On the fourth day of my European trip, my cousins and I woke up quite early so that we could make our way to Heidelberg, Germany. The ride was between one and two hours. I was very excited to get there as my father had told us that the town was very picturesque and it had castle ruins.
Once we arrived, we found a parking spot and immediately ventured into the festive Christmas store, Kathe Wohlfahrt. We didn't plan on going into the store, but it was on the corner of the street we had parked on, and the store looked like an absolute holiday dream, and IT WAS. The store had what seemed like a million different Christmas ornaments. I may or may not have picked up two special ornaments for my mom (I hope she isn't reading this)!
 |
| A shot from Kathe Wohlfhart's store! |
Following our stop at Kathe Wohlfahrt, we ventured to the castle ruins. The castle rested above the city, on a hill, like most castles do. We walked on a cobblestone path to the top. It didn't take long, but it was a steep road. We hung around the castle for quite sometime, taking some photos while looking at the city from above. There was a medicine museum inside the castle, which was pretty random, but neat to see. It was a great time.
 |
| The Castle & me! |
Once we had had enough of the castle, we made our way back to the town. To our surprise, there was STILL a Christmas Market happening. We strolled through the market and all of us bought a cute little mug of Kinderpunsch - essentially Gluhwein (which is an alcoholic drink), but for kids! It is made without alcohol. Technically, my cousins and I are all legal to drink in Germany, but we stuck with the Kinderpunsch. It was delicious. It tasted like a cross between apple cider and grape juice. I HIGHLY recommend it.
 |
| The Kinderpunsch came in the cutest mug! |
We headed home earlier than our other adventure days, because it was NEW YEARS EVE! We had plans to go to a New Years Eve celebration with my father's friends, so we decided we could use a few hours to nap in between the fun.
Unfortunately, my cousins and I got a little distracted. The three of us curled up into a bed and watched Bird Box. If you read my last post (my weekly favorites) you know how I feel about the movie. It was FAN.TAS.TIC!! I'll just leave it at that.
As for the New Years Eve celebration... now that was insane. In Germany, the citizens can only use fireworks on one day a year - New Years Eve! Furthermore, as we walked through my father's city on New Years Eve, I literally covered my ears because there were fireworks being set off about 10 feet away from me, on every surface imaginable. Now if you can get past the noise, the sky looked beautiful. Once I got used to it, I thought it was so thrilling. I enjoyed a night spent with my father, cousins, and my father's Army friends and their children, to ring in the new year.
Off to bed we went at approximately 230AM...
Day Five
As you can imagine, Day Five started much later than the other days. We tried to compensate for our late night by sleeping in until around 945AM. Then we headed to the local zoo to have a relaxing day.
The Stuttgart Zoo had quite an array of animals - many more than I expected. I love going to zoos because it reminds me of being a kid. I went to the Bronx Zoo and a few others when I was quite young, so whenever I walk around zoos and see all the families, it really brings me back to my great memories with my own family. I am a sucker for reminiscing.
 |
| Here is a picture of the super cute penguins! |
After enjoying the zoo, we finished the day by visiting a tower in Stuttgart to get a view of the city from above. We took an elevator 150 meters up, and walked out to the top of the tower. Unfortunately, I didn't get the best pictures of the view because it was wet and windy on this day, but trust me, it was a lovely view of the city!
I wasn't kidding when I said this day wasn't very eventful.. we finished our incredibly short day by coming home and munching on pizzas. They were yummy! Then off to bed we went!
Thank you so much for reading about my travels. I hope this series keeps some of my closest friends and family up to date on my travels, and maybe if we are strangers, this can give you an idea of places to visit in Europe. Once again, I am incredibly grateful that I get to visit these places. I feel very lucky!
Keep following along for more posts on travel, fashion, and everything in between! Please let me know what you think.
Until Next Time,
MM
Wow, that sounds like the perfect vacation!
ReplyDelete