Rhine Cruise

This is Tim waving good-bye as they set sail down the Rhine.  They boarded the boat in Bacharach.  

I drew the short straw and got to drive to the next town.  Actually, I have already done a wonderful Rhine cruise by all the castles when I was younger.  We went downstream in the day, and then enjoyed all the fireworks from the castles during the night when we came back.

The high water is from the flooding.  It made it a quick trip! 

I can't tell you about all the castles, but I did send Tim and William with Rick Steeve's books.

It's near the middle of the river and quite striking.

I love seeing the vineyards and the castles.

The Barons along the Rhine would make boats pay a tax to pass their part of the river.

Some are high on the hill, so they were harder to attack.

They don't look big now, but some were larger before all the wars.  Um, we're talking about the ones that started with Napoleon coming through and sacking the entire area.

Enjoying the cruise.

There are so many castles along this short portion of river.

You can still see some ruins.

The new tower looks beautiful.

Churches in different styles, clean little towns.

Clock tower!

Impressive towers.

Cliffs where you could watch for folks coming.

 It is amazing how many castles and towers there are. 

More...

...and more...

Churches...

 Tower.

 

And now, for William's obsession with trains and tunnels.

And more tunnels.

Castle?

Nope, tunnel!

And then they got off in St. Goar.