Day 22 - 23 (Sun - Mon) Vienna & Heidelburg

Sunday was a relaxing day, my last day in Vienna. The end of my trip was in sight, and I had to start moving east towards Ramstein, and my flight home. I slept in late, bought my night train ticket for Heidelburg, a touristy town one stop away from the air force base, and killed the time before it left by wandering around Vienna one last time. I had originally hoped to buy something nice to remember the city by, but of course I had forgotten that everything was closed on Sundays, so I was forced to committ the city to memory the old fashioned way.

The night train was great. I couldn't get a bed, or cochette, but the six-person compartment I had only had me and a girl from the Netherlands, so we were able to lay down and sleep quite comfortably. The great part was that it took me almost all the way to Ramstein while I slept, and I got to a new place plenty early enough to explore.

Heidelburg is a very touristy town with a castle on a hill, and not a lot of character. English is heard as commonly on the streets as German, and whatever charm the place had, seems to have left a long time ago. Rick Steves actually hates this place, and I can see why.

The castle is pretty fun though. While it doesn't compare to the other castles I've been to or seen, its still fun to crawl around the ruins of an ancient fortress.

At one time the castle seems to have been pretty important, and I'm sure in a way related to the Electors at Trier, but I just didn't have the energy to pay for a guided tour or read wikipedia. The castle did have an enormous wine barrel (30'+ in diameter), that leaked, but they kept it anyway.

I hiked up the hill behind the castle for a great view of the fog, and decided it was time to get to Ramstein, and home.