A day on the Rhein (Lots of PICS in this post)

Today we are up early as we must drive to Bingen to catch a boat to cruise the Rhein up to Boppard leisurely enjoying the view of the wine valley and the many castles that dot its landscape. Its a pleasant drive on the autobahn which is as one expects cars going at all different speeds. Rule is to keep to the right always except to pass such that vehicles (especially Mercedes) can pass at whatever speed they desire. Usually very fast.

I love this sign on so many different levels. It never failed to crack me up and the joke is Ausfahrt is Germanys largest city as all exits take you there.

eine Ausfahrt nehmen which simply means "turn off at the exit" ..... still cracks me up....

We drive to the quaint little town of Bingen as the bridge at Mainz is closed for refurbishment which prevents us from getting to the other side of the river. No matter it is directly across the river from the small medieval village where the boat cruise truly starts, but as Lisa says is more crowded and touristy. So Bingen it is.

A short walk from town across the train tracks and we are along the River Front where all the ships dock to pickup their passengers for the Journey up the Rhein. There seems to be some confusion with our tickets that Lieselotte bought online as the man in the booth says we cannot hop off hop on at a city along the journey, we must stay on the boat to Boppard. Lisa argues with him and his response is you shouldn't have bought from the internet, its never right, you should come down here to me. I would have sold it cheaper. So much for new technology in the old world reality.

Our boat arrives and we are soon comfortable and ordering Coffee (Lisa needs many cups a day) and a Diet Coke. We no sooner leave the dock than the first castle is just outside our window.

The "Middle Rhine" is one of four sections (High Rhine, Upper Rhine, Middle Rhine, Lower Rhine) of the river between Lake Constance and the North Sea. The upper half of the Middle Rhine (Rhine Gorge) from Bingen (Rhine-kilometer 526) to Koblenz(Rhine-kilometer 593) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2002) with more than 40 castles and fortresses from the Middle Ages and many wine-villages. The lower half from Koblenz (Rhine-kilometer 593) to Bonn (Rhine-kilometer 655) is famous for the formerly volcanic Siebengebirge with the Drachenfels volcano. Both parts together are known as "the romantic Rhine".

The Middle Rhine Valley has been a major tourist attraction since the 19th century. It is also home to some 450,000 people. The valley owes its special appearance to both its natural shape and human alterations. For two millennia, it has been one of the most important routes for cultural exchange between the Mediterranean region and northern Europe. Situated in the heart of Europe, it was sometimes a border and sometimes a bridge between different cultures. The history of the valley reflects the history of Western Europe. With its many outstanding monuments, its hills full of vines, its settlements crowded on the narrow river banks, and the rows of castles lined up on the hill tops, it is considered the epitome of the Rhine romanticism. It inspired Heinrich Heine to write his famous poem "Lorelei" and Richard Wagner to write his opera Götterdämmerung.

We are headed to Boppard with a stop off in Loreley. There are Castles everywhere and every time the ship rounds a bend, there is a new Castle on the hill.

OK... No idea but I burst out laughing

We get off the ship in Loreley which is where there is a Castle and the statue dedicated to the poem Lorelei which speaks of a maiden siren who sings out to the ships below where the sailors are entranced and then crash their ships into the rocky shore.

The town is extremely small and seems to be completely closed down for the winter.

We have only an 90 minutes till the next boat comes and takes up to Boppard so Lisa asks about the bus to Castle Museum which only comes by once an hour. We opt out of the Castle and museum as we don't want to miss our next boat.

So we walk down to the statue on the water of Lorelei

And then back to town to find a bite to eat.

We cannot find but three establishments open. One of them has a nice outdoor area to eat but a tractor and construction crew out front tearing up the parking lot. Nope! Next up is a nice place but it serving full German lunch and all we really looking for is a light snack. Finally Lisa finds a nice pastry/ice cream shop which is closing in the next 15 minutes. We decide to stop there much to the shop owners distress. I have a hot bowl of vegetable soup while the girls both have goulash. Mine is delicious and they say theirs is quite spicy. Either way it is still cold though sunny so the soup hits the spot.

Time to catch our boat to continue up the river. We go back to the dock and wait, and wait, and wait. Hmmmmmm.... No boat..... The lady in the kiosk is talking to some guy but looks like she is closing up shop. Lisa goes over and engages her in a conversation about boat schedules. There is lots of pointing and discussion. She comes back over to us with a confused look and explains that there are no more boats today!

Well this is a fine pickle. None going to Boppard? No, none going either direction. So what do we do? We have seen the trains pass through all day so maybe we just catch a train back to Bingen. Great idea but there isn't a train stop in Lorelei. Well maybe we take a ferry across the river and catch the train on that side and then take a ferry back to our car. Nope.... The bus is the only option.........Unless.... a boat from another line called Lorely-Bingen docks. What if we get on that boat and take it wherever it goes? We all agree thats a good idea.

So Lisa talks to the guy at the boat entrance about our situation and he accepts our return passage ticket from Boppard to Bingen and lets aboard. We are all relieved and now wait the 45 minutes till the ship leaves and is a beautiful cruise with the sun shinning and warming up so we can take off our coats.