Saturday, July 25th - Rudesheim, Rhine Gorge and Koblenz, Germany

We were up early and off the ship shortly after it arrived in Rudesheim.  This time we got to take a little choo-choo train into the city for a quick tour and commentary as we rode along.  The train dropped us at Siegfried's Music Cabinet for a tour and then we were on our own for a few hours before we had to return to the ship.

Siegfried's Music Cabinet or the Museum of Mechanical Musical Instruments was very interesting.  The whole house (Bromserhof) is now filled with instruments of every kind, shape and size.  One of the really precious one was of a tiny bird less than an inch in length that would chirp away and sing a merry toon.  There were lots of player pianos in various shapes and sizes including a grand that sounded exactly as it should when played by a concert pianist - not mechanical at all.  One piano or organ (can't remember which) had  six mechanical violins above it that added a beautiful sound.  Another machine had a full symphony sound with strings, brass, percussion and piano.  And of course there was one that took up almost the whole wall of one large room and it had all the different characters in miniature playing their instruments.  Overall it was a fun way to start our tour of Rudesheim.

We were all going to take the cable car up to the Niederwold Monument to see the monument and Ehrenfels Castle as well as the sights from up on the hill.  Some of us were then going to ride back down but others were going to walk.  However, because it was cool and very windy, the cable car wasn't running.  That limited our choices greatly.  Some went shopping.  Some went back to the ship to get warm and some just strolled around.  I went down to the castle ad that's about as far as I got.  I did walk down Drosselgasse or the restaurant and bar street to get there.  The street is very narrow and windy and by the time each of the restaurants and bars puts out some tables and chairs for their patrons, there is really not much room at all.  It was quiet when I went through in the morning but I guess it is quite a happening places in the afternoon and evening.

Bromserburg Castle looks quite small from the outside and it now houses the Wine Museum so I decided to go in.  Well, it was a lot larger than it looked and it took me a long time to work my way through the labyrinth of halls and winding stairs to get through all the exhibits.  The castle or fortress is over 1,000 years old and has changed quite a bit over the years.  The first part of the exhibit talked about this.  Then the exhibit got into every imaginable aspect of wine.  It talked about the Romans first growing grapes in the area, the planting and harvesting of grapes, the making of wine, even the making of wine barrels and wine bottles and glasses, and then it had every imaginable example of each of them.  I'd never heard of "drink up" glasses but these had rounded bottoms and could only be set down on their tops.  Bottle wise, they even had a 14 litre champaign bottle for really big celebrations.  So, when you were handed a drink you had to down it all and then set it upside down on the table.  The exhibits went from the 1st century AD with the Romans.  White wine, not red, is best in this area due to the growing conditions.  They also had a wine collection at the end with wine from the area dating from 1727.  It is a very valuable collection.  One 1735 bottle recently sold for 27,500 euros or close to $40,000 - definitely out of my range but I'm not sure I'd want to drink something form the 18th century anyway.

The exhibit was interesting because you really did just ramble from room to room in the castle and there were lots of dark, winding staircases.  At times it was eerie with the wind blowing through.  On one level you got to go out on a terrace but the wind just about blew you over.  Then once you reached the top it was virtually impossible to stand and get a picture but the views were fantastic.   The really neat thing was that it seemed truly like an old castle.  There were even cobwebs in the corners and pigeons flying through some of the rooms.  As I was the only one in the whole place it was definitely an experience and I really enjoyed it.  I don't think I would have liked living there though.  When I finished the tour I had to head back to the ship - although I did stop in a couple of shops just to look around and even ended up buying a pair of light slacks and a top - emphasis on light since I can't afford any more weight in my suitcase.

The afternoon I spent standing on deck as we sailed through the Rhine Gorge and looked at the spectacular scenery.  This is a 65 km stretch that is now a UNESCO world heritage site.  There are chairs on deck but it was so windy that everything was blowing over so they put everything down.  It was all you could do to stay standing at the front rail.  Sometimes the gusts just about blew you over.  However, with my jacket and hat on I was not cold - just windblown.  You could barely keep a camera steady so when I had to switch to my ipad near the end it was really tough.  However, 5 or 6 of us managed to last through the full 2.5 hours of the commentary that took us past 18 castles, many little towns, lots of vineyards, and Loreley Rock.  The latter I had never heard of but it is a very big rock (120 metres high) that the river must go around and of course the ships must go around very carefully as there are smaller rocks below it.  There are a lot of stories about the mermaids of Loreley Rock and even a song written about it, which of course we had to listen to as we sailed past.

The castles were all so different but they were all basically up on the hillsides with only a few down at the water's edge.  There were some that are now abandoned, some that are now hotels or hostels, and some that are museums.  I think there were even one or two private residences.  They certainly kept you taking pictures: as you came up to them, as you were in front of them, as you passed them.  Every view was different and you just couldn't resist taking pictures, which is why the batter on my camera died just before the last few.  And these were the best ones.  Marksburg and Stolzenfels were really quite amazing.  I think part of their appeal was that they were a lighter shade (obviously painted) and not just a stone or brick structure that blended into the background.  Marksburg is the over 700 years old and the only castle on the Rhine that has never been destroyed.  It has of course been changed many times over the centuries.  It is now home to the German Castle Association which is in charge of conserving castles, and it is open to the public.  Stolzenfels was built in the 13th century but destroyed many times.  It was rebuilt in the early 19th century by Crown Prince Frederick William IV of Prussia in a Gothic Revival palace and entertained many visitors including Queen Victoria.  Both of these castles were originally built as fortifications and not as homes and their view of the Rhine allowed them to see all ships and wanderers passing by so they collect any taxes or warn of any intruders.

We arrived in Koblenz around 6 but stayed on board to have dinner.  In retrospect we should have headed out earlier and skipped the dinner so we had more time in town.  We were docked right below the cable car up to the Ehrenbreeitstein Fortress so once we finished dinner we immediately went up the cable car, that was very modern and smooth despite the wind, so we could all go to the festival that was happening up at the fortress.  We had no idea what to expect from a Gaukler und Kleinkunstfestival Festung.  In fact we didn't even know what it meant but we were determined to experience it.

The first thing that we discovered was that the fortress is one of the largest on the Rhine.  We only saw about a tenth of it as we had limited time and not all sections were open at night.  There are 11 different areas and most of them are historic museums of one kind or another (history of the fortress, craft workshops, living quarters, prison, etc.) plus lots of towers and terraces that provided incredible view of the city.  Other museums on site included photography, indulgence (which included wine and chocolate), archaeology, and the State Museum with innovations and inventors over the last 200 years, plus much more.  The Romans had a fortress here and others before them as traces of human habitation dates back to 3,000 BC.  We definitely should have taken more time to see it all, if it was open in the earlier evening.

What we did see was spread out everywhere with stages throughout the complex and people walking around entertaining.  We really liked the Stone Age guys were were very tall rock people  who looked like very realistic stone men.  And while you think they'd move slowly, they actually moved quite quickly and scared a few people having pictures with them.  Other walking shows were also great - some sort of big insect and other similar things.  There were a couple of bands playing in various places but no one that we knew or recognized, and there were comedy shows and some of them were in English.  We ended up in space 4, where there were circus acts happening so we saw some pretty talented contortionists, athletes and trapeze artists who could get their bodies into fantastic poses and hold the positions.  They were definitely very fit and had muscles everywhere.  The acts were short but very enjoyable.

While on the hill we also got to enjoy the sunset from up on the hill and it was very nice.  And on the way down we got to watch the fireworks somewhere below.  We came down about 11 p.m. and most went back to the ship but  couple of us headed toward the old city.  We walked for about half an hour but really didn't see much so, aside from the exercise, it really wasn't all that exciting.  We didn't even make see the castle and it was probably hard to miss.

We were the last two on board except for the crew.  Some of them had gone off to a club in the old town so we just had to wait for them to return before setting sail once again and heading for Cologne.