Schloss Heidelberg

Castle Heidelberg offered a nice distraction along the way to our first accommodation.

Access to the castle is via a funicular (incline train).

The mostly intact structure stands high above the city and the river

and features a couple of giant casks within the walls with the gift shop and restaurant.

Drive to Heidelberg and McDonald's

After realizing that I never booked a rental car before leaving,I hastily booked through Enterprise/National/Alamo (Sixt was twice the cost) we were on the road by 7:30. Off to Heidelberg where our first stop is McDonald's for breakfast. Ordering was easy through their kiosk which offered German and English and we laughed at the creepy statue,

 and images on the windows and child seats.

Travel to Germany

We left home in Wake Forest on Saturday, July 13 around 9:30 am with Caroline, Oma, Christopher, Charlotte and I to park the car at a Courtyard hotel in Chantilly, VA. The airport shuttle got us to Dulles airport by 2 on and we took flight at 2:52 pm landing 9 hours later in Frankfort. Local time: 6 am.