Germany Part 3 (Heidelberg)

After we left Tubingen, we headed to Heidelberg to visit Christoph's sister, Katharina, and her family.  Christoph was feeling better so we were able to end our trip on a high note.  We had a fun five days in Heidelberg!  As an added bonus, my parents also met up with us in Heidelberg and we had fun spending time with them!

 

When we got to Heidelberg, we all headed to the park across the river.  Amelia rode Jake's bike to the park.

 

 

Christoph and Lydia at the park.

 

The next day we headed over to the castle to check that out.

 

 

Nana and Papa with Christoph and the girls at the castle.

 

 

My dad, Christoph and I did the "philosopher's way" which is a walk up on the side of the hill across the river from Heidelberg.  There are beautiful views of the city from the walk. 

 

a view of the Heidelberg castle

 

This is the main church in the old town in Heidelberg (with the tower).  On the last night of our trip, Katharina and David (David knows the rector of the church and he hooked us up with the keys for a private tour) took me and Christoph and my parents up to the top of the tower at night.  It was amazing!!  Probably the highlight of my trip.  The views at night were incredible and it was just so cool. 

 

Here is Christoph coming out of the stairwell at the top of the tower.

 

The view of the castle from the top of the tower.

 

After we left the church, we went to an old (one of the oldest in Heidelberg) pub for beer.  It was a fun night (the kids were asleep in Katharina and David's house with a babysitter).

 

The rest of the pictures are just some random pictures from our week there...

 

Amelia got to go to Kindergarten with Jake and Zoe one morning.

 

One afternoon, Katharina kept the kids and Christoph and I were able to take a bike ride to a neighboring town.

 

 

Playing with cousins

 

Preparing for our bike ride to Schwetzingen.  We had five adults and four kids on this all day trip.  It was fun!  The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we had fun on the bike and checking out the palace gardens in Schwetzingen.

 

The crew

 

Once we got to Schwetzingen, the jackets came off and we enjoyed a nice lunch outside.

 

 

 

The family in the palace garden

 

 

In the palace gardens

 

beautiful tree lined path in the gardens

 

An ice cream break before we rode home

 

I had to include this picture because Amelia loved this ride at the park.  It went up and down and around and around.  We loved the parks in Germany.  They have some really cool play equipment and lots of natural areas.

 

Despite Christoph's illness, we had a fun trip to Germany and we are looking forward to our next trip (probably in a couple of years...I still have to recover from the 10 hour plane trip home in which neither child slept.  Ah!!)  We miss our German family and friends and can't wait to see you all again soon!