Awoke this morning to the sun shining brightly on the Rhine which made our bus ride to Marksburg Castle near Koblenz very scenic. Built in the Middle Ages, the castle was more for defense and less for residence and it was the only castle in this area not damaged during the War. We hiked up a steep winding road to the castle and had a nice tour. Back to the ship which was traveling up stream the whole time we were gone, traversing though numerous locks. It took several hours for the ship to travel what we accomplished on a bus in 30 minutes or so.
The Rhine starts in Lake Constance in the Swiss Alps before joining with the River Main (pronounced Mine.) We are travelling along the Rhine Gorge, a most beautiful hilly area of the middle Rhine and home to castles and churches too numerous to count. It is particularly beautiful when the terrain becomes hilly and you see the terraced vineyards and the pear and apple trees in full bloom. One of the highlights was seeing Lorelei Rock and the small statue of the maiden. It's easy to see why the story came into being because the river is deep, narrow and curving in this spot and requires a good captain to navigate through. The entire gorge is 45 miles long which we accomplished in weather sunny enough to allow occasional forays to the open air deck. We spent the entire afternoon and evening on the ship so had ample time for relaxation and being out on our private stateroom deck. Sehr gut.
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