Day 11 Up in the clouds

This morning we set out in the car to drive to the places too far to walk, namely the tops of the two opposing mountains  We also wanted to drive to the relatives’ house to try to contact them as we had been unsuccessful by phone. This was the first rainy morning for us, but we felt pretty prepared. We got to the top of the mountain that we had partially climbed yesterday. Lots to see up there, but not a good day for pics, It was raining and we literally had clouds around us making everything super hazy. The first thing we came upon is a tower built in 1094! That’s old!! Its a lookout known as the Witch’s tower.

We both climbed up the stairs to the top, but our view wasn’t what we had hoped with all the clouds.

A little further along the trail was the amphitheater,  It was built by the Nazis in the 1930’s as a place to hold rallies, but it was never used. We climbed the steps to the top, but the fog was so thick we couldn’t get a decent pic. This is a photo from Google images to show what it looks like on a clear day.

Our experience was more like this:

A climb up past the amphitheater took us to some really cool ruins. In the 5th century B.C., the Celtics built this place as a fortress of refuge and place of worship. It was known as the Mountain of Saints. In about 40 A.D. the Romans built on and made it a larger fortress with barracks. They held it until 260 A.D. when it was conquered by Germanic tribes. It was eventually used by Catholics as a monastery.

Marc on top of a side tower.

Tammy waiting below

This little guest house and pub was on top of the mountain!

We then drove to Shonau and found Marc’s mom’s family home. Gabi and her husband weren’t home, so we left a note. By the time we got back to the room, we had a message from her. We are going back to the house tomorrow evening to visit.

Then we headed up the other mountain, to a place known as the Konigstuhl, or King’s seat. Its the absolute highest place in Heidelberg as it is a few meters higher than the opposite mountain. By this time the rain had stopped. There was a little snow on the ground up there too. There is a children’s playground area up there, but not much else. We admired the view and headed back down, On the way down we passed the castle from the back side. Very nice view.