Camera ready

Charge up those phone cams.

Move in immediately

Great views, of course.

Schlosses everywhere

No escaping the Rhine toll booths.

Germania rules on the Rhine

Niederwalddenkmal, a bit of bronze flash to commemorate the Franco-Prussian War, has been repurposed to commemorate the victims of the Thirty Years' War.

Toll booth

Mauseturm—pay or else.

On the Rhine

Always a schloss around the bend.

On the Rhine

Heading for the Loreley.

Egress

Exit, stage left.

Wholleben

Easy street.

Around the corner

...Lies another corner.

Town inn

Quick eats and takeout.

The sun also rises

Reason for the life preserver is unclear.

Town gate

Things don't change much around here.

Into the village

Dilsberg looking so German.

Into the Black Forest

Okay, not so black, but still kinda dark.

The schloss-eye view

Down the valley road to the next schloss.

Black Forest views

Accommodations a bit sparse, though.

German roadside attraction

Thousands to visit.

The schloss on the hill

Another old German ruin.

Riverside

The Neckar in a rush to the Rhine.

Post war

The War of the Palatinate Succession, that is.

Kilimanjaro

Menu looks interesting.

Warmer weather

Summer's looking good.

Bridge Gate

No tolls.

Up the Neckar

There be castles there…and maybe a dragon.

Monkey shines

Bridge mandrill guards Heidelberg's Old Bridge.

Open door policy here

Heidelberg's Brückentor (bridge gate) at the Old Bridge.

Aim high

Church of the Holy Spirit (Heiliggeistkirche), Heidelberg's heart and center.

Down by the riverside

Summer afternoon by the Neckar.

The (very big) house on the hill

Tiding things up a bit at Schloss Heidelberg.

The touristy stuff

Stalls built into the Church of the Holy Spirit (Heiliggeistkirche).

Everywhere you look, always a castle

They're everywhere!

A Heidelberg cream puff

The stonemason guys went to town.

We stroll here, there, everywhere

Not entirely car free, though, in Heidelberg center.

Down to the river

Meeting the Neckar on its way to the Rhine.

Hussling along in Heidelberg

What we do.

Ohhh...

Waz ist going on here?

Taking a break

Do you have the feeling someone's staring at you?

Looking churchy

Christuskirche in Mannheim.

Mannheim Wasserturm

They knew how to make water towers in olden days.

Sprechen sie show biz?

Always a concert at Mannheim Rosengarten.

Every doorway has a story

Or several dozen.

Comfy residential

Curvy streets are rare in Mannheim.

Something old, something new, something inbetween

Wrecked in WWII, Mannheim is looking spiffy today.

Living large

…In small Mannheim.

Now arriving on Track 5

Trains to everywhere.

Off we go to…

Germany, of course.

Night deepens

Not much open, except the usual.

The little Paris bistro

Eat well, my friends.

Sorta like a Paris Brooklyn, Sorta.

Off the main drag.