A COUPLE HEIDELBERG STORIES

                                       Heidelberg Lunch and Kiss
An Interesting Lunch

We arrived in Heidelberg  just about lunch time and our first stop was the Castle Restaurant where we were served a student lunch.  The meal started with a large green salad that was followed with mouth pockets.  What an interesting name for the large ravioli-like pastas filled with a cheese, spinach and meat filling. They were very different, but I really liked them even though it seemed strange not to have a sauce on them. Lunch finished with a very good apple strudel (apfelstrudel).

It was a delightful hearty lunch. The large restaurant is filled with long tables.

The Student Kiss

Our local Heidelberg, Germany guide told a story related to the students at the local university.  Heidelberg University was for boys only in days of old. However, they soon discovered that girls from finishing schools congregated at what now is Heidelberg’s oldest café in the center of the old city. Everyone liked Fridolin Knosel the good natured pastry cook who owned the café. The girls, accompanied by their watchful governess, frequently encountered merry students. Under such conditions innocent flirtations were kept under wraps.

However, the young ladies’ secret longings did not escape Mr. Knosel who decided to help them. One day with a big grin, he surprised them with a chocolate pastry he called a ‘student kiss’. The governesses did not object to the girls accepting the pastry.

Since then, much time has passed and much has changed. But the ‘student kiss’ is still available from the same café and serves as a reminder of the romantic past and has become part of Heidelberg’s history and image.

After concluding our city walking tour, we walked through the ancient towers and across the old stone bridge for a different perspective of the city. It was an excellent spot to get a really good view of the castle high up on the hill. After taking a couple of photos we returned to the café to buy a couple of kisses.

It is fun to learn these cute little stories as one travels as it helps to bring history alive. This picture is a copy of the kiss wrapper.  I managed to get a couple of the treats home to share with family as I related the story.

SOULAC'S ANCIENT CHURDH

                                   An Amazing History

When biking in Bordeaux, France we detoured into the seaside town of Soulac for both lunch and to visit an ancient church that had been buried for over 200 years!

Soulac is sheltered by pine-covered sand dunes, and is rich in history. Pill-boxes pepper the coastline, and add a dramatic and exciting element to the breathtaking scenery. The wind was blowing so hard that if we did not keep all our food covered, and our drinks capped, we were eating grit.

The Notre Dame Basilica de la fin des Terres, dating to the 12th century, is a major pilgrim destination for French people. Located in Soulac, a beach community near the Atlantic coast was totally lost to a sand dune by the 1741. Records show that the church was threatened by sand since its construction in the 12th century. 12^th and 13^th century documents also relate and describe the advancing of sand and how the church floor was raised by  5-6 feet. The main entrance was moved from the south to the west side of the church. As the sand progressed, the choir and the entire first floor had to be abandoned. By 1741 the church was totally buried.

In the middle of the 19th century, the dune blew away uncovering the Roman- style church, which now is a designated UNESCO world heritage site. It was discovered that this church was actually built on top of another church, a small part of those ruins are visible from a certain spot.

As is commonly seen in Benedictine churches, modern restoration has taken place on the almost 50-meter long church. The nave has three aisles. The church tower at the north-western corner was built at a later date. What a remarkable history.

After visiting the church we headed to the beach area and the breath-taking views of the Atlantic Ocean. The pounding surf was music to our ears and the water, so clear and blue, looked so inviting. Unfortunately we had no time for swimming as we had time restraints to meet a ferry. The strong wind was a wonderful tail wind. Once balanced on my bike, I kid you not, I didn’t even have to pedal to move! What fun that was! It was easy peddling to move at a pretty good clip. Had that wind been head on we would have been in for a really tough pedal and no doubt would have missed our ferry ride.

We made the ferry terminal with a wee bit of time to spare.