She had a guest bedroom in her apartment, so the trip would be little to no cost to us. Prior to this trip, we had been to Germany before, but only for a brief time in the winter to experience Munich at Christmas. I decided to be open nonetheless, and what we experienced during our travels changed my mind completely about Germany as a whole.
Although this post will by no means be a robust guide to all there is to explore in the area, my hope is that by the end of it, our unplanned exploration of Germany inspires you to do the same. Unfortunately, during all four days we were visiting, the train operators in Germany were on strike and all train travel was unavailable. Thankfully, Gina had a car, and after finding her in the airport we made the roughly 1-hour drive from Frankfurt to our first stop of the trip: Heidelberg, Germany.
After finding parking, we walked towards the old part of Heidelberg and found the cutest little locally owned coffee shop: Panno. We hung out there for a bit so Ryan could wrap up some work things. I ordered a latte and Gina ordered a coffee tonic. After sipping on our coffee and feeling a new sense of energy, we headed towards the main square to check out the Church of the Holy Spirit German: Heiliggeistkirche.
Heidelberg is built along a river, river Neckar, so after our meal we strolled through the cute ivy-covered buildings towards the water and the famous bridge: Karl Theodor Bridge. From the bridge, you get the best view of the city, with Heidelberg castle nestled in the hill above it. After taking in the view of the castle from the bridge, we hurried towards it as our next destination to arrive at before the day began to end. Getting to the top of the hill where the castle sits is quite a trek, but worth it for the view from the top.
Despite being unable to explore inside, we were satisfied with the views of Heidelberg to take in below. We even saw a couple getting married. In early September, the summer days started to shorten, so we headed to the car to make our additional drive of the day. From Heidelberg, we still had a remaining 1 hour and minute drive left, cutting our time in Heidelberg short.
