Hotel Holiday Inn Heidelberg

... now cold, windy and rainy...I am sorry for my friends who are now working.<br><br> Here starts the Brazil trip! <br> <br> PLEASE THIS IS A PRIVATE TRAVELBLOG, DO NOT DISTRIBUTE THIS ADRESS TO OTHER <br> PEOPLE!<br><br> <br><br><br><br>

Without an official job offer, I took advantage of my free time and joined Jon at his conference in Heidelberg. As it turns out, the official job offer was coming, but that comes later . . . In the mean time, I got to explore while Jon had to sit and listen. Lucky me! <br><br>We've become big fans of the day passes for trains and busses. For one, you can travel around and cut out a bit of walking. But really, it's ...

So today we are departing Heidelberg. Last night we had our last Heidelberg beer at the Roten Oksen (The Red Ox), which in its day was Mark Twain's favorite bar. I always marvel that places like that survive the centuries- in America, we'd have knocked it down decades ago, put up a condo, and named it The Mark Twain in memoriam.<br><br>I liked Heidelberg- it's hard not to, with its stunning castle ruins hanging ...

sorry it has been so long since we have been on and updated. Payton is doing GREAT. had an unhealthy 2 weeks but all better. She had thrush which is so hard to get rid of, then another cold and ear aches. but she is all better. she weighs about 16 to 17 lbs now and is about 23 1/2 to 24 inches long. she is really starting to coo now and its so cute. she is trying to sit up on her own. we almost have a sleep pattern down :) which im super excited abou

... there you go.<br><br>Tuesday morning we left the Romantic Road, and drove onto the Castle Road ("Burgenstrasse" in German). This road is fairly LITTERED with castles. There are SO MANY CASTLES during the course of a 75-mile drive that only 1 guidebook I could find even bothered to mention more than one, and that book was the only one that even mentioned the Burgenstrasse. It's such an embarrassment of riches out in rural Germany. We drove westbound from Rothenburg (Bavaria ...

... in other German towns - small, narrow with lots of shops and pubs. Went into one gummy bear store and ate roughly a pound each Gew. Then we went to the old bar in town. My dad had visited this bar 30-some years ago and told me all about it. They still have the same tables and chairs. They are about to fall apart from all the cravings in them. I looked briefly for Dad's name on the tables but not luck. Great place with ...

... Unfortunately the same could not be said of the connecting train to Munich! This was a less than pleasant three hour journey in a cramped and stuffy carriage. We were just about still breathing when we pulled into Munich station, where we set off in search of our hostel for the night. This turned out to be our first experience of a fourteen bed dorm room... It was an interesting experience, so interesting we dumped our bags and walked ...

... to myself, and yes, even the AFN network, was enough to keep me idle.) Like I said, I didn't do too much. The highlight was probably a trip to the base and the commissary. It's like an American grocery store! (That is the point, after all.) Big and stocked and cheap! But probably the most exciting part was the DIET coke. That's right, DIET, not ...

... We then traveled across to the northwest to Speyer- This has another interesting church with a 19th century facade ...

... Heidelberg's castle ruins have been famous for centuries as romantic ruins, so they've not been fully restored. Yet this is one of the most evocative castles you might visit in Europe. Inside is a wonderful Pharmacy museum, as well as the world's largest wine barrel (a vat having a capacity of 195,000 liters or approx. 51,514 gallons.)