Castle Alley
Today was a busy day with 3 main activities. This morning we awoke to another small town, Boppard - now back on the Rhein River - as we cruised all night. This town was called a 'technical' stop. Not a city on the itinerary, but we were required to stop because our two captains had too many hours and needed a required 6 hour rest.
Our first activity was a walking tour of Boppard led by our cruise director. Since it was Sunday, it was quiet in the town but it was a nice town to see and within an hour or two, it came alive. We walked around the village from 8:45 till 10 am. We found the first Christmas store of significance so Bill treated Karen to a nice Mother's Day gift. He let her do a lot of shopping and buying!
The next thing on the agenda was cruising thru the most scenic, photographed area of the Rhein which we have dubbed "Castle Alley". A UNESCO world heritage site, it is about 69 kilometers of beautiful scenery, small towns with beautiful houses and churches plus lots and lots of castles. Due to this designation, Germany is not allowed to build any bridges over the Rhein in this area, so small towns just across the river from each other have to use ferries to go back and forth. As we cruised enjoying the sun, we passed no less than 12 castles and took way to many pictures - but it was a fantasy land. Although some of the castles were not restored, all were beautiful.
At 3 pm we docked at Rudesheim where will stay until 10:45 pm. Our first stop was a visit to Siegfried's Mechanical Musikkababinett followed by free time in town. The tour was of a collection of music boxes dating back hundreds of years. They were wonderful to see and hear. One man (Siegfried), a music box collector, found all of them and restored 80% of them to working order. Some were priceless and they ranged in size from a small hand held music box to one instrument 12 feet long by 8 feet high. They were all unique and the tour guide had Bill be the organ grinder for the group and play two antique organ grinders.
All he needed was a monkey! Everyone enjoyed the fun and a few times sang along with the music. It was a blast and were glad to see these fantastic, mechanical players.
After the tour of mechanical music boxes, we broused the town. It was exactly like what we pictured an old German town to look like. We found another, larger Christmas store so we now have some really cool German Christmas items.
The weather continues to be good, with hours of sun and a few 10-15 minutes of rain every few hours. It won't be long before we're back in France as we cruise towards Basel, Switzerland. But until then, we had a unique Mother's Day here in Germany and pray each of you had a great day as well.
Our first activity was a walking tour of Boppard led by our cruise director. Since it was Sunday, it was quiet in the town but it was a nice town to see and within an hour or two, it came alive. We walked around the village from 8:45 till 10 am. We found the first Christmas store of significance so Bill treated Karen to a nice Mother's Day gift. He let her do a lot of shopping and buying!
The next thing on the agenda was cruising thru the most scenic, photographed area of the Rhein which we have dubbed "Castle Alley". A UNESCO world heritage site, it is about 69 kilometers of beautiful scenery, small towns with beautiful houses and churches plus lots and lots of castles. Due to this designation, Germany is not allowed to build any bridges over the Rhein in this area, so small towns just across the river from each other have to use ferries to go back and forth. As we cruised enjoying the sun, we passed no less than 12 castles and took way to many pictures - but it was a fantasy land. Although some of the castles were not restored, all were beautiful.
At 3 pm we docked at Rudesheim where will stay until 10:45 pm. Our first stop was a visit to Siegfried's Mechanical Musikkababinett followed by free time in town. The tour was of a collection of music boxes dating back hundreds of years. They were wonderful to see and hear. One man (Siegfried), a music box collector, found all of them and restored 80% of them to working order. Some were priceless and they ranged in size from a small hand held music box to one instrument 12 feet long by 8 feet high. They were all unique and the tour guide had Bill be the organ grinder for the group and play two antique organ grinders.
All he needed was a monkey! Everyone enjoyed the fun and a few times sang along with the music. It was a blast and were glad to see these fantastic, mechanical players.
After the tour of mechanical music boxes, we broused the town. It was exactly like what we pictured an old German town to look like. We found another, larger Christmas store so we now have some really cool German Christmas items.
The weather continues to be good, with hours of sun and a few 10-15 minutes of rain every few hours. It won't be long before we're back in France as we cruise towards Basel, Switzerland. But until then, we had a unique Mother's Day here in Germany and pray each of you had a great day as well.
Comments
Post a Comment