I have had my first big outing into the surrounding area of the Odenwald with a trip down to Heidelberg on the last weekend. Bettina and I took the train down there on Saturday.
I guess the first point of interest is the train system itself. Talk about typical German efficiency and technology. When I compare it to the trains to Sydney from the Blue Mountains it makes you feel like you have stepped into a sci-fi film.
There are four main classes of passenger trains which zoom around the place. The R.B. (Regional Bahn) , are the local ones and they use carriages that are very similar to the double decker N.S.W. suburban trains and tend to operate around the city lines and possibly to the next nearest town or two. The next quantum leap forward is the I.R. (Inter-Reggio) or inter–regional. This is the type that we caught to Heidelberg. Next is the E.C. (Euro-City) which tend to travel the long distance routes through Germany or across the border into neighbouring countries. The top class is the I.C.E (Inter City Express) which are the ultra high speed express lines.
All tickets are charged for on a per kilometre basis with different levels of increase for each of the different types of service. The faster the train the more expensive the ticket. Berlin is about 4.5 hours away by the high speed expreess and can cost in peak periods around $800 return. If you were to go by the the I.R. and take maybe 50% longer the same journey can be done for around $130. The I.R.´s still sprint along at about 140kph but it seems pretty slow compared to the 260kph of the I.C.E.´s. Even if it is only a short stage I guess I had better take the fast one at some point just to try it out. Bettina´s annual rail ticket for her daily travel to Stuttgart is an I.C.E. one so we can travel on that for free on Saturdays only with up to five people. Mind you at $5,000 a year you would want to get something back. My Westpac handycard almost needed to have the cardiac paddles when I heard that one.
The trip to Heidelberg only took 35 min but wowee are these trains cool. Smoking and non-smoking compartments, really comfortable seats with wrap around head supports, ultra modern interiors and the the level of noise is so low that it is hard to believe that you are even on a train. They all have buffet cars and because each carriage is split up into a dozen compartments you never get the sense of being over-crowded. The really astonishing thing are the platform clocks which show remaining time to the next train on each platform. When that clock hits zero the train is just grinding to a halt in front of you and it is at the time shown on your timetable not 5 or 10 min either side. Mind blowing....a train system that runs on time...well get down !
We arrived in Heidelberg at around lunch time and caught the bus from the station to the city centre. They were having thier annual Autumn festival street carnival and the Haupstrasse (main street) through the city centre was just heaving with thousands of people, food and market stalls, busking musos and live bands on 4 or 5 sound stages up and down the 3 kilometre length. They had a little bit of everything and the array of musicians was truly fabulous from South American pan pipe troupes to self styled hip hop and house D.J.s sampling and mixing the sound from the desk to a small amp on the side. Street pantomine and Marcel Marceau type mime acts along with the endless array of different beer and wine tents. Biggggg party party.
We spent a few hours wending our way through the flotsam jetsam of humanity and pausing to take in some of the performances. As we reached the top end of the town we turned off to head up the hill to where the Heidelberg Schloss (castle) is located.
The small walk ways weave themselves between the really old houses and up some 327 steps to the castle entrance. The views from the battlements out over old Heildelberg and the Neckar River were simply breath taking. Picture postcard come fairytale.
The castle itself was started by the then Prince Elector Ruprecht III in 1398 and was 220 years in the making as successive rulers added different buildings. It was partially destroyed in the 30 year war in the early 16th C, rebuilt, sacked and destroyed again by the French in the late 16th C and rebuilt yet again.By the latter part of the 17th C locals had started to misuse the outerwalls as a free quarry and used a lot of the stones to build thier houses on the lower slopes and through what is now the old quarter of the city. Luckily in the early part of the 18th C, Count Charles de Graimberg stopped this practice and did all that he could to preserve what remained. Thank god for people with a bit of foresight. What does remain is truly exquisite and the statues, gargoyles and edifice sculpting are more or less all in tact.The gardens within the grounds are massive and are refered to as ``Hortus Palatinus``. (plants of the palace I guess). Designed by Salomon de Caus, who was very famous in his time, the gardens were refered to by contempories as the eighth wonder of the world. More than enough room to throw a boomerang around. As Heidelberg is one of the worlds most famous medical universities they have an Apothecary Museum located inside. Really very interesting as it shows the whole history of the pharmacy profession over the past 1000 years.
One of the castle areas that held vast interest for me was the wine making vaults. They have the largest oak wine casks in Europe that were built on site. The larger of the two main casks holds 221,000 litres and is about 20 metres across the front and some 35 metres long. The other one is about two thirds this size but still awe inspiring. Serious stuff. Talk about totally impressed. I was gob smacked. Gives one some inkling of things to put on the Christmas wish list along with the arabian nights costume. I don’t even think Santa could squash this one on his sleigh. All told it was a wonderful day out and it really gave me that long sought feeling that I am finally in amongst it all. Bring on the rest of Europe......yeeehah !
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