Of castles and cars

Left Heidelberg and drove for a while along the Neckar River - castles, ruined and otherwise, are on the hills wherever you look. Walked around a little town called Eberbach, whose claim to fame is that Queen Victoria was conceived there. Apparently her parents were on an extended holiday there nine months before she was born. In a controversial claim, some local historians assert she was actually born there, on board the family's yacht moored in the Neckar and even state that due to anti-German sentiment, they took their new-born daughter to England and claimed she'd been born on British soil. The debate apparently continues - possibly only in Erbach!


Then headed down the autobahn to Stuttgart and went through the Porsche and Mercedes museums. Both in amazing, purpose-built buildings with heaps of cars on display. In the Mercedes museum, in particular, the cars were in absolutely immaculate condition - they must be cleaned and polished every day because they positively gleam. There must be well over 100 vehicles on display - cars, trucks, motorbikes, service vehicles - and they also had a really interesting historical narrative, not strictly related to the cars. The collection includes the world's two oldest cars - Gottlieb Daimler's horseless carriage and Carl Benz's 3-wheeled automobile from 1886. A hand-made limo built in the 1930s for the Emperor of Japan and the first Popemobile are also on display. I particularly liked the cars with the sophisticated means of bonnet closure of straps and buckles. Saw Porsche police cars - boy, officers who get a Porsche as their squad car must be pretty happy I'd say!