Cities of Light River Cruise - Day Seven

We are more than half way through our vacation, but it seems like it just started. Today we left Aschaffenburg on the Main River on a bus to take us to Heidelberg, the home of the oldest university in Germany. The trip started a little late as the traffic on the river has been heavier due to the high water, slowing down the passage through the locks. On arrival we did a little walking tour of the old city, then moved to our destination, the Ritter Hotel. There the entire group was treated to a three-course luncheon - salad, the rolled up beef, bacon and onions called rouladen, and dessert.

The luncheon was special because university students were invited to join each table, to talk about their experience and answer questions about what was on our minds. Our student was Sophieanne Perkins, from Montreal, Canada, working on a masters degree in medical anthropology. She explained that the focus of the specialty was to identify the interplay of the medicine of other cultures and Western medicine and how it affected the culture for good or bad. She explained that the university education is free for all who attend, but that it is expensive to live -- American students enroll there and consider the cost of living a trade off for the cost of tuition. Sophieann pays $400 a month for a small apartment in a nearby village, and hosts AirB&B guests for stretch her income. In all, it was a pleasant time with an engaging young woman. Sophieann took the picture in the Ritter Hotel dining room.

After lunch we took a funicular rail car from the main town to the Heidelberg Castle. It is now a ruin, but a beautiful one, a combination of several buildings, each an example of German architecture, the first constructed around 1300 AD. The castle was a residence, a well-protected fortress, until it was struck by lightning in 1764 making it uninhabitable. It was never restored, but the ruin commands a spectacular view of the city below and is one of the most visited sites in Germany.

Our day is ending with another fine dinner and conversation with four new friends from Colorado and Massachusetts. Again we sail overnight to tomorrow's port in the city of Karlstadt. More to come...