Our ship cast off from the Rüdesheim dock as we were going to breakfast the next
morning.
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| Officer running the ship |
Up to this point we had traversed the Rhine primarily at night and
hadn’t seen many worthwhile sites except for our tours and some industrial
complexes we passed during the night, and
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| A church and a castle |
the cruise had not lived
up to its brochure buildup that we expected.
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| Middle Rhine castle |
Today we were starting to cruise
the middle Rhine section which features numerous castles, churches, Romanesque
and Gothic architecture, and the sights started almost immediately after we
were underway.
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| Another castle |
The middle Rhine is a river valley with precipitous cliffs
with castles perched on nearly every hilltop, extending from the old Roman town
of Koblenz to Rüdesheim.
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| Get the picture? |
All along this section there are vineyards maintained on the steep hillsides
that produce the famous Rhine wines.
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| What, another castle | |
The Rhine not only carried goods and
people from many different countries, but was also a channel for a wealth of
cultural influences and ideas, and the religious buildings along the river are
a testimony to this.
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| Bring your wheels with you! |
We saw more castles and churches along an approximate
50-mile stretch than we had seen so far in the entire trip.
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| Another one of those historical sites |
There are so many
historical sites in the upper middle Rhine valley that it has been declare a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002, and is noted for its outstanding universal
value.
 |
| And another |
We arrived in Koblenz around noon. It is a beautiful city
that sits at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, and was originally
established as a military stronghold by the Romans under Julius Caesar in 9
B.C.
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| A Rhine River traffic control station |
After lunch we disembarked the ship and boarded a tour bus that would take
us up to Marksburg Castle which was built in 1117.
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| A pretty church on the Rhine |
Many of the castles were
razed during periods of war, particularly by the French who seemed to have a
particular knack for tearing down anything that belonged to the enemy
regardless of its potential worth or use as a spoil of war.
 |
| Tunnels carved through the mountainside |
Thus, many of the
castles along the middle Rhine are restored structures.
 |
| Some church |
Marksburg Castle is the
best preserved original castle on the middle Rhine and has seen 800 years of
change and turmoil without being significantly blemished in its location.
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| Another church |
The
castle sits atop an isolated, very steep hill on a bend in the river, and the formidable
terrain so discouraged the enemy that the castle never sustained a significant attack
throughout the many years of war and turmoil in the surrounding area.
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| Middle Rhine castle |
After
hiking to the top, we believed it! A good defensive doesn’t make it easy on
modern day visitors.
 |
| At Marksburg Castle |
Inside the castle we were surprised to find very rough
cobblestone and learned that this design allowed horses to be ridden throughout
the castle.
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| Gunnery at Marksburg Castle |
The castle tour guided us through a number of rooms including
servant quarters, kitchen, the knight’s dining area and sitting area, the owner’s
wood-insulated bedroom which was warmer than other bedrooms, and a medieval
torture chamber replete with a rack, pillory, and other nasty devices designed
to inflict suffering.
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| Scale these walls! |
Our tour ended in the blacksmith’s shop where a number of
everyday items necessary for maintaining the castle were fabricated as well as
weapons.
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| The knight's sitting room |
We returned to Koblenz where the program director offered an
optional walking tour of the city, but we opted to take a tram ride that
ascended over the Rhine with Dayne and Pam.
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| The chapel at Marksburg |
The ascent and descent only lasted
about 5 minutes, but it gave us some great photos of the river and its traffic
and some panoramic view of Koblenz and the surrounding valley area.
 |
| Who would you want to fight? |
Even Jane
was happy to have taken the ride in spite of her fears. We returned to the ship
and readied ourselves for dinner. Tonight the chef was featuring a “Tour of
Germany” menu which turned out to be a really spectacular affair.
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| The Moselle and Rhine from the tram |
There were
four buffets of German food arranged in different areas of the dining room and
offering different selections at each station.
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| Our tram |
This gluttonous extravaganza
offered some of the tastiest German fare we had ever eaten and the only
disappointment was that we couldn’t sample everything. Halfway through the
meal, the executive chef appeared and announced that we could go below and view
the galley.
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| Rhine River traffic from the tram |
We thought we would enjoy a galley tour, but were overwhelmed to
find another German food buffet laid out for us. Not wanting to insult the
chef, we selected a few more delicious items and headed back to our table. By
the end of the meal we were stuffed, and even Dayne struggled to polish off his
ice cream. This turned out to be one of the best dining experiences we have
ever enjoyed and only regret not having the recipes. We went to the lounge to
listen to the piano player and have a nightcap before turning in for the night.
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