A River Cruise in Europe: November 3, 2018 Heidelberg

We boarded the busses this morning for a 2 hour ride on the autobahn north to Heidelberg, Germany. The Heidelberg University is dominant in the city. The university occupies many of the old buildings as it dates back to the 1300s. The charming streets are also filled with shops, a large cathedral, hotels and the Heideberg castle overlooking the city and the Nekar river. The tour busses let us off at the castle on top of the mountain. We left the group and walked into the city where we met Freddie and Ecaterina. This is the couple I met while biking across country last year. It was a special reunion seeing them again. We were treated to a personal tour of Heidelberg through the University area. We had a German lunch of red sauerkraut and schnitzel at the student dining hall. We then toured the old Student Prison or Karzar. Misbehaving students were put in this building when they partied too much. While there, they carved their names and created some artistic graffiti on the walls. We then went to the University museum where there are preserved early books and the development of the printing presses including the Guttenberg press. Heidelberg was the center of printing books in the 17 and 1800s. We continued touring the city and visiting the unique shops before boarding our busses and returning to Strasbourg and the Viking Herja. After another fabulous dinner and conversation with other passengers, we headed back to the stateroom and collapsed for the night. We are getting to meet many of the other passengers and getting to know them and where they are from.