BIKE TO RUIN STRAHLENBURG of Schriesheim
On Saturday March 16th we rode our bikes out to find the ruins we could see sometimes from our apartment.  We missed the Ruin Hirschburg but found the next one called Ruin Strahlenburg.  The ruined castle has a restaurant open during warmer months that will be fun to re-visit when all the vineyards are growing and as the seasons change the views will be even better.
http://www.strahlenburg-schriesheim.de/en/index.html
We rode about 25 miles round trip.  It was a pretty nice day although there is still a little snow and ice here and there, we stayed warm and enjoyed our exercise and fresh air.

Looking up at the Ruin Strahlenburg from the town below and the narrow streets.

This steep cobblestone path going up through the vineyards was a real challenge for me.  I couldn't ride it and I kept slipping on the stones when I walked up it because of the cleats on my shoes.  Steve made it up pretty fast, you can see him in the yellow jacket near the top of it. 

View from the vineyards approaching the ruins.  Where we live would be on the horizon.

Looking up at the Ruin, just before getting to the top.

The entrance to the Strahlenburg Ruins

View from the terrace at the ruins.

The terrance where you can buy food and drinks in warmer times, snow & ice still on the ground here.  When the vines start growing it will be even prettier.

Before 1237 the castle was built on monastery property illegally but was allowed after much money was paid.  The  castle still shows the round keep, and a four-storey residential house of the time of around 1240.

A spring by the road still has ice, strange globe shapes.

Looking back across the valley to the ruin after we went DOWN and the back UP  the other side along the Blutenweg road.