Thursday, September 12

It has been such an action packed week that I have myself confused on which day we did what. I typically write the blog posts the day after the activity. So, this is really about what we did on Wednesday. I almost forgot to write about it.

I got up early to make sure I was ready for the Rhine River Gorge and the 30 some castles we would see. I ate breakfast then went up to the sun deck to observe the scenery. It was quite cool and a little foggy. They have blankets to use on the deck but not enough for everyone. I got mine since I was one of the first few people there. Don and Frankie came up after a bit and we sat together.

It was really quite beautiful scenery all along the river with high hills where the castles were built. Agnes, the cruise manager, did a running commentary about each castle as we came to it. Some had amusing stories or legends. Some were tragic and some were amusing. I will just post a couple of the pictures that I took since I took quite a few.

One of the interesting things we learned was that during World War II the Americans tried not to bomb the castles and cathedrals. So, to protect the train tunnels the put fake castles at the entrances. I wondered if they did it before the war really got going or quickly did it once they started getting bombed. I haven’t been able to find out yet.

After a lunch of suckling pig, pork belly, sauerkraut, sausages and fried potatoes, which was way too much for lunch, we went into Rüdesheim for a wine tasting tour. We took a little train into the town and then walked up into the vineyards in the hills. We tasted 3 different Reislings since that is the grape mostly grown in these parts. The first two were nice, the last was too sweet. He also poured a couple of Pinot noir wines but I wasn’t impressed.

Don and Frankie and I walked back to the boat. So it was another day of walking and climbing hills. My legs and feet were tired.

We met back up with Barb and Celia for dinner. I was still so full from lunch I just had the appetizer and veal broth for dinner. Don and Frankie were a bit rushed through dinner as they were going back into town to meet the children of Don’s long time friends. I went to bed.