Not nearly as much sleep as I think we wanted. We got in after 2 am, and by the time we settled in and I wrote the blog it was 4 or so. Back up at 10 to get going again. Heidelberg is a very touristy town but there are a few cool things to see. If you read Rick Steves book he flat our says stay away. Having visited the previous November, I only chose it as a good point to stay to keep our drive to Munich the following day shorter than the long day before. That being said, there are a few places that are worth seeing. The ruins of the Schloss castle on the hill is really cool. There’s also a little tram that will take you to the top of the mountain overlooking the valley. Considering how old it is, the system is quite impressive given how steep it is for a train to climb. There’s also a little cafe at the top so it’s a great place to grab a beer and take in the scenery. I would also point out that save for a few places in the Altstadt (old city center) you aren’t going to get great real German food. I ordered curry wurst because I wanted to save my wiener schnitzel craving for Munich. I was expecting a bunch of sausage and my side, and what I ended up with was what could best be described as some kind of beany weenies, weird slices of sausage in a weird sauce. It was ok, but I caught a little hell for ordering something it looked like a kid would eat.
We eventually hit the road and were going to swing by Nuremberg on the way to Munich. It’s a pretty cool city with a big castle right in the middle that you can walk around and check out. It’s huge as a matter of fact. There’s also one of the most ornate churches I’ve ever been there in the middle of the city. We opted to skip the detour and head straight for Munich as we would be getting into Munich until 5 or so, which ended up being 7ish with traffic. Lovely little hotel I found for only 100 Euros and it was only 10 minutes to work to the Hofbräuhaus in the city center. It another one of those things that tourists see and it’s always insanely busy, but I love it. It was founded in 1589 and is still in the same building which makes it one of the original beer halls. Fair warning, the service is absolutely horrid. Our waiter didn’t say a single word, only made gestures with a I hate my life look on his face. There’s something about it though that I enjoy.
From there we walked a few blocks and found a more cozy German place with pretty darn good food. Not quite small town German food, but pretty tasty nonetheless. We were trying to keep it an early night because we were driving to Prague in the morning with a pit stop in between. There were a few bars open by our place so we walked back that way and were trying to find something interesting to go into. Eventually we just picked one and walked inside. Took all of a few minutes to realize we were in gay bar, a gay bear bar specifically. We thought that was pretty funny, but the bartender did not like us at all. We asked for a recommendation of another place and his answer was “not here.” Ok bud. About a block down the street and we realize it wasn’t just that bar. There’s a distinct lack of women here, oh wow we’re in the gaybourhood. That’s pretty funny. Also at some point we heard a street musician singing John Denver’s Take Me Home Country Roads, which in retrospect is pretty fitting for our trip.
