Monday, March 19, 2024
This morning we had a relaxing morning, and then after an early lunch we headed out to see Heidelberg -- one of Germany’s most picturesque towns.
I had seen that Heidelberg had a couple of nice churches and an old ruined castle, and our plan was just to and check things out.
It’s amazing -- way more beautiful than even the pictures make it look. The castle, originally built in the 1200s and 1300s and then destroyed by war and fire from lightning strikes in the 1600s and 1700s. By the 1800s, it was abandoned and in ruins. But then the romantics started to love it as it was, and it was preserved and painted a bunch of times. Victor Hugo and Mark Twain both visited and loved this place. Twain wrote:
A ruin must be rightly situated, to be effective. This one could not have been better placed. It stands upon a commanding elevation, it is buried in green woods, there is no level ground about it, but, on the contrary, there are wooded terraces upon terraces, and one looks down through shining leaves into profound chasms and abysses where twilight reigns and the sun cannot intrude. Nature knows how to garnish a ruin to get the best effect. One of these old towers is split down the middle, and one half has tumbled aside. It tumbled in such a way as to establish itself in a picturesque attitude. Then all it lacked was a fitting drapery, and Nature has furnished that; she has robed the rugged mass in flowers and verdure, and made it a charm to the eye. The standing half exposes its arched and cavernous rooms to you, like open, toothless mouths; there, too, the vines and flowers have done their work of grace. The rear portion of the tower has not been neglected, either, but is clothed with a clinging garment of polished ivy which hides the wounds and stains of time. Even the top is not left bare, but is crowned with a flourishing group of trees & shrubs. Misfortune has done for this old tower what it has done for the human character sometimes – improved it.
I’m so glad we got to visit this beautiful old town. The castle really did stir us. I would love to come back someday.
Later, we had a nice family home evening with Dasha and the kids, and then late-night seminary lesson in which we discussed doing things “with full purpose of heart.” I love having these deep discussions with the kids. They are really wise.
And finally, a couple of administrative notes: we got confirmation that the Swiss temple housing is available, so we are on for the Switzerland and Italy portions of this trip. They will definitely be a whirlwind for us. And Ian’s asthma medicine is running out, so tomorrow we will go and find some. Between Veroniek’s cats and Dasha’s dog, he has really been struggling lately.