Rhine River Valley: Castles Galore! (Part 2)

We visited Fortress Reinsfels.
What remains of Fortress Reinsfels are just ruins, but there is also a hotel and a restaurant overlooking the Rhine. The Fortess was built circa 1245 as count Katzenelnbogen's residence and center of cultural life in the region. Two hundred years later expanded as a fortress. In 1692 it resisted the troops of King Louis XIV. In 1794 it fell to the French Revolutionary Army that blew it up. Today it is a property of the City of St. Goar.




From Reinsfels we can see Castle Maus (the one that has the eagles show)














Fortress Reinsfels

We enjoyed a typical German lunch overloking the Rhine River Valley ...

... and the town of St. Goar.

This picture shows Schonburg Castle. Built in the 12th century it is today a hotel. We tried to stay there but it was booked solid for over months ahead.

Another Castle that we saw from far away was Castle Sooneck. It was built in the 11th century. Unfortunately, it was closed that particular day.

One would need over a week to visit all castles and fortresses in this narrow strech of land. We managed to visit just few of them. The whole experience of driving along the two banks of the Rhine already pays off since at every turn a new castle can be seen or just seen in a different angle. The picture below shows the ruins of Furstenberg Castle.

There are also several tunnels with its outside looking like the entrance of a fort.

Another one seen from the road. This on is Stahleck Castle.

The Toll Station Pfalzgrafenstein, seen below, was buit in 1327 and used until 1866. At this location, Prussian Field Marshal Blucher crossed the Rhine in his way to meet Napoleon in Waterloo.

Sometimes, two castles can be seen side by side. The picture shows Castle Sterrenberg and Castle Liebenstein.

One last thing. We slept in a small hotel in the town of Ingelheim. There, we had a very nice dinner in the hotel's restaurant (located in a different building). The main dish there is celery. I was reluctant to eat celery but accepted as a cultural experience. Well, it paid off. I could neve imagine that celery could taste so good. And the size of the celery is also different. They are bigger than the ones we have in Canada. And the sauce was fastantic!

Rhine River Valley: Castles Galore! (Part 1)

Up in a hill, in the city of Koblenz, is Fortress Ehrenbreitstein. It was built in the 11th century. It suffered a one year siege by French troops, capitulating just because of hunger. In the 19th century the Prussians turned it into one of the most powerful military constructions of Europe. It was called the Stone Guard at the Rhine. Unfortunately we could not visit it. It is closed until next year, when it will host a fair.

We left Koblenz travelling South. We visited Marksburg Castle going in a tour inside. It was built in the 14th century. The importance of Marksburg is due to the fact that it is complete and protected as a medieval bastion. There, we learned that it was common for the knights to drink 5 litres of wine per day, since the water was very bad. But the wine was not strong, perhaps similar to American beer. Tea was just for sick people, whereas beer was for the poor. Children would dring wine too from an early age. Interesting times.














Affer visiting Marksburg, we went to Maus (Mouse) Castle. As the picture below shows, it is essentially in ruins, but there is an eagle and falcon show run by an old fellow. We watched it. Interesting, but we could not understand a thing since all explanation was in German. The only few things we understood was that the eagles eat chicken (he called them "McChicken") and that one eagle's name was Herman, the German. The funny thing is that the eagles would fly far away and the poor trainer had to keep calling for them using a loudspeaker. "Herman, come back you rotten schnitzel!"


I also understand now why eagles are found in so many flags and insignias. The Europeans have a fascination for eagles.

Boppard, in the Rhine valley

After leaving Cologne we headed to the River Rhine valley. Our GPS unit took us through very modern highways until it indicated a very narrow, long and winding road. The picture shows it can fit only one car, at times barely. We drove praying that no car came from the other side.

We then arrived in Boppard, a small town on the banks of the Rhine. A typical small German town, with typical German houses.

In Boppard, there is a cable car. It takes torists up the hill for a better view of the valley. The interesting thing is that not only people use it. Bikes are transported in the cable. Even a people on bikes use the cable car.

Boppard is an idyllic place. It reminded me of Nova Friburgo, the town where my mother was born, in the Brazilian mountains.

Rhine River Valley

In the narrow gorge connecting Bingen and Koblenz, which has a length of only fifty-six kilometers, there are more castles than in any other river valley in the world.

We visited this place and several of the castles.

If you want to learn more about the castles between Bingen and Koblenz, there is an interesting site here.

Cologne

On the way to Frankfurt is Cologne, the largest city in the North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany. (Isn't Europe great? One and a half hour drive and we are in a different country!)


Cologne is a very old city, founded by the Romans around 50 AD on a pre-existing Germanic settlement. It was called Colonia in Latin, which means an outpost of the Roman Empire, or simply, colony. (The city is still called Colonia in Romance languages)

Cologne is famous for its cathedral, the Kolner Dom, with its impressive two towers and its gothic interior. One can see the towers from far away.

One interesting fact about the cathedral is that it survived the alied bombing during World War II. Some say it was a miracle. Others say that it was spared since its towers served as navigation sign for the bombers. Well, no miracle happens by accident!

Something funny happened on our way to the Cathedral. The GPS unit told me to turn left on an ilegal intersection. Denise and Thales saw the sign and warned me, but I had already moved the car the wrong way before going to the right direction. After a long return, we were stopped by a policeman who was waiting for us. He started to call my attention in a very fast German, even though I told him I could not speak German. I remained calm and serious during his rebuke, even though I was laughing inside: listening to him was like listening to Charlie Chaplin imitating German.