Mooning must have originated in Germany—if not, it should have. They appear to enjoy upsetting their neighbors with the sight of a bare bottom. Heidelburg has two or had two. The city square has a Hercules statue in the center. Because of public outcry, the artist eventually poorly cover it up by adding a lion skin to the statue
The last Castle was in Heidelberg. It looked just like I always imagined a Castle should: built and rebuilt and then left in ruins. Saved by a Frenchman, most of the Palace was used as the foundation for buildings inside the city of Heidelberg. The town was saved from the bombing in WW2 by the Allies because the musical The Student Prince of Heidelberg, the musical was so popular with
Marksburg Castle was the second castle we visited. This castle was built as a fort for the town of Braubach. We traveled with this huge lunchbox provided by the riverboat. Where the bus was parked, it still required a steep hill to get to the castle entrance. Because it was designed as a fortress, there were protections in place. There were no real stairways built in the 12th century for much younger people than us. Walking up and down the clipped rock pathway to the castle was very difficult.
We spent the night in Cologne on the riverboat. At 2 p.m., we attended a small carnival in the Gayborhoeod, Schaafenstraße, referred to as the Bermuda Triangle. We each had a wristband giving us admission to four of the local bars. You could carry your drinks into the street. Our group is well, long in the tooth. I believe most of us only attended one bar. Then, we spent time enjoying people-watching on the street
After Cologne, we traveled to see our first Castle, the Reichsburg. The castle is surrounded by vineyards. It was first mentioned in 886 as a villa and was the home of the king of Cochem. The French and Prussians occupied it. The Castle has been built and rebuilt several times. It was a striking building; the well is over 1000 years old.
