October 18 - Heidelberg

We had breakfast this morning the Millie and Jose.  They are a couple of Australians, of Chinese descent who emigrated from Singapore after the second world war.  They remember the Japanese occupation as small children.  

This morning we docked in the city of Mannheim.  Mannheim is an industrial city and you can tell that it sustained heavy damage during the second world war.  Their are too many historical buildings left standing, other the royal palace.  Mannheim is most famous for the Benz family who developed the first car in Europe.  Their company later merger with Mercedes to form the familiar Mercedes Benz.

We then boarded a bus and went to Heidelberg.  Heidelberg has the oldest university in Germany.  On top of hill, that commands a “spectacular” view of the city,  is the palace used by the “prince electorate”  who were the  German nobility tasked with electing the ruler of their country.  Our guide was able to tell us the history of palace with humours stories.  She put on an outstanding performance that left us all in stitches.  For example to gather the group together she would let out this loud yodel.  As she explained it the palace was developed by each subsequent prince to meet the demands of the women in their lives.  One changed the moat into a garden and another built a wing on the palace to accommodate the 400+ mistresses he had.

In the afternoon we went shopping.  All the small stores seem to be getting ready for their famous European Christmas markets.  The stores are packed with Christmas decorations of every description.  I suspect with their Christmas lights on at each store, it would be magical.

We had some hot chocolate from a store which had 75 vanities of hot chocolate.  The hot chocolate mix came as a block of chocolate on a wooden spoon with additional flavours mixed on top of the chocolate.  You then got a cup of steamed milk and you dissolved the chocolate mix into your cup. It tasted great.

We had lunch with a pair of Brazilian doctors.  I was very surprised to learn that Brazil goes far enough south that in their mountains they will get frost and snow on a regular basis.  I always thought of Brazil as being tropical.

Pictures of Heidelberg