Hotel Erna Heidelberg

... one must first ask before ordering. This is an important lesson to learn while traveling in Europe. Another important lesson to learn is that not everyone speaks English, and even if they do, many do not appreciate being spoken to in English without first asking politely if they do indeed know the language. “Kre-DEET-car-ten okay?”, I asked. Even that got a confused look and a visit from the manager. I do know that phrase usually works, by the way. We ...

Well...this time honestly I didn´t have time to make travel list or structure my backpack. After finishing my PhD graduation there was time onyl to celebrations and party (since the last months I rarely had much time).
Heidelberg is ...

... castle could put any stair master to shame and with far superior scenery too. Could have taken the funicular, but that would have been too easy. As with most hoofing walks, the view paid off. The castle looks out over the Neckar river and the town below. With the trees changing color . . . great place to be.

This was a Dad castle if I've ever seen one. Inside are two giant wine barrels that once held ...

Well we didn't really spend much time in Frankenthal. It was really just a stopover since we arrived a day early for my mum to arrive in Frankfurt.

We got to Frankfurt and found a call shop to help us find a hostel/hotel for a good price. Unfortunately there weren’t any in Frankfurt so we made our way to Frankenthal about 30 minutes outside of Frankfurt. One piece of advice…when parking in paid parking areas make sure you pay! Haha…we ...

... is Robb? I worked with him ages ago at Disneyland, but in the ensuing (eek!) 18 years, he's become one of the foremost world experts on...rollercoasters. (check out his site, http://www.ThemeParkReview.com). He had mentioned to me months ago that our travel itinerary goes right by one of Europe's largest theme parks- Holiday Park, I believe it is called. I initially ignored this tidbit, because hey, we're going ...

... thankful that it was late in the day so it wasn't too hot. The view from the top was definitely worth the climb-the fact that the sun was setting just added to the ambiance as well. We could see the whole town with the church steeples and houses, as well as the river with boats going across. Since it was getting late and we didn’t really feel like waiting to eat until we got back to the campervan parked on the other side of town, we decided to ...

... possibly on weekends, they recreated castle life here for show. On this rainy Monday the castle was deserted except for another school group, this time with really young kids. The rain lessened here, but it was windy and cold. Again, perfect atmosphere weather. Also again, the view from this castle is supposed to be really good, but through the fog, we could not see very far. Still, I definitely enjoyed Alsbach Castle. That was our last stop before Heidelberg, but the rest of ...

... they knew that. I decided that I was going to go for 72 hours and headed back to the hostel and chilled out for the rest of the night. The second day was dedicated to relaxation and just enjoying the town. I bought a new book and wanted to get it started. I sat at a cafe, downed 3 cups of coffee and 3 hours later I was well into my book and my people watching. I thought I had occupied that seat for long enough so I thought I would change to the park. I grabbed my stuff ...

... and Monastery way way up in the hills overlooking many of the small towns. The first developments there were in 700AD by the Romans. Saw some very nice tricycles up there also... We made ...