Rhine River Cruise

Ok… it’s late as I type this so I’m under orders to make it quick. Dahhhh.
After the somewhat grotty day yesterday today dawned O for awesome. Steven T – ask others what this means!
After heaving in a big breakfast we hit the waterfront and wandered down to the departure point.  The old Goethe paddle wheel ship (1913) will be our vessel today. Sheesh the Earnslaw in Queenstown is from 1912!  Anyway the Goethe is the only boat that does the round trip from Koblenz to Rudesheim and back inside a day.  It leaves Koblenz at 9am, arrives at Rudesheim 3:15pm. Leaves Rudesheim 4:15pm, and arrives Koblenz 8:10pm.  Not much time at Rudesheim eh?  So we decide we’ll get off at the stop before and this will give us time to take the seilbahn (chairlift) up the hill and back, have a few drinks, and basically chill before we hop on for the return journey. The up-river leg (against the current) will take the old ship 5.5hrs to reach our drop off at Assmannshausen.  The down-river leg will take just 3hrs 25mins (she’s a fast flowing river is the Rhine!).  The Goethe at Koblenz.
This stretch of the middle Rhine is the best for castle viewing. Forget the rest.  So you’ll see a few today.  Could be a yawn for some.  First up is Schloss Stolzenfels which was a ruined 13th-century castle, gifted to the Prussian crown prince, Frederick William in 1823. He had it rebuilt as a 19th-century palace in Gothic Revival style. There are heaps of barges on show today as you’d expect. This is a very busy transport route.
Barge full of John Deere tractors. Get outta here.
Rhens (only coz we’ll call in there tomorrow).
It’s a beautiful day today. Clear sky. We’re at the front of the boat and we’ll cook. Sunburn is guaranteed.  Kath will end up with Panda eyes.  Mmmm  yummy.  Muzza will get burnt knees!!  Heaps of trains will go by in both directions and on both sides of the river.  Here’s a small part of one that had wagons and wagons of new cars, most were wrapped for a long haul.
Marksburg castle (1117) which we visited yesterday, the only castle on the Rhine never to have been destroyed.
Working in the vines!  I was surprised at the lack of vines in this stretch of the Rhine.  There are heaps more vines on the Mosel River.
Boppard. Another stop of ours tomorrow.  This boat stops 14 times on the way to Rudesheim.

Pretty colours on the waterfront at Boppard.
The hotel at the Burg Rheinfels ruins (above Sankt Goar). Sankt Goar.
And across the river is Sankt Goarhausen

There are no bridges for some kms in either direction so the car ferry does multiple trips between Sankt Goar and Sankt Goarhausen all through the day.
The statue on the spit just before the famous Loreley bend.  Google the legend of the Loreley.
The Loreley is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. Goarshausen, and soars 120m above the waterline. It marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea, and is the most famous feature of the Rhine Gorge.  A very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat accidents there.
We made it!
Train in the vines.  Commuter trains, goods trains, there were heaps of them.
Ochsenturm (Ox Tower) at Oberwesel.
There’s plenty of the old city wall to look at in Oberwesel.  Here you can see it in the foreground and background.  We’ll check it out in a couple of days.
Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady – 1308-1375) is among the Rhineland’s most important Gothic churches.  Made from a bright pink/red stone from the region.Pfalzgrafenstein Castle in the middle of the Rhine River (on on the Falkenau island, aka Pfalz Island).  Trivia: The keep of this island castle, a pentagonal tower with its point upstream, was erected 1326 to 1327 by Ludwig the Bavarian. The castle functioned as (yet another) a toll-collecting station that was not to be ignored.  A chain across the river forced ships to submit, and uncooperative traders could be held in the dungeon until a ransom was paid (the dungeon was a wooden float in the well).  It sure was an expensive journey up the middle Rhine area with greedy toll barons all along this stretch of the river!  Unlike most of the Rhine castles, “the Pfalz” was never conquered or destroyed, withstanding not only wars, but also natural intrusions like ice and floods.  Burg Gutenfels on the hill above Kaub (in behind Pfalz) was built around 1220, badly damaged (like many others) during the Thirty Years War (1618 –1648), and rebuilt during the 19th century.
Bacharach. Our next stop.
The town of Lorch.Burg Sooneck.  Built about 1271. Destroyed by the French in 1689 (does this sound like a broken record?), rebuilt between 1834 and 1861.
Burg Heimburg (1294).Barge!  Yup another one glides silently by.
Ok the sun’s starting to bite so Kath takes shelter.  Fashionable!
Burg Reichenstein (built about 1100,  destroyed in 128, rebuilt 1340, fell into disrepair in 1572, restored in 1899).  And heaps of campers down below.
Plenty of river boats to be seen.
Burg Rheinstein. (constructed in about 1316/1317, deteriorated, rebuilt 1829, currently privately owned).  We’ll visit this one later on.  Looks awesome perched on the rock.Ok so we hopped of the boat at the big town (not) of Assmannshausen (pop 980 – we saw 5 of them).  Walking through the town we found classic cars outside the famous Krone hotel (1541).Up the chairlift we went. A very peaceful 20-25 min ride, much of it through the shade of the trees. Nice.  Looking down on Assmannshausen.We had a beer at a hotel at the top (as you do!) before making the return ride and settling in at a hotel closer to where the boat would collect us.
Assmannshausen building art.
Assmannshausen is famous for its Pinot Noir so we ordered.  Although it looks like the tide’s out, these glasses were quite big so we got a good serving.  AND…it is indeed a beautiful drop.  It tastes nothing like the best Pinot Noir from NZ (i.e. the Central Otago offerings).  Nevertheless very very drinkable indeed.
Unfortunately the service didn’t match the setting.
Ok, it’s time to catch this boat!
By the time we boarded we were a bit peckish.  Kath ordered the Grosse Gebratene Krakauer Bratwurst mit curry sauce und Pommes Frites.  i.e. a fried sausage in a curry sauce with chips.  Presentation?  WTF surely they’re taking the pi$$?   It looks like a dodgy looking…   Wooahh stop!  You be the judge!  Once we stopped laughing we decided to share, but there was no way I was starting from the right hand end!  😉  But I gotta say this sausage was absolutely delicious.  Great flavour, great sauce.
The menu on the table.  The comedy show continues!  Is this a compliment to the chef?
Ok… we’re now back outside. Kath spotted this guy riding a bike and swore he was in his birthday suit.  The zoom lens confirms – yeah nah:  Shoulda gone to Specsavers!.  Close call though.  Who wears beige bike pants!!
Back at the Loreley!
The waters here are turbulent, but parts looked kind of ok.
Burg Maus with Wellmich down below.Burg Liebenstein (one of the two ‘hostile brothers’ castles).  Spot the mountain goats.
Kamp-Bornhofen??
So you called your trucking company what!!!??
Nearly there. The war memorial in the old town gate at Braubach.
Burg Lahneck at Lahnstein.
I could’ve repeated with heaps of photos on the way back, but zzzz’s are required, plus you’re probably castled out by now.  Here we are back at Koblenz and swinging around to berth.
The skipper has moved to the side of the boat to drive from a more favourable position for berthing.
A well earned rest is now required.  It’s a pleasant 12 minute walk along the waterfront and we’re back to the hotel. Quite a tiring day today even though we sat on our dates for most of it.  Sunburnt, windburnt (although on the way out there was none), and a tad tired from the big long day on the Rhine River.  But glad we didn’t do it yesterday!  When comparing the Rhine River with the Mosel River I can only sum it up this way.  The Rhine has presence, and the Mosel has personality.  My preference is certainly the Mosel.  Less traffic, smaller, and prettier.
Bushed!  Room service called in tonight as we weren’t into heading down to the restaurant. Guten nacht from Koblenz.