Heidelberg, Germany

Yesterday morning we arrived in Mannheim, Germany at about 10:00 AM and
took a bus to tour the Heidelberg Castle high on the hill above the city
of Heidelberg. The photo was taken from the castle looking down on the
Nekar River, a tribute of the Rhine. The city of Heidelberg is noted
for both its castle and also its university which was founded in 1386.
The castle has had some extensive damage during the Wars of Succession
(succession to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) in 1689 and from a
storm where lightning struck the arsenal causing an explosion. The
castle is large so there is still a lot to see.

Following the castle, we visited the Church of the Holy Spirit, a former
Catholic church and now a Lutheran Church. At one time the church was
used by both Catholics and Lutherans with the two using different altars
and altar areas in the church. In addition to the different altars,
both congregations had there own organs so they probably did not have
services at the same time.

Rather than returning to Mannheim, he went to Speyer as the ship had
moved down (or up) the river while we were at the castle. After an hour
on the ship there was a one hour walking tour of the town of Speyer but
we begged off on that.

This morning we are on our way to Kehl, Germany where we will go by bus
to Strassburg, France. In this portion of the Rhine, Germany is on one
side and France is on the other. And right now we have just entered a
lock and is beginning to darken until the water rises!