After our busy and full time with our mothers we needed a rest and recovery time, so we headed to Heidelberg, Germany. Here, we rented an apartment and slept, relaxed, planned and caught up on all the things we had been meaning to do. We did also manage to get out and see something of the city! We explored Heidelberg castle, which is perched on a hill overlooking the old city. We saw the church of the Holy Spirit, walked by the university, and tried a local falafel restaurant which was awesome.
On our last day there we went for a 3 hour hike up and down a local hill. At the top is a fascinating site called Thingstatte- it was first used by the Celts and then later the Romans. Later still a monastery was built there, followed by a big amphitheatre built by the Nazi party and used for propaganda meetings. The walk was great – we got views of the city from the Philosopher’s Way, then were able to see more and more the higher we climbed. We had been told about this place by the hosts at our apartment and would definitely not have stumbled on it ourselves, but we were really glad we found it.
Meandering Kiwis 
Pretty! Looks like a lovely walk.
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Thingstatte: what a strange name.
Glad you were able to have some R&R after those mothers departed…
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Hi Karen and Reuben,
My name is Brad. I was the American you met at Steffi’s Hostel in Heidelberg, when these pictures were taken. I was surprised because I had never met anyone from New Zealand before. You showed me all of the neat money you accumulated from your trips to Costa Rica, Switzerland, etc. I still remember those Swiss coins that said “Confederatio Helvetica” on them. If I remember correctly, Karen was making tacos.
Such nice pictures! We seemed to have followed in each others footsteps around Heidelberg, at the church and the castle, etc. However, I am quite jealous of these pictures of Thingstatte. I’ve never heard of it, and never saw it while I was over there!
Hope all is going well in your quest. I see you are in Thailand now. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the country – fabulous food, beautiful scenery, and dirt cheap. Enjoy! 🙂
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