It’s been a huge couple of years and the last thing I imagined for me at this point would be taking a selfie next to the Königstuhl Funicular Station overlooking the stunning town of Heidelberg as the sun made a shy but much appreciated appearance just before 9.00 am.
Backtrack to early October when I finally gave in to some not so subtle encouragement (bordering on nagging) from certain family members to join them for Swissmas! (more on that later) followed by my first ever holiday with my sister!!
Eventually, flights were deliberated over and booked and decisions, decisions – how to spend my first five nights before meeting up with two of my beautiful children and their families in Lucerne for Swissmas.
So that’s how I find myself in Heidelberg.
Getting myself here from Frankfurt Airport was quite the, let’s say, adventure. Lugging a suitcase up and down umpteen flights of stairs, waiting on train platforms that doubled as wind tunnels, meeting some of the locals who were so helpful (and made excellent hot chocolate) and then arriving in Heidelberg to discover that I’d booked my accommodation pretty much at the top of a mountain. So I was no longer walking there from the train… Thank you, Uber driver.
I stumbled into the foyer before 11.00 am, dropping things everywhere, barely able to put a sentence together, wondering what I was going to do until check-in at 3.00 pm, only to be told that my room was ready and I was welcome to check in early. A shower. A change of clothes! And resisting the temptation of a very comfortable bed to try and beat my jet lag.
But resist, I did. At least until after lunch when I returned to my room, looked longingly at the bed and thought, “I’ll just have a little lie down”. Next thing I knew it was 7.00 pm and I’d totally blown my jet lag management strategy…
At least I was up nice and early for breakfast! And for a ride in the funicular down to the old town to check out the sights and test out the gluhwein at the Christmas Markets.
After a gluhwein (or two 😉) and a bratwurst 😋, I checked out the river bank activity and then made my way up to the Schloss (castle) that stands sentinel over this magical city.
Farewelling Heidelberg, I nipped across to Freiburg near the Swiss border and spent a day exploring this beautiful town.
The place was teeming with visitors to the Christmas Markets (which to be fair I’d already become a bit ambivalent) but it was fun to check out the vibe in the evenings when locals also came out to celebrate the season.
I also used Freiburg as a base to take a day trip to Strasbourg which is way up there as a highlight of my trip so far.
It was worth the early start to arrive before the thousands of tourists emerged from their accommodation the kazillions of tour buses.
The markets were really amazing here but my favourite moments included a spontaneous visit to an ancient church that I stumbled upon.
It was quite unremarkable from the outside but imbued such a feeling of calm upon entering.
I loved the simply decorated tree and humble nativity scene.
Whilst lighting a candle, I was serenaded by two singers in the adjacent room rehearsing a Mozart duet. I peeped through the doorway to see two quite young performers (one with a baby sleeping on her back) being conducted by their very able MD.
In the afternoon I gave my feet a rest by jumping on a short river cruise and learning a bit of local history.
Someday, I’ll return to Strasbourg but not during Christmas Market season!
Next stop – Lucerne for Swissmas! But first, let me leave you with this lasting image of the carpet in the corridor of my hotel in Freiburg. 😏
rockybeginnings 