Posts tagged ‘Heidelberg’
Herbst (fall) in Heidelberg
Autumn is a beautiful time of year to visit the city of Heidelberg, Germany, split in two by the Neckar river. Daytime temperatures are still comfortable, even if there’s a slight chill beginning to set in at night. The changing colours of the deciduous trees on both hills — Heiligenberg on the north side and Königstuhl on the south — complement the red-roofed houses and buildings in town, providing extra ‘warmth’ to the captivating location.
Heidelberg can be reached by S-Bahn RheinNeckar in about 15 to 20 minutes, east from Mannheim on the Rhein, and can also be reached in about 50 to 90 minutes, respectively, with Deutsche Bahn’s InterCity or regional trains, south from Frankfurt am Main.
Between 2001 and 2003, I called this town my ‘home’. In many ways, I still do.
East along the Neckar: at left, Heiligenberg hill & Neuenheimer Landstrasse.
East along the Neckar: at right, Königstuhl hill & Altstadt (Old Town).
I made the two photos above on 29 November 2008. This post is originally published on Fotoeins Fotopress (fotoeins.com).
Christmas in July (7 of 14), Heidelberg
Heidelberg, Germany – 9pm CET, 20 December 2010.
Many would claim (and agree!) that the Hauptstrasse in Heidelberg can be very busy, and at many times overrun by tourists. We used to complain that there were just too many tourists on shopping Saturday – that I would be one of those very same tourists after leaving the city in 2003 would become amusing, if not a little appalling.
Another wast-east street is Plöck which runs not only parallel to the Hauptstrasse, but runs almost as long. This is like an open secret among knowing residents and University students, for all who traverse the width of the Altstadt along the much narrower Plöck will find very interesting shops. Behind the Kaufhof department store at Bismarckplatz, I made the following photo at the western end of Plöck (at Sofienstraße).
I had spent a couple of hours on this evening wandering through the city I had once lived between 2001 and 2003. Memories continued to surface as I walked along the Hauptstrasse; near the eastern end is Kornmarkt. Kornmarkt (“Grain Market”) was used as a central point to exchange a variety of agricultural goods. Today, Kornmarkt marks the start of the pedestrian path up to the Heidelberg Castle, and is also the end- or city-terminus of the Bergbahn (Mountain Railway). At the centre of the square stands the Mary statue which was built in 1718 by the Jesuits to try and convince the citizens at the time to convert to Catholicism.
I made the photos above in Heidelberg on 20 December 2010. This post is published originally on Fotoeins Fotopress (fotoeins.com).
Christmas in July (6 of 14), Heidelberg
Heidelberg, Germany – 8pm CET, 20 December 2010.
After a delicious Thai dinner with friends, I spent a couple of hours wandering through the city I had once lived between 2001 and 2003. Memories quickly resurfaced, starting at the western end of the Hauptstrasse at Bismarckplatz. People were leaving shops with their shopping, and some of them were heading briskly to the Christmas markets for one last swig of Glühwein (mulled wine) before closing time at 9pm.
This post is published originally on Fotoeins Fotopress (fotoeins.com).
2010 Christmas Markets in Germany
HL, 1730h GMT – 23 November 2010
A year in between
- First visit to Bloomington, IN; damn, those subs were good.
- The last time in Heidelberg, and hitting the ol’ haunts in the town where I used to live
- One of the last times LX flew SCL-GRU-ZRH (A343), and the quiet EuroCity train rolling and chugging through the snow-covered Alpine meadows between Zürich & München.
- First visits to Granada, and Madrid & Sevilla
- First (and last) visit to a bullfight, opening weekend at Plaza de Toros in Madrid
- The glorious tapas in Madrid, and the different tapas-style in Andalucía
- Two beautiful weeks in Sydney at the beginning of winter in late-June, with copious amounts of Chinese food in Chinatown and EastWoo(d).
- M&M’s wedding in MSP in mid-September : a beautiful ceremony for a great-looking couple on a perfect late-summer day … wasn’t it?
- First visit to the Hanseatic city of Lübeck, and the holiday port of Travemünde on the Baltic coast, where I watched ferries arrive from Sweden.
- Seeing the deutsche Hauptstadt bathed in bright golden autumn-light …
- Another five to PRG, and sussing out all the Velkopopovicky Kozel, Houskové Knedlíky, and hidden cobblestone streets I could possibly find.
- 2008 ways to say goodbye, in order to see 2009 in the City by the Bay …
