town, we were taken on a walking tour of the main sites, one of the highlights being a chocolate shop Café Knosel, established in the 1863, home of the Studentkiss (nougat & chocolate centre with a waffle base and covered in dark chocolate). An enlightened University, Heidelberg admitted female students (accompanied at all time by
governesses) and the only way the male students could introduce themselves was
by presenting them with a Studentenkuss.

Another was the oldest hotel in town the Hotel Ritter which you can see is lavishly decorated and a tavern that was the scene of The Student Prince.

I didn’t get to try the local specialty while in town, however it was on the menu on board the boat
(I say “boat” and everyone else says “ship”). This is Maultaschen or “Little Cheaters of God”. These are like a giant ravioli, and they originated as a dish to be served during Lent. Denied meat until Easter, they figured that if they encased the meat inside the dough, it wouldn’t be seen by God. They were fantastic!
Pasta Recipe
3 eggs
pinch of salt
for each egg, half an eggshell of water
360-400g wheat flour
Mix eggs with salt and water. Sift flour into a bowl and make a well in the middle.
Break the eggs into it and blend all the ingredients together. Take out of the
bowl and then knead the dough on a board until air pockets can be seen when the
dough is cut. You can knead by hand or with a mixer.Dependingon the flour, if the dough is too thick add a little water or an egg white. The dough shouldn't be too soft. Form a ball and place on a board. Cover with a cloth and leave to rest.

Now you can prepare the filling.
400g fresh spinach
saltwater
20g diced bacon
20g butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3-4 stale rolls, crusts removed
150g ham or cold meat, diced
250g ground meat (pork or beef)
2-3 eggs
a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg
boiling saltwater or meat broth

Clean the spinach well, wash and blanch it briefly in boiling saltwater. Rinse with
cold water, let it drain and chop coarsley. Braise the bacon in butter for a
couple of minutes, add the chopped onion and spinach and braise for a couple
more minutes. Soak the stale rolls in water until soft. Squeeze out the excess
water and chop the rolls into pieces.In a large bowl mix the above prepared ingredients with ham and ground meat. Add the eggs and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.On a floured surface roll out the noodle dough into rectangular sheets (about twice as wide as you want your Maultaschen to be). Use a tablespoon of filling at equally spaced 3 inch intervals all down the middle of one side of the sheet of dough. Fold the plain half of the sheet of dough over to cover the filling and press firmly on the spaces around the pockets of filling. Use a pastry wheel or cookie cutter to
cut into 3 inch squares.Put them into boiling saltwater or meat broth and let simmer (not boil)
for 10-15 minutes depending on the size.They can be served in broth with toasted bread crumbs and parsley or with onion rings. As I say, I didn’t have them in Heidelberg.

Once the official guided tour ended, we were free to wander the town till the bus was to depart at 3.30. Ian and Gabby (from Geelong) settled down at an outside restaurant table and had a beer.
I headed down the main street which is around 1 mile of half-timbered and stone buildings from the 14th-17th century. Heidelberg was never bombed during the war. The Americans dropped leaflets
instead advising the residents that they wouldn’t bomb as they planned on occupying it at the end of the war. 20,000 Americans are still based there.

The more I walked the more conscious I became that I hadn’t seen a sign for a WC. Public WC's reuire a constant supply of 50c piecesin France and Germany and I'm usually dependant on Ches to seeek them out. That made me more anxious. That made me need one. Finally at the end of the mile I entered a bakery cafe and used theirs figuring if confronted I would buy a filled bread roll for lunch.

I wasn’t forced to make a choice and having seen a popular sandwich shop a little way
back up the street, I bought a roll there. I lugged it back up the street with the temperature climbing into the high 20’s. Some distance up, I entered a menswear shop and bought a pair of shorts. I was wearing trousers which wasn’t the smartest thing to do on an all day excursion.

I finally made it back to the main square where Ian & Gabby were having a bottle of wine opened to accompany a meal. I headed down to the river and the bridge across to the other side where the path lead up the hillside to the Philosophers Walk.

I sat next to the famous monkey beside the entrance to the bridge. The monkey is a life size bronze and with a hollow head. The idea is that you stand in front, dip down and insert your head into the hollow head so your face appears and your friends humiliate you by taking photographs. The two German women who approached him and reached behind to fondle him with no sign of embarrassment almost put me off my bread roll. I ran into Roger and Kim (Brisbane) and advised them that I planned on climbing the path to the Philosophers Walk. Kim glanced at it and they declined an offer to join me.

Off I set. Across the bridge and up a wall enclosed cobble stone path I went. And I went. And I puffed and sweated. After 300m or so, with no sound of anyone approaching from either direction, I laid out my new shorts, took off my shoes and quickly dropped dacks and climbed into the shorts. As I put on my first shoe, people appeared from both directions. It’s all in the timeing. Onwards and upwards I went, stopping at all three viewing platforms to photograph the town across the river as well as the castle towering over it. On reaching the top, I philosophised about death by climbing. While I enjoyed the experience, many of the photographs were disappointing
as the heat haze over Heidelberg washed them out.

Back across the bridge I ran into Roger & Kim again. I offered them a look at the
photograph for a beer or two beers for the videos. I returned to the main square via Café Knosel where I bought Ches a Studentenkuss. There Ian & Gabby were paying their bill. For three hours I had walked the length and breadth of Heidelberg, they hadn’t moved.

I had 20 minutes before we were due to leave so I sat outside and ordered a Pils. I love
Pils. The waitress wasn’t exactly helpful when I suggested that two of them were flavoured (Kirsh & Banana). I was correct. I asked if the third was just a normal wheat beer. She said it was. I ordered it and then waited for 10 minutes for her to deliver it. This left me around
8 minutes to drink a large sweet Pils. I don’t know what fruit it was but it’s no way to treat a Pils.

Back on board with Ches, I figured I had earned the right to have all four courses for dinner.