This is what greeted me the moment we arrived in Heidelberg. Rich, moist succulent cakes and dainty sweets and chocolates. Move over Willy Wonka!! A sugar fix was needed and they were perfect for that craving. Those big white 'cricket balls" you see in the window display are actually long strips of biscuit pastry that are formed into a ball and deep fried. They are then dipped or rolled into a variety of chocolates and covered in nuts or coconut. Some are even filled with a hazelnut nougat. There are Cointreau flavoured ones, marzipan ones, custard ones but no low fat ones!!!...but I digress readers.
An hour south of Frankfurt (well it's supposed to be an hour but after travelling on the autobahn at 180 kmh..it was a lot quicker!!!!) this quaint university town was buzzing with people walking up the main shopping drag. The temperature was hovering around eight degrees, winter woollies being the order of the day. Lots of cafe's, pubs and bakeries open. Regular shops are not allowed to trade on Sunday in Germany. This is a very strict law here and stems from religious traditions.
With the sun going down at around fivish, Heidelberg took on a "gothic" type of atmosphere. There is a famous castle or "schloss" as its known here that overlooks the city. I sort of half expected to see Harry Potter and the Hogwarts clan fly out of there.!!! The eeriness combined with the sunset was magnificent. The light had a magenta hue to it. It was very European Winter. I've tried to capture some of that feeling with a few pictures.
And one more "artistic" shot.
After a few hours of siteseeing, I was craving soup. Nothing nourishes better than a hearty bowl of this stuff. Especially in a very cold environment. We stopped by a local eating house and I enjoyed bowl of onion and potato soup. A few rye bread rolls with lashings of butter and a wheat beer to wash it all down with.
It was good being back in Germany, even though my visit was brief. It was good to see friends who had departed our sunburnt shores and reminisce on the past. I plan on being back there in the near future and I'll be blogging on variety of gourmet topics. I'll also make sure my camera works!!!....Bear with me as I'm still learning the basics.
See you soon.
Peter