I'll be honest. We lure Theo to stay longer in Heidelberg because we make a sudden decision to visit inside the castle. Yes, as soon as Theo hears the word "castle," he's interested. For a while.
"Do you want to go inside and see . . ."
Theo immediately nods. "I want to go."
"Well, this may not be what you're expecting . . ."
"I have to go, see?"
Just like a gangster.
So, in my defense, Theo never gives us a chance to explain that we want to go (Dan and I) in the basement where there are ten rooms of an exhibit that has little to do with castles. Nevertheless, Theo agrees and off we go.
The German Apothecary Museum (think ancient pharmacies and medicine ranging from antiquity to the present) is our goal. It is a magnificent exhibit.
We see painted cabinets of a former apothecary in a monastery.
We see Baroque style apothecaries.
We see all sorts of apothecary containers (where they kept the medicine) in glass and colorfully painted majolica.
We see a lab and all its equipment.
We saunter past what the museum tells us is 1,000 medicinal products from an older time.
We're fascinated. Theo is less so. So we have to lure him along, finally suggesting/promising that we might be able to glimpse a pulverized mummy, that was believed to heal coughs, sore throats, broken hearts, shivers and headaches.
Theo buys in.
No, we never do see the mummy, but just the thought that we might-- what people used to believe would help them feel better can scare the bejabbers out of you.
