Driving in Germany was not so bad, as most drivers are quite courteous and follow the rules quite well. One rule in particular that is taken very seriously is that in Germany you can only pass on the inside lanes (which is the left, since in Germany they drive on the right), which I found to be completely logical as it prevents people from weaving in traffic at high speeds on the unrestricted autobahns. I found that while traffic did move significantly faster on the autobahn to freeways back home, it seemed much safer as the movement of cars was usually very predictable, and the quality of the road surface seemed much nicer.
Site-seeing in Heidelberg
The drive to Heidelberg took around 1 hour and 20 minutes, although I had to stop to recharge the car which added another 30 minutes to the journey. When I arrived in Heidelberg, I parked near the Altstadt (old town) and walked around for a bit, admiring the extensive interesting buildings. I walked up the pedestrian-only street until I reached the old Heidelberg Bridge, which looked very scenic.
From there I crossed the bridge to the other side taking many photos back at the city, and also the castle that was on the hill behind the city. I climbed up the walkway that had high brick fences on either side. At the top, I had quite a nice view of the city where I took some great photos of the old town.
After heading back down from my short hike, I walked around the town some more to photograph the cathedrals before heading over to the Schloss castle.
Schloss Castle
The castle was scenically well positioned in the city on the hill just above the old town. It is quite stunning up there. Heading up to the castle was quite a steep walk, although the houses surrounding it were nothing short of magical, like the views once I reached the castle. The castle had a lot to do inside, but since it was already getting late in the day I decided to try quickly to see as much as I could. I started by going into one of the side areas which housed the largest wine barrel in the world, upon Boyd’s recommendation, which I can confirm, is extremely big – almost four times my height in diameter. Next, I quickly walked through the old museum on the other side which featured many old artifacts used in the pharmaceutical business. After which, I explored the inside of the castle a little before exiting through the back exit.
After heading back down to my rental car, I drove back to Frankfurt ending off the day.
