This morning we sailed on the Rhine River from Cologne to Rüdesheim am Rhein. It was a morning of castles, churches, hills, rocks, half timbered houses, and vineyards. In other words, a morning of beautiful scenery.
According to our guide, this is one of the most photographed castles in Germany. It seems castles are either hotels or ruins.You will notice that the leaves are in fall color in many of the pictures. I suspect that they are turning early due to the severe drought in the area.The light yellow building in the back is a church and the white building attached to the front of it is a pub. The sole entrance to both buildings is thru the door of the pub. According to our guide, this is not uncommon.This is the Lorelei Rock. It is a 433 ft tall slate rock located at a blind curve in the Rhine River. The name means “murmuring” in the old German language. At one time, the sounds of currents in the area and a small waterfall were amplified by the slate rock to crate a murmuring sound. The murmuring is hard to hear today due to the development of the area. Legend attributes the murmuring to the song of a beautiful girl who sat on the rocks combing her hair. Her beauty is said to have distracted the sailors resulting in many boat crashes on the rocks in the blind curve.A nearby statue of the Lorelei.Railroad tracks are located on both sides of the Rhine. Hitler knew that the Allied planes would not bomb the castles in the area, so he made the tunnel entrances resemble castles. It was easy to fix a bombed track, but much more difficult to fix a tunnel.The building on the bank of the island in the river was once a toll booth for passing ships.In Rüdesheim, we took a cable car to the top of a hill for views of the city. The fields are all grapes. Riesling is the most popular grape grown in the area.On the top of the hill was this monument commemorating the German victory in the Franco-Prussian war.The town of Rüdesheim is filled with numerous beer halls and gardens such as this one.
Europe is certainly beautiful. We keep enjoying your trips! Our daughter and her husband went to Switzerland this Summer and loved it! It was a biking trip and hiking from VRBO to VRBO. Corinna swam once a day in every lake she came to.
Fun to see others having fun!
Peggy and Dave.
We still remember the fun we had with you on the Sea Cloud!
Hi Peggy and Dave, Thanks for writing. We also have fond memories of the Sea Cloud. We met someone on the trip who traveled with Windstar, and we talked about how much we enjoyed the Sea Cloud. Keep in touch and we hope our paths cross again.
Thank you have fun
Europe is certainly beautiful. We keep enjoying your trips! Our daughter and her husband went to Switzerland this Summer and loved it! It was a biking trip and hiking from VRBO to VRBO. Corinna swam once a day in every lake she came to.
Fun to see others having fun!
Peggy and Dave.
We still remember the fun we had with you on the Sea Cloud!
Hi Peggy and Dave, Thanks for writing. We also have fond memories of the Sea Cloud. We met someone on the trip who traveled with Windstar, and we talked about how much we enjoyed the Sea Cloud. Keep in touch and we hope our paths cross again.
What a fabulous journey!
Enjoy every moment