heidleberg is an amazing place. the castle pictured got bombarded by the french in the 17th century. the area at that time was ruled by the french and had a french prince living in the castle. the french prince died and the germans (prussians, whatever) moved there own guy into the castle. this pissed the french off royally so as an example there army burned the town. waited for it to go out. then burned it again. a consequence of this is there is only one building left that is older than the 17th century.
but it was left alone by bombers during ww2 as the allies wanted it as a base, so evrything after that period is pretty much intact.
also we saw a fire bellied newt in one of the castle gardens ponds. aint seen a newt for years now. there were wild straberries growing in some hedges near it. they tasted better than any strawberrie i ever tasted in my life. really small they were.
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