Tuesday 2 December 2025 Heidelburg & Speyer

Not the best nights sleep while the boat was on the move not helped by being cold, our cabin heating failed.. This may have been due to may USB charger going bang yesterday and plunging the cabin into darkness. Our cabin was on the port side  which meant the commercial barges we met were all passing a few feet from our window which also didn’t help. 
This morning we woke up in Speyer and had a 8-30 AM. start for Heidelberg where first we visited the castle. Alighting from the coaches we found that the ground was still very icy.

We entered the castle  through the main gate and crossed the moat, this never contained water but was a hunting ground for the owner. The original castle was built before 1214 by Frederick II and has been greatly added to over the years, it suffered a bad lightning strike in 1537 destroying the upper castle and several fires and wars over the years destroyed much of what had been rebuilt. Small parts have been restored since but its mainly a ruin and will be maintained in this state.
The castle boasts the largest wine barrel in the world which is in its old wine cellar just off the main hall. There is a smaller one, about 10 foot tall as you enter the hall that put you in the mode for the main event.   

The first is the small one beside a standard barrel for scale the second photo shows people standing on  top of the large barrel and the third the spiral staircase to reach the top

Looking from the terrace we had a very good view over the town and looking in the other direction up the valley the clouds were drifting down below us.

It was a short walk from the castle to the funicular railway station. This runs from the top of the mountain down to the town with a station mid way at the castle, its a very modern construction unlike most we have ridden. It takes less than 2 minutes to reach the town and luckily the train was in the station waiting. 

The town of course had a Christmas market, that is what this cruise was all about and from the market square there is a very good view of the castle.

I think this is the biggest Advent calendar I have ever seen.

and we had a general wander around the town and visited the church. Their churches seem so much brighter and lighter than ones in the UK.

The inscription reads :- In memory of Hermann Maas Parish Principal of the Church of the Holy Spirit 1915-1943 Unforgettable are his achievements in tearing down the dividing

wall that bisected the Church of the Holy Spirit from 1706-1936, his advocacy for the  persecuted during the Nazi regime and his work of reconciliation with Israel, which shaped his life.

The town roads are too narrow for the coaches to come into town and they all park up to pick up passengers down by the river, so we all gathered by the Town Hall and walked down one of the many narrow streets that run from the town centre to the river to find our waiting coach to returning to the ship for lunch. .

 

It was a free afternoon, some people just relaxed on the ship but we decided to go for a wander around the town, first visiting the cathedral which dates back to Roman

times  and there is a monument outside to reflect this. The Cathedral font has a gallery above it so you can look down right on top of it. 

Although the building dates back to Roman times it has changed greatly over the years with bits being added and it now supports several towers, inside its quite cavernous with wall paintings high up.

The town gate with an interesting clock no longer marks the edge of the town. Unlike most of the towns we visit this week, the Christmas Market is all in one area in the centre of the town.

We visited another churches before returning to the ship, there was actually a very nice sunset forming under the bridge when we got back but automatic exposure on phones just don’t capture it.

After yet another 4 course dinner the cooking crew were presented to us bringing in the baked Alaska.We headed to bed early as the ship was due to sail a little after midnight and I am pleased to say we now had a nice warm cabin.