Happy Day out in Heidelburg

This morning I was ready to climb back into the saddle--or rather back onto the train.  I thought I'd given myself plenty of time to buy the ticket and catch the train, but the ticket office was packed.  Typically in such situations--including the post office--you go to a number machine and take a number and watch the displays.  My number was 2531.  They were on 2504.  Uh.  And it seemed like everyone in front of me had long complicated transactions, and that the Deutsche Bahn employees were choosing that time to take breaks.  The clock ticked.  I fretted.  I was pretty sure I was not going to catch my train and then--horrors--I'd have to wait and change somewhere.
Finally!

 The young attendant was evidently a trainee, so we proceeded deliberately, but I got my ticket and sprinted for the platform.
Only to find a notice not to get on the train.  Turns out they had to change platforms for some reason, and we were actually fifteen minutes late leaving.
But I got to Heidelburg just fine. I even--finally--figured out how to use the bus ticket machines.  The first time I tried the machine ate my money and I got no ticket!  The train station is about three kilometers from the city center--say forty minutes brisk walk--a walk I didn't care to take.
I got out at the beginning of the Hauptstrasse, a long--make that looooong--pedestrian street, the longest I've ever walked.  But it's pretty and there are lots of terrific window-licking opportunities.  Every other shop seems to sell chocolate.  Had I but known.
I actually turned off before the end of the Hauptstrasse because I wanted to visit the castle.  One can climb up to it.  Several (steep) paths exist.  I opted to take the funicular because I thought I would be both easier on me and fun.  The funicular ticket also gets you into the Schloss courtyard.  The castle is largely in ruins having been messed about a great deal during the Thirty Years War.  The views across the city and river are spectacular.
Heidelburg is a very popular tourist destination and on this bright, sunny day was crowded with visitors.  I walked back down to the town and made my way down Hauptstrasse.  It's a long walk!  I stopped to visit the Kurpfalziches Museum.  I think I can translate this as Art Musuem of the Palatinate.  Heidelburg was the capital of the County Palatine of the Rhine.  The museum holds a creditable collection of Late Medieval Art, and some charming eighteenth century porcelain.  I coveted one of the tea sets.  There are also some very nice period rooms to wander.
If you are European, you can visit a possible ancestor or at least part of him--Heidelburg Man, who appears to be a European Homo Erectus.  I enjoyed the Roman collection as well.  One cool thing was a reconstructed Mithraeum.
There is a lot more to do in Heidelburg than I had time for--for one thing if I had longer and it was cooler I'd go walking in the hills above the town.  There are lot of well marked pathways.
But the train schedule called, and I returned home.  Dinner this evening is a new kind of Maultauschen.  I don't know what's in it, but it's so very tasty I don't care.  Think big, thick, well-stuffed German ravioli.  And like rav very easy to cook.  I boiled them ten minutes and dumped some oil and garlic on them.  The Franconian Sylvaner makes a lovely accompaniment.