Rhine Valley

My update on my Rhine Valley trip is definitely overdue since I'm almost back around to the weekend again.  Can't believe how fast these weeks move in Germany. 

First thing about the Rhine Valley is that when I was planning my trip, I couldn't quite figure out why it would take me an hour and half to reach a destination that was only 77km away.  I'd have to be averaging speeds less than 45 MPH.  Once I reached the Valley it all because clear.  There is a brief stint on the Autobahn (fun!) and then you begin to drive right along the river, passing just beside and sometimes through these little  Rhine Valley towns.  You have to drive right along the river because there is only a very narrow bit of land beside the river that is flat.  After that the hills rise sharply on either side with long rows of grapes stretching up to the tops of these hills.  It is a beautiful sight, and if that were not impressive enough, around every other turn in the road there is a castle jutting out of the hill overlooking the river.  It's amazing that I didn't crash into anything with this view.  I was actually happy to hit a little bit of construction because then I could whip out my camera and take pictures!

I decided to go to two towns, St. Goar and Bacharach.  I actually put St. Goarhausen into my navigator, whom I've named Hildegarde, so that I ended up on the opposite side of the river than I wanted to be.  Also I should point out that there are no bridges over the river anywhere in this area.  Not a problem, though.  They have ferries!  I drove my car onto the ferry and across we went.

In St. Goar is Rheinfels Castle, which was constructed in the 1200s and like every castle along the Rhine is up a hill, so up the hill I trekked.  (This weekend provided an excellent excercise regime.)  Some places in the castle and reasonably well preserved whereas others have collapsed from various sieges over the centuries.  It was French Revolutionary troops that finally did it in.  You can still see the larder, the dungeon (which was essentially a pit), and all the arrow slits and places to pour the boiling oil onto invading forces.  I will post pictures later as no description can really capture it. I do enjoy history, so I had a fun time wandering through the castle.

St. Goar also offered me an opportunity to practice my French.  In the town center there were an assortment of booths setup by merchants from Alsace.  I had a chocolate crepe for breakfast. Yum.  I also had to fend off an overly solicitous woman trying to sell me various preserves and jams.  My mediocre French did not stop her from helping out by speaking much more slowly and having me taste like five different flavors including one interesting chestnut one.  I finally told her that I wanted to go to the castle and did not want to carry these bottles up that hill, and she released me.  I'm actually amazed I communicated that much in French. 

After St. Goar I went to Bacharach.  This town is absolutely adorable.  It's all cobble-stoned and filled with half-timber houses, including the altes Haus, which was built in 1358.  Yeah, I'd say that was one OLD house.  I have to imagine that This Old House in Europe must be a very different kind of show.... There are also the remains of some of the original medieval town walls and six of the towers the dotted this wall.  Again I hiked way the hell up this hill to the castle above.  You couldn't actually walk through it, but it was huge an impressive none the less.  Also part way up the hill was the remains of an old gothic-looking chapel.

The only thing left to do after this was make my way back home along the river for Incredibly Scenic Drive take II.  I even went past the town of Bingen, for which Hildegard von Bingen was named.  I had one of those, "Ohhhh, Bingen!" moments. 

Anyway, this weekend I'm heading to Baden-Baden and Freiburg.  If I'm very, very brave I may even do the traditional bath thing in Baden-Baden and go nekkid... We'll see if get up the nerve.