Well, it seems that Don and I ARE..."smarter than the average bear"...
We took the family down to the Alstadt again. If you have not read any other blog, this is the Old Town part of Heidelberg. It truly is a fabulous place. I plan on us visiting this area of town often. There are many many different restaurants and Kneipes (pubs) that we look forward to researching, w/out children in tow.
There are so many streets and little stores to visit, that it is impossible to hit on one visit, especially w/ the kids. Don't get me wrong, they are great, but they have their limits too!
As I said earlier, we were much smarter about our travels this time. Seems like we may be getting a hang of it and b/w the two of us and some help from my German Culture class teacher - Havi - we will save some Euros! I learned how to use the transportation system in Heidelberg last week and that saves us on bus fair! Lots really! Kids were disappointed they didn't get to each punch a ticket...but it certainly didn't hurt my feelings!
OK, for those of you with children, you will understand this... we cannot stop at a place without visiting their restroom! They call them Toilette here... so if I slip into that and just call it a toilet, you know why. You do not ask a German where the restroom is... they will wonder what you need rest from. If you ask one to see their bathroom, and it is in their home, they will take you to the place they take a bath in, and think you are quite strange for asking it. So, when you need to use the toilet, you ask for the toilette! Well, let me tell you, they are NOT free in Europe, unless you are buying something in their establishment. They also call them water closets or WC for short. There are not many free WC, but we try to locate them before we leave. I promise you, it seems we spend 1/3 of our outings in the WC. So... for comic relief, and so my children know how silly they can be...I will often embarrass them in this fashion! :) LOL
We took a trip down to the Hauptbahnhof (train station) (how p t ban hof) to tour it. Don had a quick tour, I had a more intimate w/ Havi - she was a wonderful instructor- so I shared my knowledge and hopefully we will be able to use the train system to travel Europe, with and without kids! :) Well, the children had just used the toilette before we left, about 15 minutes before our arrival...but wouldn't you know it... Evan pipes up. Well, when you have one that has to go... ALL will go...b/c it will not be but 10 minutes after we leave the area and someone else will NEED to go! So 1,50 euro later we are free to continue our tour.
After the tour of the hauptbahnhof we took a Straßenbahn to Bizmarkplatz. Here...again... we decided to go a cheaper route w/ our eating. Feeding 6 mouths in the States can be pricey, but it is much more so here! If you all didn't know, the US $$$ is quite week right now! So, we stopped at a fresh fruit stand... got some fresh fruit for the children and walked down the mail route through the Alstadt. We again, wanted to feed the children a bit cheaper, so we stopped at a Bäckerei (bakery - pronounced about the same). So... we were able to feed our 6...very hungry...mouths for under 13euro! That is about $19...not bad really, considering last week we spent closer to $60 US dollars just for lunch!
We started to walk down to the Old Bridge -Die Brücke - down by the schloss, and the Neckar River. What a fabulous walk... of course we had to bypass the bridge at first to hunt for another WC - even though we just used one at the Bäckerei...but, when one says they have to go- you go! So, this one cost only 30 euro cents each...a bit cheaper! Now we back track a few blocks back to Die Brücke. It was a sight really! We get to walk through an old gated entrance to city and the view of the castle was a sight too! Die Brücke is for both pedestrians and autos... though not heavily used by the autos... too many people to compete with! We walked over the bridge - kids enjoyed the views from the bridge; Emma and Evan both took notes and drew some sketches in their little books. There was a street performer playing wonderful music on some piano looking instrument. Evan loved to see the people rowing in their boats! Gracie was saved by a stranger and Don - she ran over to be with me on the opposite side of the bridge just as a car sped onto the bridge! Talk about a scare! But... between Don, the stranger and my yelling... all ended well! Man, she is quick!
As we walked back towards the Straßenbahn we smelled a wonderful sweet smell! A man was making crepes that had Nutella, sugar and cinnamon in them...hot and fresh! Oh, my...they were good. I thought Nutella was good in the States....but it is better here! - think it must have more fat in it! :)... Don enjoyed his w/ butter instead of Nutella - he does not know what he missed! Sarah and Emma enjoyed this with me...but poor Gracie had had enough! She fell sound asleep in the stroller and bumping down the old cobblestone streets did not seem to bother that sleep one bit!
We came across some more restaurants that we will have to visit later and some very neat little market stores. Probably what would constitute as a convenience store back in the States, but on a much smaller, much more condensed scale, w/ all German products. Very neat! As we walked back we got to enjoy some of the street performers - these truly fascinate that children.
We ended our Aldstadt tour with a stop at a local Chocolattie. Here the children enjoyed some handmade ice cream, Don a cappuccino, and I...well I got to try some chocolate ice cream with Chili pepper in it! Yes... you read correctly! It was quite interesting. Not something you can over enduldge in, but good none-the-less. I also enjoyed a hand-made Caramel Chocolate Truffle... and let me say, it was fabulous! I wish I could have recorded the music in the background. There was a man behind the fountain that was playing an accordion and it was so beautiful. What atmosphere! I truly enjoyed it...a great way to end our trip downtown!
Check out the pictures titled Aldstadt - Die Brücke
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