Monday, 18: July: Part 1: Rhine Cruise

We left very early, taking the train to Bingen  where we walked to the boat which we took down the part of the Rhine River with the most castles.  We had hoped to leave some of our luggage with Usche to take back to Dusseldorf, but Billy ended up coming home earlier from Hong Kong than expected, so she didn't visit her parents on the weekend as she had originally planned.  My backpack weighed about 40 pounds at this point, and I had it expanded all the way with my purse full and an additional tote bag.  We didn't transfer trains at Worms, but I thought the name interesting and important enough to get a picture.  If this is the same Worms that Martin Luther was at, it is a long way away both from where he taught at Wittenburg and from the castle near Eisenach where he spent time in exile. It was raining lightly in Bingen, but almost as soon as we got on the boat, it started to rain more heavily, turning into a deluge for most of the way.  A Japanese film crew at the front of the boat finally gave up about half way because it was raining so hard.  Most of the people were watching from inside. Only a few of us were brave enough to be outside.  Eventually even the umbrella wasn't enough to keep me dry, and I moved inside too.

Where we caught the ferry in Bingen

This is the castle where we stayed in 1996.

We got off the boat at Oberwesel--We would have seen a few more castles if we had stayed on the boat a little longer, but the train schedule to Köln better fit our time schedule from Oberwesel than from Koblenz or further.  Oberwesel is one of the few towns left with towers from Roman times.  Walking to the train station, we stopped at the towers and took a closer look.  Oberwesel had several towers, but only the grey stone ones go back to Roman times.

This tower had a museum at the top which wasn't open.  

This picture, taken from the train, is of two castles very close to each other supposedly owned by two warring brothers.  We stayed at the castle on the right last time we were in Germany.  That's the home of the ghost with the tummy ache.   Also the location of the giant slugs.

From the train station in Köln.   The main station is right next to the cathedral.  Kristen didn't feel well enough to get out and take a look, but we have already climbed it a couple of times, so we took at look at it as we went past.