Their castles have burned…

Reminiscing on some great Kinks lyrics, we were part of a “thin line” of folks in the Altstadt in Heidelberg yesterday to see Germany play for 3rd place in the World Cup and then be awed by the annual Schlossbeleuchtung, or “castle lighting”, a fireworks display commemorating the three times this castle caught fire (twice at the hands of the French, once at the hand of the Almighty, who saw fit to smite it with a bolt of lightning). Unanswered questions about how a stone castles burn aside, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.We headed into the Altstadt from Walldorf at around 20:00 with Chris, Heather and their kids. After a lazy dinner on an unexpectedly pleasant (breezy) evening, it’s been extremely hot by German standards this week, we walked to the Neckar and waited for the show to start. Germany had just secured 3rd place in the World Cup against Uruguay (3-2) so spirits were high (and many bottles of spirits low). The fireworks started at about 22:45 or so with the lighting of the castle, including a few fireworks from the castle itself.The main attraction as far as I’m concerned is the fireworks display from Heidelberg’s old bridge. It went on for 15 minutes or so and I’m told by some veterans that it was one of the best displays in recent memory. As hard as it might be to believe, I took some pictures. To ensure a good spot to capture the fireworks, I forwent pictures of the castle itself. Maybe next year.