Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Mr. Strange’s maternal grandparents, along with most of his aunts and uncles live in or around the northwest part of Baden-Wurttemburg. We were spending five nights of our trip with them, as quite some time had passed since Mr. Strange had seen any of them. His Oma and Opa picked us up from the train station in Mannheim, where we had just traveled from Cologne, and drove us back to their house, where we would be staying.
Dinner that night was a treat: weisswurst, pretzels, and beer, around the family table with his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins, who all broke into song at one point while we FaceTimed Mr. Strange’s mom to say hello.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
The next day, Opa took us to Heppenheim, where we saw a lovely church and lots of pretty buildings. We explored a bit around Starkenburg, some medieval castle ruins (there is a castle in pretty much every town in Germany, I’ve discovered).
Friday, September 11, 2015
We went on a hike with Opa through the woods near Hemsbach to what appeared to be an open air church. It took me forever to find on a map, but it is Pilgrimage Site Kreuzberg on Google Maps. Then we climbed up an old tower, Waldnerturm, where we could see a town in the distance. Opa explained that was the town where Mr. Strange’s Oma was born.
After lunch, we went to Weinheim, where we walked through a flower park and took in the sights of a very pretty (and old!) town. We climbed up a tower in yet more castle ruins (I believe this was the Windeck castle) before returning for dinner.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
We headed to Heidelberg on Saturday with Mr. Strange’s aunt and uncle. His aunt had arranged a taxi driver to drive us around all day to see the sights. We wandered around the outside of Heidelberg and took photos, though we did not go inside.
The driver then took us to a lookout point on the other side of the river with a view of the castle. Up a hill was a tower, built on the remains of Stephanskloster, a monastery, and then we came across an amphitheater tucked away in the woods, the Heidelberg Thingstätte.
We had a drink at Waldschenke Heidelberg Gasthaus Biergarten, then headed back to the main part of the city, across the bridge, then did some shopping before returning to Mr. Strange’s grandparents’ house.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
We went with Opa to a nature park, where we followed a one mile trail around a lake. On the way back, we stopped in Hemsbach briefly, and then returned to attend a local soccer game with Mr. Strange’s uncle.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Our train to our next destination was scheduled to depart at 8:30, so we were up bright and early to make it back to Mannheim before heading off to Baden Baden.