Ahhh… Beer on a river cruise, what fun! The four of us (Rachel, Matt, Dave, Me!) cruised along the Rhine River in Germany on Saturday afternoon. The Rhine River cruise was about 2 hours long from our starting point in the town of Bacharach. We must have seen about 5-10 different castles along the way along with many other interesting points. There are many legends surrounding the Rhine river including something about 7 virgin maidens who would shipwreck boats on the seven reefs of the Rhine.

Dave and me on the Rhine River cruise.

Rachel and Matt!

The photo above is of the Loreley Rock. Legend has it that a young maiden threw herself from this rock after heartbreak from an unfaithful lover and turned into a siren. She lures sailers of the Rhine with her music which causes them to shipwreck their boats.

One of the towns we passed by on our cruise.

Castles galore!

We stayed in the small historic town of Bacharach along the Rhine River. Dave and I rented bikes and decided that is would be a good idea on empty stomachs to go and find food in the next town over. That proved to be a bad idea. 1 hour later we still did not have any lunch in our stomachs. It was a Sunday afternoon and most of the restaurants and shops were closed. We headed back to Bacharach and scored some food. I had a cheeseburger. I am American at heart.

I love all of the painted buildings. They seem to be everywhere!

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We walked about 7 – 8 miles round trip to and from the castle Burg Eltz. I was so tired from this hike. Getting there was fine, it was the trip back that killed me. We got lost about 3 different times as the signs going up to the castle and back down to the town were not very clear. We took a path that started in Karden and ended in some other little town called Moselkern. Suffice it to say, it was a long hike up and down hill.

The town of Karden, Germany

Rachel and Matt on our hike.

Valley on our way to Burg Eltz.

The castle was beautiful! It’s original construction dates back to 1157. There were several other parts of Burg Eltz and residences added to the castle all the way through the 1600′s. The castle has remained in the same family for over 800 years. The Eltz family still owns it today.

Castle Eltz near the Mosel River

At the end of our hike we decided to take the Bahn (train) two stops to the town where Rachel and Matt’s car was parked. We couldn’t find the ticket machine in time so we had the choice to either hop the train or wait for the next one 30 minutes later. We decided to just get on the train and hope for the best. Unfortunately there was nowhere to buy tickets on the train, at least not that we say. The 4 of us decided to head to the one stall bathroom and wait out our two stops. Like that doesn’t look suspicious! Thankfully we only had a passenger laugh at us while watching us pile out of the small bathroom and not a train worker hand us a ticket. We read a sign that if we had been caught it would have been a 40 EUR ticket ($55). We were so worried that we were going to get caught! It was hilarious as we walked quickly off of the train knowing that we got away with that!

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Burg Eltz Castle near the Mosel River in Germany

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