Scenic sailing

Published on by rphbaker

At 10:30 we began our official scenic sail. This basically means Gavin is announcing all the castles we will be passing. We are finally on the Rhine and I think done with the 66 or 67 locks.

Abbey of Hildegard which is still active and is also a vineyard
Town of Rudesheim which Gavin describes as a wealthy town with two castles.
Previous castle which is now a wine museum
Castle from 9th century
Niederwald Monument with cable cars taking visitors up. This was created after the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
Klopp Castle was built in 1277. Now the Mayor’s office in Bingen
Number of kilometers from the source

Plan was to meet in the middle at 529 but there was a miscalculation so 529 and 530 are now known as the shorter kilometer on the Rhine.

Ehrenfels Castle was built in 1212
Mouse Tower from 1298. Legend has it mice ate an archbishop imprisoned here. This served as a shipping signal station until 1974.
Goats on the steep hill
Castle Rheinstein from the 14th century (1316)

Jayson had promised spiked coffees. He didn’t disappoint.

Actually wasn’t my favorite
Castle Reichenstein was built in 1100 is an example of neo-Gothic reconstruction.
Sooneck Castle was built in 1271. It was rebuilt by the King of Prussia in 1834.
Heimburg Castle was originally built in 1294 but destroyed by Louis XIV and rebuilt in the 19th century.
Saint Martin’s Church in the town of Lorch
Nollig Castle from 1300 isn’t a true castle but rather ruins from a fortification
Castle Stahleck in Bacharach was built in 1135. It was repeatedly attacked during the 17th century wars and remained in ruins for 237 years. It was rebuilt in 1909 and now houses a youth hostel.
Ruins of a chapel in the background
Pfalzgrafenstein toll station. Victoria Hugo described this as a boat of stone in the town of Kaub which has the most acres of cultivated vineyards at 582 on the Rhine River
Castle Gutenfels on the hill built in 1220
Schönburg Castle which translates to beautiful castle was built in 966 and burned by French troops in 1689. It’s now a hotel and youth hostel.
Chapel tucked in a wall
Lorelei rock. The river is at its narrowest here and approaching ships much give way
Fancy tunnel entrances along here
Mermaid statue of Lorelei.
Katz Castle was built in 1371 but heavily damaged by Napoleon’s forces in 1806. It was rebuilt during the Victorian era.
Katz Castle
Rheinfels Fortress was originally knows as Rheinfels Castle was attacked in 1255 but troops left after a year without taking it.
Maus Castle built in 1353. It’s nicknamed mouse castle because it’s said the “cat and mouse” castles spied on each other like a game of cat and mouse.
Smallest town on the Rhine, Ehrenthal, where the Church is attached to the pub. You have to walk through the pub to get to Church. It’s reported that not as many people make it to Church as planned.
Castles Sterrenberg and Liebenstein There is a legend about two hostile brothers which is why there is a wall between them.
Monastery
Pic before we forgot to take one together

There were so many castles and so much history shared it’s really mind blowing. There were also so many little towns along the way that I’d love to visit someday.

I need to figure out how to get back to this area to visit my grandfather’s hometown which isn’t too far away and possibly stop in some of these towns as well.

But in the meantime it’s time for lunch to fuel up for the trip up the hill to Marksburg Castle that Greg and I will be taking.

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