Oberwesel, Germany July 25, 2012 

“Unfulfilled dreams become regrets, and I intend to have as few as possible” I don’t know where I got this from but I like it- Charlie

We got a nice quiet nights sleep last night and were able to sleep in a little today. Our hotel has breakfast included so we went down at 8:00 for that. Good coffee and a German breakfast which includes bread, rolls, cold cuts( salami, olive loaf, bologna, hams, cheeses, and hard boiled eggs. The condiments include jam, sour cream, peanut butter, and nutella. There was also some fresh fruit and juice. This seems to be typical from our breakfasts in Italy, although sometimes it is just the bread or rolls and coffee.

Be Very Careful

After breakfast, we walked for 10 minutes to the train station and caught the train to St. Goar ( pronounced go- are). Then another climb to Rheinfels Castle. It was a little hotter today so the sweat started right up even though it was before 10 o’clock. As we climbed, there were great views of the town and the Rhine River below us. We reach the castle buy our tickets and use the handy restrooms ( Europeans call them water closets or WC for short). I got to pee over a urinal with a guillotine over it that put my swanz in peril of being cut off. This reminded me of a Johhny Carson skit, “you take the slausen cut off, cut off your slausen”. An old pump handle let you pump water into the sink. Not your common WC.

Inside Rheinfels Castle

Back to the castle, Rheinfels was the largest on the Rhine. Its shell is still intact although it is only a small fraction of its original size. It was built in 1245 and stayed unconquerable for over 500 years. The part remaining is the inner castle. It would hold up to 4000 people as a last resort and had enough provisions to be self sufficient within these walls for 6 months. It withstood a siege of 28,000 French troops in 1692 but in 1797 surrendered to the French without a fight and they destroyed most of it. The self- guided tour was great and let you see many aspects of medieval life. There were slits that crossbow men shot down and other slits where they poured hot pitch on the enemy. We also walked or hunched around in some mine tunnels which they filled with explosives so they could blow up hundreds of enemy soldiers with one big blast. We saw where the outhouses were set hanging outside the castle walls so I guess you could **** on your enemy as well. “I **** in your General direction” Monty Python. We spent two hours in the castle and walked back down the hill to town.

Cuckoo Clock

In town we checked out two churches, a cuckoo clock store, and a beer stein store. Then we crossed the street to eat lunch on a park bench by the river. Two people on bikes pulled up to the shady bench just as we got there so we kicked their bikes to the ground and grabbed the bench. Just seeing if you are paying attention. We actually shared the bench with them and had a half broken English conversation with them. More people from Holland on holiday. They were out for a drive and biking along the river for a while with their own bikes. We enjoyed the company and our sandwiches which we brought from breakfast. We then decided to hop the train to the next town over called Oberwesel which has old Roman walls and fortifications. We walked a nice trail up to the wall and also through town. It was very nice and uncrowded. As it was getting quite hot we got back on the train to Bacharach.

Carol in the Rhine

When we departed the train we walked across the road to the river and found a place where I saw people hanging out yesterday. We were able to go in the river and it was very cool and pleasant on our tired feet. Refreshed, we went back to the hotel and after rehydrating decided to walk the old town wall trail back up to the castle we went to last night and have another beer. This was a different trail then what we took yesterday and turned out to be much easier although it was all uphill. It went past the old town wall and some old vineyards. All the towns on the river had walls to protect them and the people would retreat to the castles when things got really rough.

I Will Walk There for a Beer

We made it to the castle and ordered two large beers and found a nice place in the shade overlooking the town and river. We ended up speaking with Jureg ( spelling may be off but he said it was George in German) for about an hour. Nice guy about our age with two young foster children (6 and 8) that he and his wife were raising until they were 18. He has had lots of jobs and now works for an American insurance company on the industrial side. We talked about all aspects of life. Very enjoyable. So far this trip is nice in that we seem to have time to talk with people instead of being on the go constantly. We took a different trail down from the castle and without knowing it, it put us right behind the yard in our hotel. We walked up the street and ordered two pizzas to eat in our garden. While walking, two German couples asked us about our hotel. We talked a while about our trip, where we ate in town, and how we found this nice motel. While telling them about our itinerary, I mentioned Oberammergau and one of them goes how do you know about that, it is not a touristy town, followed by “you know all the places, you must be a European travel specialist”. I like the fact that we seem to have found several off the beaten path places to visit from the normal U.S. tours. We made it to the pizza place, ordered our pizzas and had a twenty minute wait. While waiting, I heard a guy at the bar talk to the owner in Italian. So, I asked him if he was from Italia. He said yes and I practiced my lousy Italian asking Dove? He said he was from Sicily and I told him in Italian that my grandparents came from Sicily and sono di Colorado ( I am from Colorado). He showed me some pictures on his phone from Sicily, swimming at the beach and how the beaches on the river here were no good. We said a nice Buona sera as we left with our pizzas. Meeting two Italians at a pizza joint in Bacharach Germany was not something we expected. Pizza and cold beer in the garden was great and we walked to the gelato place for the finishing touch of Riesling wine gelato. Another great day has ended. We walked more today than any other so far but do not feel like we did. I think because we are breaking the walks up and relaxing a little in between. I don’t know but we are happy that we seem to be holding up. CNC 

Expenses                                                                                                                                                     13.60E-RT train to St. Goar                                                                                                                         8E-Rheinfels Castle                                                                                                                                  5.40E- 2 beers at Bacharach Castle                                                                                                    12.50E-2 pizzas                                                                                                                                              3.30E-2 beers with pizza from Zur Alt Backstubb                                                                           3.20E- 2 gelatos                                                                                                                                       Miles walked – 14.75 miles                                                                                                                        PS I was just reminded that when we were in one of the castle rooms, Carol turned to me and said, “It smells like a castle in here.” I just thought that was funny.