As we approached Heidelberg on the river, dark clouds threatened; but the rain held off and eventually the skies almost cleared. This place is the perfect setting for one of the world's major universities.Heidelberg was one of the few places in Germany to escape Allied bombing during World War II. The castle had been sacked, burned, rebuilt, and sacked and burned again several times before the Twentieth Century. The buildings in the castle site were always rebuilt mostly as they had existed before they were destroyed. Today they are elegant ruins.These bicycle belong to students and faculty of Heidelberg University.After churches and castles, it's beer along the Danube, Main, and Rhine Rivers that most travelers seek....and on to Frankfurt where the ship was docked near this pedestrian bridge that crosses the Rhine before it flows into the Gorge.