Stepping off the edge

From Cologne we took the train to Koblenz and south. Out the train window we watched the river traffic along the Rhine, lots of barges transporting goods north and south and cruise boats (not large ships). Along the way we passed about 25 castles up on the banks of the river and as many vineyards planted on the steep slopes.

We stayed in Bacharach, a quaint little town on the bank of the Rhine River.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant the first night. The food was called slow and local, very healthy and delicious. I had fish, Keith had Wild Boar. We drank wine from this vineyard. The Rhine produces a variety of whites and some lighter reds, to my liking but not Keith’s.

We took a Rhine boat cruise past several castles and vineyards. Pfalzgrafenstein castle above was on an island in the middle of the river and beginning in the 1300’s stopped boats and demanded a toll. If you didn’t pay you were thrown in their cellar.

We got off the boat at St. Goar. We hiked uphill about a kilometre to Rheinfels Castle, the best preserved castle on the Rhine which was initially built in 1050. The following photos are views from the castle.

Looking through the roughly made embrasure.

This following photos are of the flush handle and the faucet pump for the bathrooms in the Rheinsfels Castle. Not sure how old they are but they work!

We really enjoyed our time on the Rhine!