Today was a good day.
We went into the Rhine where we got onto a ferry and started cruising. From there we got to see the valley of the Rhine, The cruise itself wasn’t that great but they had me at “valley”. I love topography and there was plenty of it. I took too many pictures. There are some castles in the pictures too. The most impressive was the Rhinefels, a huge one on top of a hill. It was converted into a hotel. Apparently there are 4km of tunnels underneath it.
We stopped at the small village of St. Goar where we got to hear how beer steins are made. I’m beginning to suspect that the tours we go on are designed to get us to spend money because afterwards they showed us the collectible Contiki stein. Limited quantities. Or the valuable Berlin Wall stein with a piece of the wall mounted on the lid. As a historical collectible, it’s great, but as a mantle piece of art, it’s rather ugly. They also introduced us to the largest handcrafted cuckoo clock (currently out of order) and tried to sell some clocks to us. They looked great and it would be nice to have, but I don’t read analog clocks and the noise would annoy me quickly. I would have purchased the display model in a heartbeat. Made of clear plastic so you can see what is going on inside. How cool is that? Not for sale.
We’re staying the night in this village. It’s got no night life with less than 400 people, but the best hotel! It’s 300 years old and has been slowly added on to in the past three centuries. There is no real organization, it is confusing, and it is easy to get lost.
Then I went touristing. I got a beer stein (although maybe I should have gotten a horn) and a pair sandals from the Birkenstock store. They are cheap when they are direct from manufacturer.
Many of the others were going to a wine tasting. It didn’t interest me so I decided to wander the village with no real agenda. That was the best idea. I went up to the Rhinefels castle. On the way down I met some co-tourists who said the castle was closed. But I needed a walk so I continued up the hill. I passed the castle. At the top there was nothing interesting but a field of sheep who baa-ed expectedly at me.
Going down I passed a suspicious staircase. I had time, so I took it and was led down to the battlements of the Rhinefels. It felt like a secret area except there were German sightseeing signs. I found two entrances to the tunnels with nothing to stop me from crawling in. Nothing except it was really dark and scary. There were paths that led to cliffs that looked like dry moats. Beautiful scenery too.
All in all, a cool tour that gave lots of excellent pictures. I even got back in time for dinner (barely).
After dinned (spatzle!) several of us went back to the castle in the dark for the view. I spent way too long trying to take a picture of another castle, lit up, across the river.