July 16 - On the Rhein

(John) We took the train from Cologne to Koblenz this morning. Then just a short taxi ride brought us to the Koeln Dusseldorfer Rhein River Cruise dock.

The first segment of our cruise was up stream to St. Goar. We took a break from the boat, debarked in St. Goar and left our luggage in the Hotel Hauser. We road the "Tschu Tschu" to the top of the gorge. Once we arrived at the fortress, we both were entranced by the magnificent ruins of the largest Rhein castle: Burg Rheinfels.

We walked along the ramparts, through an old dungeon, a slaughter house, courtyards, archer placements, and a small museum. I tried to imagine the siege battles from hundreds of years ago, before the castle was destroyed by the French in the late eighteenth century. The views up and down the Rhein were wunderbar!

Once our exploration of the castle ruins was complete, we had time for a snack on the balcony of a hotel that agreed to store our luggage for free. Then we returned to the river cruise dock and continued our voyage. We disembarked for the evening in Bacharach.

This medieval town immediately impressed us as a village steeped in fairy tales and Teutonic legends. When we checked into the Hotel Altkolnischer Hof, Gene and I were both thrilled to have a beautiful airy room that included a balcony overlooking the central square.

We used our guidebook to stroll along the ruins of the ancient town wall and the six still extant towers. The evening came to a close with a little schnitzel in the hotel restaurant, along with a glass of local Riesling wine, trocken (dry).

Sadly, while relaxing on the balcony just prior to bed, our neighbor began to smoke a cigar - driving us inside prematurely. It certainly is true to say that many more people here smoke, and they do it in every sort of public place. That's very different from Ireland and England - not to mention the US. Still, it was a wonderful and relaxing day. Tomorrow we ride the train to Wurzburg and the Prince Bishop's Residenze - ending the day later in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

(Gene) It was a pretty relaxing day cruising south, up the Rhiene. The weather was warm. However, the boats were not crowded and therefore, we were always able to find shade when we wanted a bit cooler place to sit.

Once we arrived in Bacharach it seemed very empty for a Saturday. Actually, everywhere seems to have less visitors than I expected.

We ended the day as John has mentioned with a relaxing meal at the restaurant in our hotel. Sitting in the market square having Puttenschnitzel (turkey) was a wonderful way to end the day.