Saturday 10th May To Heidelburg

Hah ha! Andrew can no longer gloat about being in his thirties. Happy birthday to him! We woke and had presents – he got one of the two things we bought at Legoland – an ice cube tray in the shape of legoblocks (just what every 40 year old needs for his daily iced coffees) along with other bits and pieces.

We had a leisurely morning and then drove to the very pretty town of Ulm. Einstein was born here. Isaac wasn’t feeling great so Mum and the boys stayed in the van while Andrew took his girls for a wander to look for icecream and have a look at the cathedral with the tallest spire in Europe – 167 meters we think. Very impressive and with it being that tall the boys and mum easily got a look on driving past.

Off to Stuttgart. Drove down into the valley – the old town is lovely but there is no hope of parking a camper there so on the way out we stopped at a very typical pub and had Andrew’s birthday lunch. Good German fare – wurst and pork etc.

The countryside in this part of Germany is very picturesque. Rolling hills, tiny towns dotted along the way, lots of forests and windfarms and even the odd castle. Incredible. We arrived in Heidelberg and made our way (lots of hairpin bends – after a couple we would have changed our minds but there was nowhere to turn around) up above its impressive castle to a park in the hills. The funicular railway brings tourists up here for the view over the city and across the plain - and it really is impressive. We had tea and watched the sun go down.