We arose in good time and took a cab and rode up the Philosophenweg, a beautiful road extending along the slope of the Heidelberg, which afforded us a splendid view of the plain of the Rhine as far as the Haardt Mountain. New villas are all along the road, and high walls prevent the soil from washing down. These are very grown with vines and kept in splendid order.

We drove through beautiful woods and returned by way of the Hirschgraben, where we stopped at the old Gasthaus where the students meet to spend a pleasant time drinking the home grown wine.

Here we sat at a table, 150 years old, in the top of which the names of many old students are cut by them, among them Bismarck and Fritz Benter. There are several of these tables, and I guess they could tell many a tale if they could speak.

We crossed the Old Bridge over the Neckar, constructed in 1786 with a statue of Elector Charles and allegorical groups. We also saw the new bridge erected in 1877. I forgot to mention that, in the Gasthaus in the Hirschgasse, we visited the hall where the students fight their duels.

Upon entering the old town, we saw the “Hotel zum Rittter,” erected in 1592, in the style of the Otto Heinrichs Bau, which is almost the only house which escaped destruction in 1692.

We went into the Heilige Geist Church, erected in 1500, which was divided into two parts in 1705 in order that the Catholics might worship in one part while the Protestants worshipped in the other half.

We returned in good time for dinner and took a train for Stuttgart at 3:45. On our road, we passed Bretten, in which town Philip Melanchton was born in 1497, also the Hohen Asperg, formerly a small fortress, where Duke Charles confined the poet Schubart from 1777 to 1787 for having composed a satirical epigram on him.

I now saw familiar spots which I had visited when a scholar at the Salon near Ludwigsburg, for at that time I could not go home during vacation, so our teachers would take us for a three weeks tramp through the country, explaining the history of the old castles and giving us lessons in geology and mineralogy—also astronomy, but we boys liked the gastronomy the best and always looked forward to our resting places for lunch and suppers.

We passed through Ludwigsburg, which we intended to visit from Stuttgart and reached our destination at 6 o’clock and went to the Hotel Silber.

After dressing up, we went to the Stadt Garten where we took supper and listened to an excellent concert. The garden is laid out in grand style with palms and beautiful flowers, sunken garden, a pretty little lake with a wine restaurant, which was illuminated with electric lights.

To bed at 11 o’clock.