Day 4 (Part I): Burg Rheinfels

This morning after breakfast we headed up the hill to the ruin of Burg Rheinfels, a medieval fortress/castle just outside of the town of St. Goar. It was a really fun castle ruin to explore. You couldn't tell from below in the town, but it was a huge, expansive ruin with lots to explore. They also had a little museum with artifacts from the castle, information about the various battles and battle technologies that were developed. The castle was built in 1245 from Graf Diether V. von Katzenelnbogen in order to protect the customs from St. Goar (charging ships going by on the river). It became an increasingly important defense point on the river. When the castle "Burg Katz" was built on the other side of the river, it became an even more important castle, because together they could close off the Rhine. In the 17th century it was expanded and rebuilt into a renaissance castle, and the defense walls were expanded. In 1794 they gave over to the French Revolutionaries without a fight though, and since then it became a ruin.  

We had so much fun walking around the ruin, enjoying the view of the Rhine Valley, and expoloring the castle. You could buy a candle or a flashlight at the little museum in order to explore some of the underground tunnels and defense towers.  It was a little scary (and we all agreed in the US this would be illegal...) but we got a candle and wandered through a bit. The inner bits of the castle were surprisingly well-preserved. They used a lot of the slate rock from the surrounding countryside to build.

And the sun came out! we spent a few hours walking around, enjoying the scenery and our last few hours on the Middle Rhine.

find mormor!

Day 3 (Part II) - Oberwesel and Bacharach

The rest of the day when we weren't hiking, we were exploring the two little towns of Oberwesel (where the hike started) and then later we took the train to Bacharach, a town famous for its old half-timbered houses (Fachwerkhäuser). 

Day 2: Boat trip up the Rhine to Koblenz

on the boat tour

As you can probably tell from the photos, we woke up to a rainy day... which I’m sure the spring flowers need, but it’s not so nice when you’re a tourist. Oh, well. We will just try to make the best out of it. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel (German rolls with jam, meats and cheeses, yoghurt, soft-boiled eggs, coffee) and then we got on a boat cruise down the river. We went with the current, and could see all kinds of vineyards, little towns and castles as we floated past. Very scenic. This part of the Rhine is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and between Koblenz and Mainz there are about 40 castles total! 

 

It took about 2 hrs 15 mins to get to Koblenz, one of the largest cities on the Mittelrhein, a city that is over 2000 years old! Koblenz was built where the Mosel River meets the Rhine, and this “corner” is called Deutsches Eck, or “German corner”. There is a big Prussian monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I at this point. Opposite, on the other bank of the river, is the Festung Ehrenbreitstein, a huge fortress. We walked through the town, had lunch at a little cafe, and walked to the train station. The boat ride took 2 hrs 15 mins, the train took 26 mins!

Back in St. Goar, we caught the tail end of a little fair they were having for "Easter Monday". The ferry had a special - 1 EUR/person across the river and back. Both little towns had a fair. Not very good weather for it... Hopefully the sun will peek out a few times the next few days. Our hotel is right by the ferry station, so it's fun to watch the guy going back and forth. The driver is pretty talented to navigate the current.

On the ferry crossing the river

 If you can see on the wine glass to the left, German glasses always have a line for the liter mark, where the servers should fill them up. Typical for a glass of wine is 0,2 Liters  (6.7 ounces), and here you pay around 2.90 - 3.10 for a glass of wine. Mormor likes the standard size and both she and my mom commented on how inexpensive the wine is compared to the US! It's nice! You just sit down and order a dry Riesling, or pick off the menu, and they bring you something from the town next door! Amazing!

Prost!

where we had dinner tonight

warm apple strudel with ice cream and whipped cream for dessert...lecker!