The last day in Heidelberg – so today went to Schwetzingen to visit the palace and gardens. About a 30-minute bus ride – free of course – to the town. First went on a tour of the palace then did the gardens. The tour was all in German as they only give English tours on Friday at 1415 – go figure. The palace was certainly not as ornate or as big as other palaces I have been to. The ‘owner’ of the palace was one of the 7 (I believe it was) prince-electors that would elect the king of Bavaria. The tour guide, who did know English quite well gave we a palace tour guide written in English. I did get pictures of this tour guide which are posted which did a very credible job of describing each room we were in. As a result, I probably now remember more than if I had just listened to the tour guide. It was to be a one hour tour but it lasted one hour 20 minutes and as a result, about three of the smaller rooms were skipped on the tour – BUT – I do have the description of the skipped rooms. Even with the tour in German, I did find it quite interesting. I will not describe the tour just simply ask that you read the tour guide I was given that has a good description of all of the rooms. I do not have any pictures as we were not permitted to take pictures.
After the palace tour spent quite some time wandering the gardens – probably about 150 acres. With that large of an area, one can readily guess that there were a number of other structure scattered around the grounds all well ‘hidden’ from each by the trees. A bathhouse with a really nice small pool, or better yet, a very very large bathtub. Everything in marble of course, There was a porcelain house wherein all the walls were done in about 6×6 inches porcelain tiles – all of the different scenes. Another small area with about eight sitting alcoves surrounding a fountain/pool. Also, quite a few pieces of statuary scattered around the grounds in nooks in the woods to just sit and be secluded from the rest of the world. The flower gardens were gorgeous -with many ideas that I can/will use at the house. Rows of bushes trimmed to a pyramid shape – about four to five feet high – each one in a painted barrel. Stopped and talked to one of the gardeners about the gardens and the most interesting thing he mentioned was how they trimmed the bushes. They do not use a hedge trimmer and just cut them to shape, After all using a hedge trimmer would cut not just the stems but also leaves. What they did was to use hand clippers and cut each ‘protruding’ stem and each ‘protruding’ leaf. On the entire bush – try doing this in your yard!!!!!. It could take a couple of hours to trim one bush but they did look magnificent. The tall hedges were trimmed with hedge trimmers and were awesome. Look down a long hedge of a 100 ft. or more feet and it was straight as an arrow and the surface of the hedge perfectly flat. Paths went everywhere through the garden/forest. There were ponds all over the place. It is a beautiful place to simply walk and look. There was even, buried in one corner a mosque. Not sure why it was put in here but was a nice place.
After several hours in Schwetzingen then headed back to Heidelberg. I would recommend looking at the pictures of the gardens as well as the other reference material. Got back in latter part of the afternoon so went to the apartment for a brief time to chill out and decided to do an early supper and then come back and pack and clean the apartment. Went to the Mexican restaurant I first went to when I got here. Had a Mexican salad and, let’s say, probably the last time I will go there even I were back in Heidelberg.
That was pretty much it for the short trip – definitely worthwhile and enjoyable. There are other places to have gone but can only do so much in three days. Would recommend going if you are in the area just do not eat at Adelitas!
The Mosque at Schwetzingen Palace
