TolsmaFamily: Mom and Dad came to visit!!! Part 2

Day 4. On Monday the kids had school and we had done a lot of walking so we decided to take it a little easy. We did some shopping to finish what we needed to get for Christmas. When we got home we found Joseph home sick :( . I learned that I can't hear my cell phone in my new purse and Jeff had to come get Joseph. He slept a good part of the afternoon and felt better by supper time. We woke him up to open Christmas gifts and he thought that it was morning and he had slept through the night!

Joseph was feeling so much better we decided to take Mom and Dad to one of our favorite restaurants here in Heidelberg. We had a great time!

And then we closed up the day with some kokos ice cream...yummm!

Day 5. On Tuesday we had a quiet morning. Then, a little before noon we headed for the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to board an S-bahn (trains that run to surrounding towns and stop frequently) for Eberbach. I had not done this before either but all went well. Mom and Dad were able to see all six castles Jeff passes by every day on the way to work. Jeff met us at the train station in Eberbach and drove us to Neckerblick, a restaurant way up in the hills with a beautiful view of the Necker and the Neckar valley. On Tuesdays they serve a German speciality - Dampfnudlen. Mom and Dad loved it!

After lunch Jeff gave Mom and Dad a tour of Gelita and of Eberbach. Then we headed home since the kids were getting out of school.

Day 6. We hadn't done much serious walking for two days so on Wednesday it was time to get hoofing once again! After getting the kids off to school and Jeff off to work, Mom, Dad and I took a tram then a bus to Schwetzingen. Schwetzingen is a small town just 10 minutes or so southwest of Heidelberg. It is home to a summer-Schloss with amazing gardens. We walked through the gardens but were a bit disappointed since all the statues were covered for the winter. I'll put in a couple nice pictures of mom and dad here - more pictures of Schwetzingen can be seen in two posts - "Schwetzingen" and "Ann came to visit".

Day 7. More walking for Thursday! After getting the kids off to school and Jeff off to work Mom, Dad and I walked to Kornmarkt to pick up the Bergbahn - a train that takes you up the mountain to Konigstuhl. The train ride is in three parts. The first two parts are in a new, modern train and the last is in the old funicular rail. The train runs at a 40% grade at some points!