Schloss (Castle) Heidelberg

So, I know the girls posted about this, but they didn't say much about the vastness of the grounds and how awe-some this castle is. So, if you're not interested in seeing some extra pictures from this place, skip this post. But if you are, then carry on. :)

This was the first site we visited while here in Germany. It's so close by that we thought it would be good to do while we were all still getting used to the jet lag.

We couldn't go up inside cuz most of it is blocked off. But that's okay. From what we saw it was beautiful and marvelous. Hope you like our pictures...

Xoe, the Explorer

The grounds from above

Brian and I came to this castle when I visited last time, and both times I've loved it...and I would go back again. As you'll see, the grounds are beautiful. It's nothing like how it used to be (there's a painting showing where the gardens and mazes would have been), but it's still serene and awe-inspiring. I'm seriously considering taking the girls for a picnic on the lawns.

Ya, you saw this picture on her blog, but I thought you'd enjoy it again and where it was taken.

What I didn't get pictures of were the multiple staircases and cobblestone ramps leading all the way down the hill to the city. It was fun for us to role play different scenarios during battles, like where the guys would shoot their arrows out the slits, or the secret staircase a princess would have to hurry up if the enemy was coming.

Most of it was destroyed y major lightning bolts over a few hundred years and also becuase of fires and wars before the 1800's. Ironically, though, the castle remained untouched and was not bombed during the Second World War. They've left a lot of the damage in tact which has made for a pretty cool scene.

After the castle was bombed the side of the tower slid down the side.

The interesting thing about this castle is that no one really knows when it was built. The first year the town of Heidelberg was written about was the year 1190 and the first time the mention of a castle there was in 1214, so it's been around quite a long time.

This is how it was believed to have looked like originally.

The inside of the tower...I posted it because you can see an old set of stairs inside the middle window.

A Bath House

The entrance to the castle. I heard a tour guide talking that the empty spot in the middle is where the silver decorated crest had been stolen.

Look up at the top. These are the spikes for the draw bridge at the entrance to the castle. It's like it was straight from the movies. Way cool.

Straight down one of the towers. Kinda scary for me who is afraid of heights.

A hidden staircase.

A side view of one of the non-working sides.

Inside the courtyard...

Walkway down to the cellar and the "Great Barrels"

Yup, they kept beer in this thing in the 1300's thru the 1700's.

An old mill grinder to grind the barley and wheat to make beer.

An old tap.

The biggest barrel in the castle. It even survived many of the wars.

Climbing the stairs up on top of the "Great Barrel"

Basically, this is all Spencer did the whole time.

The view of the city from the front balcony.

Climbing the walkway from the town.

The view walking back from the castle. Isn't that beautiful?