Another day of sightseeing! Singers started the day with a bit of a later start, which was nice after enjoying fun dinners and parties last night. Many of the kids spent the previous evening enjoying the local swimming pool, before heading to a party at one of the host’s homes. Before the party, Julianna and Helena, who are staying with the Count’s sister at the Schloss, enjoyed a dessert of custard and locally grown currants with their host mother!

Rehearsal this morning was in a building owned by the local church, and started around 9am after everyone congregated in the Malick’s beautiful courtyard. It was a semi-quick rehearsal, as everyone was eager to get to Heidelberg for our day of sightseeing and shopping. We were also all excited to serenade chaperone Marisa with our three international birthday songs on the bus ride over! Happy birthday Marisa!!

We arrived by bus to Heidelberg around 12pm, and all 56 of us (including chaperones) packed onto a funicular that took us to the top to visit the amazing Heidelberg Castle. We enjoyed a picnic lunch, generously packed by host families, on a lawn just outside of the castle gates before heading in to explore. Schloss Heidelberg (Heidelberg Castle) ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 260 feet up the northern part of the Köngstuhl hillside, and thus has a beautiful view of the old downtown (which served for some amazing photo opps). The earliest castle structure was built in 1204, which we were all shocked to find out from Sue Malick, who told us some of the incredible history of the ruins on our bus ride over. In the castle ruins, we split up into our tour groups to explore the grounds. We were all sure to check out the enormous wine cask (and take copious amounts of pictures in front of it), in addition to the old Apothecary museum.

Heidelberg itself is a college town in Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar, the area which we have been exploring over the past few days. Heidelberg also has a delightful downtown, which provided us some great shopping time later this afternoon. Several of our singers, including Talia and Zia, enjoyed the Birkenstock store, which many of our singers have been searching out since day one. There were also two gummy bear stores, one of which gave out samples! Jack and many of the other boys came back to the bus armed with bags full of Haribo and other tasty gummy snacks. Of course, almost everyone enjoyed our daily dose of gelato, which was definitely needed on a hot day like today! We are definitely enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather that Hochhausen has provided us.

As we prepare for our final days of tour, we look forward to our last two concerts tomorrow and Friday.

Click through the slideshow below for highlights: