it was a very memorable trip indeed... cruising down the 'unesco heritage' portion of the rhine valley from rüdesheim / bingen to koblenz in germany... where there's a castle on either of the banks every 1 or 2 mile, and no bridges over the river!!
the rhine originates in switzerland, and in its 1232 km journey to the north sea flows through liechenstein, austria, germany, france and the netherlands...
the day was a bit overcast, and thus the water looked brown.. but the vineyards along the entire stretch.. somewhere on terraces along craggy hillsides, somewhere sweeping down the hillsides... made it an enchanting trip.
the boat zigzagged from the left bank to the right.. depending upon where the sights and stops were. we took one stop off to have a look at one of the ruins of the castles in st. goar. ujwal then got off at boppard and took a train back to bingen to fetch the car and come to koblenz!
this is the map of the route we took...
we started our trip in bingen, and little bit below rudesheim. this is when we were walking towards the boat embarkation point.
this ride would have been a bit too slow!
the first of the castles (this ones the ruin, though) on our trip could be seen from there itself...the ehrenfels castle ruins...
...as we waited, ore/coal laden barges struggle upstream beneath the rudesheimer roseneck vineyards...
... and the statue of germania in niederwalddenkmal above rudesheim
the mouse tower in bingen in the middle of the river...
assmanhausen...
then the castles come in swift and quick... many built on craggy rocks on the hillsides.. controlling the rhine waterway...like this one, the rheinstein castle...
... the reichenstein castle...
the town of lorch
sooneck castle...
the vineyard slopes across the river...
the furstenberg ruins...
...the stahleck castle...
...the remains of the werner chapel in bacharach...
pfalz castle in kaub is situated on a rock in the middle of the rhine, and served as a toll-gate for merchandise on the river
the gutenfels castle...
...and the schonburg castle on the other bank over oberwesel
the cliffs of loreley, where the river narrows down a bit, and the rapids therein in the middle ages seemed to have proved a doom for many a ship.. and they blamed it all to a siren whose songs lured the sailors to their doom!!!
katz castle above st. goarhausen...
and the rheinfels castle in st. goar across the river where we got off for a tour and lunch
the rhine is supposed to be the busiest river in terms of transportation
following pictures of the ruins of the castle as we weave our way quickly around it (had a boat to catch!).. destroyed before the french overtook the castle in the late 1700s...
a bumblebee amidst lavender patch in the castle
as we get back on the boat baba realised the umbrella given in his charge was no longer with him...
the maus castle above wellmich
on the 570th km of the river, at boggart...
we continue our journey down the rhine.. the vineyards still on either side...
a barge carrying containers that must have come from a northern port...
the marksburg castle abouve braubach that now houses the german castles association ..
... we cruise on ...
when we were past the 588 km point...
we go under the first bridge of the trip.. and indication that our trip is coming to an end...
... a few kilometers on...
...we see the outskirts of koblenz
we disembark at koblenz and are greeted by a thumbs up sign!
we then head straight for the emperor wilhelms i's cavalier monument at deutsches eck.. signifying germany's unity... a tirthasthal of sorts for the germans
we play around the columns...
the confluence of the rivers mosel and rhie as seen from the monument...
the actualy dobhaan.. the clearer mosel and the muddier and swifter rhine... a shraddha place surely if germany were a hindu country!!!
while we are waiting for ujwal to arrive, it begins to drizzle and the umbrellas come out.. and make us creative...
a notch more of creativity comes with ravi, rehna and kripa posing like the statue, kripa being the horse...
... then as dusk sets in...
that evening in one of the shop windows in the city we see a game being touted as the best game of 2010... viva la dixit!
the rhine originates in switzerland, and in its 1232 km journey to the north sea flows through liechenstein, austria, germany, france and the netherlands...
the day was a bit overcast, and thus the water looked brown.. but the vineyards along the entire stretch.. somewhere on terraces along craggy hillsides, somewhere sweeping down the hillsides... made it an enchanting trip.
the boat zigzagged from the left bank to the right.. depending upon where the sights and stops were. we took one stop off to have a look at one of the ruins of the castles in st. goar. ujwal then got off at boppard and took a train back to bingen to fetch the car and come to koblenz!
this is the map of the route we took...
we started our trip in bingen, and little bit below rudesheim. this is when we were walking towards the boat embarkation point.
this ride would have been a bit too slow!
the first of the castles (this ones the ruin, though) on our trip could be seen from there itself...the ehrenfels castle ruins...
...as we waited, ore/coal laden barges struggle upstream beneath the rudesheimer roseneck vineyards...
... and the statue of germania in niederwalddenkmal above rudesheim
the mouse tower in bingen in the middle of the river...
assmanhausen...
then the castles come in swift and quick... many built on craggy rocks on the hillsides.. controlling the rhine waterway...like this one, the rheinstein castle...
... the reichenstein castle...
the town of lorch
sooneck castle...
the vineyard slopes across the river...
the furstenberg ruins...
...the stahleck castle...
...the remains of the werner chapel in bacharach...
pfalz castle in kaub is situated on a rock in the middle of the rhine, and served as a toll-gate for merchandise on the river
the gutenfels castle...
...and the schonburg castle on the other bank over oberwesel
the cliffs of loreley, where the river narrows down a bit, and the rapids therein in the middle ages seemed to have proved a doom for many a ship.. and they blamed it all to a siren whose songs lured the sailors to their doom!!!
katz castle above st. goarhausen...
and the rheinfels castle in st. goar across the river where we got off for a tour and lunch
the rhine is supposed to be the busiest river in terms of transportation
following pictures of the ruins of the castle as we weave our way quickly around it (had a boat to catch!).. destroyed before the french overtook the castle in the late 1700s...
a bumblebee amidst lavender patch in the castle
as we get back on the boat baba realised the umbrella given in his charge was no longer with him...
the maus castle above wellmich
on the 570th km of the river, at boggart...
we continue our journey down the rhine.. the vineyards still on either side...
a barge carrying containers that must have come from a northern port...
the marksburg castle abouve braubach that now houses the german castles association ..
... we cruise on ...
when we were past the 588 km point...
we go under the first bridge of the trip.. and indication that our trip is coming to an end...
... a few kilometers on...
...we see the outskirts of koblenz
we disembark at koblenz and are greeted by a thumbs up sign!
we then head straight for the emperor wilhelms i's cavalier monument at deutsches eck.. signifying germany's unity... a tirthasthal of sorts for the germans
we play around the columns...
the confluence of the rivers mosel and rhie as seen from the monument...
the actualy dobhaan.. the clearer mosel and the muddier and swifter rhine... a shraddha place surely if germany were a hindu country!!!
while we are waiting for ujwal to arrive, it begins to drizzle and the umbrellas come out.. and make us creative...
a notch more of creativity comes with ravi, rehna and kripa posing like the statue, kripa being the horse...
... then as dusk sets in...
that evening in one of the shop windows in the city we see a game being touted as the best game of 2010... viva la dixit!
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