Heidelberg Castle

Moore Haus lies only about 300 yards from the Heidelberg Castle.  By looking far right out of my bedroom windows, I can see the scaffolds surrounding parts of the castle.

Despite the castle's proximity to the Haus, I did not walk the grounds of the castle until today, my 10th day in Heidelberg.  What have I been doing previously? Unpacking; organizing what I find in the faculty apartment; getting over jet lag, catching up on sleep; preparing for my classes; printing over one ream of handouts for my classes; shopping at Penny Markt, Muller, and Rewe for groceries and supplies; figuring out how to bake chocolate chip cookies in Heidelberg for the students; and learning to operate the washer and dryer in the students' laundry room because the washer and dryer in my apartment are not set up yet due to the renovation,

I took a picture of the castle from the streets of Old Town when I passed through Heidelberg on my tour of Europe 23 years ago.  Almost a quarter of a century later, I finally get the opportunity to walk the beautiful grounds of this castle.

A guard post in front of the entrance.

Entrance

Map of the grounds.

Stunning!

Notice the height.

Look at how thick the walls are.

Again thick walls.

On opening in the thick walls.

This wall would be hard to scale.

Another wall hard to scale.

Mansions across the river from the castle

I tried to get the twin guard posts that serve as a landmark for Heidelberg in this picture.  They appear in the lower right-hand corner of this picture.

A view of the town below the castle.

Goethe was a German writer and statesman. 

A playful fountain.

Amphibians feasting on a dead grasshopper.  I took this picture because I saw a sign warning visitors to leave amphibians in their environment.  Naturally, I became curious as to what amphibians could be found in the water of the fountain.

Animals on an arch.

The antlers are real.

I have been seeing children dressed in Halloween-like costumes this week.  These girls dress as students from Harry Potter's Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  

Only the entrance to the courtyard of the castle requires a fee. Otherwise, visitors may freely roam the grounds of the castle.

Another arch.

The flow of water.

Scaffolds.

Close up of the scaffolds.

I would not want to fall and hit this stone floor.

I am wearing my first pair of transitions glasses.

Tourists entering the train station outside of the castle.

A view of Moore Haus from the street.  My bedroom windows are the two large rectangular windows with white edges against a black wall. The windows appear on the left side of this picture, midway down from the top. I enjoy starting the day by opening my windows and checking the weather outside. 

As I climb the stairs of Moore Haus, I see a line of people segueing on Graimbergweg, past Moore Haus.