Have You ever seen the Rain: Day 10

On Wednesday Su and I went with the other study abroad program on a trip down the Rhein. Waking up early to make the trip was well rewarded. J

The weather was so wonderful, some clouds, blue skies and it wasn’t too cold. We started out taking a bus to the town of Bacharach, which is very well known for its wine. The hills surrounding the town were filled with grapes.

We climbed to a look out point overlooking the town. It was GORGEOUS! I took some photos of the destroyed church, (on the right in pic) built for a boy named Werner that is a landmark for the town. Supposedly this boy was murdered and abused by the Jews and he was made a saint, however the tale was refuted as an anti-Semitic story created by the church and he was stripped of his saint hood. It was still really neat.

Being on the Rhein and by Bacharach really made me think of the McIntoshs’. I know Mr. and Mrs. McIntosh would have loved the scenery and appreciated the wine there.

From Bacharach we boarded a ship and proceeded to glide along the Rhein. It was so beautiful, I want to come back someday and live there. J In fact I know I will. We passed miniature mountains that were topped by castles and fortresses. No wonder they call it the romantic Rhein, it was just like being in a fairytale.

Along the Rhein we passed the fabled Lorelei. Here’s some more info on it, it’s a cute story. J http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorelei

To end our trip we landed at Braubach and the castle Marksburg. We had lunch at a local restaurant before we made the climb up to Marksburg. At Marksburg we took a tour through the castle. It was really interesting and neat to see especially since most of the castles on the Rhein have been turned into hotels and hostels, like the castle at Bacharach. The view was astounding from way up high and we learned a lot about how crafty the medieval timers were. For instance they made their stairwells extremely narrow so knights in their armor couldn’t fit through the door and they made them round so the swords made noises along the walls.