Author: rphbaker

This included excursion was described as demanding. I think the riskiest part of it was sitting in the front of the bus for the 10 min ride with 20-30 people hacking behind us. I got my hand sanitizer out and started inhaling it hoping maybe it would kill any germs before they entered my body.

But back to the castle. After driving on super narrow what should have been one way but weren’t roads we made it to the parking lot to begin the curvy pathway up.

Views from the entry were pretty.

Marksburg Castle is the only castle in the middle Rhine that was never conquered or destroyed

We were matched with our tour guide Max, wearing a Clemson hat, and our tour was underway. While he did not use the term ‘my noble guests, he did use his best medieval voice during the entire hour long tour.

There was a large room with lots of examples of coats of arms. Here are some examples.

Milo and Erwin welcomed us to our table for lunch. Jane and Paul decided to eat later so it was just the four of us for lunch.

I was so excited to see potato soup on the menu!

Everything tastes better with these views from our table.

After lunch and Greg’s quick 10 min power nap it was time to head to the buses.

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.

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.

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

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.

My God It’s Monday as Milo says. I can’t believe our time is coming to an end in a few days on the ship. But before I have time to get too sad I had to run up to try to capture pics of the sunrise.

I went from one side of the boat to the other and took way too many pics.

The entire time I was enjoying the beautiful sunrise I was hearing loud noises coming from upstairs. That can only mean one thing….the sundeck is about to reopen. The crew was busy putting the railing back up and setting up the chairs.

We all met for a quick breakfast before heading up to enjoy the views.

Tonight’s activities is a German feast followed by party night which features Gavin and Robert singing. Fahad advised us that we needed to get to dinner early because two tables had been converted to buffet tables.

Jane and I left the port talk early to get a table in Erwin’s section. That also gave us time to take pics of the table set up.

There was a buffet set up that people could choose from or order from two menu options with a variety of foods. Of course doing both was also an option.

The line for the buffet started almost immediately and was never ending. I’m not sure why people chose this option rather than the plated option. We all went plated with option one. It was not a bad decision.

The staff was all dressed up for the event.

After dinner we headed up to the lounge. Robert and Gavin managed to fill the dance floor several times. It was a fun night and good people watching.

We somehow heard two versions of Sweet Caroline (Gavin and Robert clearly hadn’t coordinated). At the end of Gavin’s part the crowd was shouting one more, one more, one more! He reluctantly agreed but said he had nothing prepared. For whatever reason he randomly picked Bohemian Rhapsody and nailed it.

We made it back on board with a little time to spare before lunch so I grabbed a rocking chair outside. It’s a little odd how meals work. Everyone was jockeying for tables in the Aquavit and asking them to set up tables outside. (They don’t always serve meals outside but I think if one person asks then they basically have to.) It was not relaxing outside anymore with the commotion so I decided to head down to the dining room to meet Greg. We found ourselves lined up at the dining room doors waiting for them to open. This made it very easy to grab a table in Erwin’s section with Jane and Paul.

After lunch we headed up to the front of the boat to try and grab a table. Greg wanted to catch up on work and I wanted to watch the world go by. Despite the foggy start it was a beautiful day for sailing with temps near 60. We are sailing all day and really until tomorrow after lunch. Unfortunately the top deck (the sundeck) is still closed due to low bridges.

As we headed out we had to pass the cookie and coffee station.

We were lucky to get a table and Jane and Paul had gotten rocking chairs at the front of the boat. I went back and forth between sitting with Greg and Jane depending on the scenery and what I wanted to take a pic of.

Lots of scenery pics coming up from the area between Wertheim and Koblenz on the Main River.

It’s been a great relaxing day with glass like calm water and beautiful sights. Time to go get ready for our wild night.

After our tour we had time to spare in the town before we needed to be back so Greg and I decided to hike to the castle on the hill. But first, I needed to use the restroom which was in a bakery. Only felt right to purchase something….right? Also this hike will erase the calories I’m sure.

Now we are ready for our hike.

Greg wants to take the rear path around the castle.

The castle was 2 euros to get in and we only had one 2 euro coin. I offered to go to the change machine and get change for our 5 euro bill.

There was a set of circular wooden stairs straight up that led to this highest tower. Greg said he was gonna go but changed his mind as someone walked down. He didn’t wanna have to squeeze past someone.

The views from the top were worth the trip up.

Wertheim wasn’t my favorite town but in the town’s defense it was an overcast foggy day and basically all shops were closed since it’s Sunday. I’m sure it would have a different vibe on a sunny day when the shops are open.

Our excursion leaves this morning at 9:10 via train so we grabbed an early breakfast. Today is Milo’s day off so Erwin hooked me up with some French toast and mixed berries with mascarpone cheese.

We headed off the boat and caught the train. Hope it doesn’t go too fast because it doesn’t look super safe.

We rode the 5 mins ride to town and was dropped at the Mexican restaurant. Too bad it wasn’t open because Mexican actually sounds delicious.

The official tour started off at the leaning tower of Wertheim (not the real name.) This town apparently floods all the time (or used to) and the erosion of the ground caused a 5% lean.

The attempted to fix it by attaching the top part as a counter balance but it made things worse.

This tower isn’t a watchtower but rather a prison used for petty crimes such as women nagging their husbands. They would be lowered down and kept there for a week or two with no light. Food would also be lowered to them.

This area was an area where Jewish people lived among butchers which was one of the first examples of Jewish persecution. This town is also responsible for many witch killings…even more than Salem.

After returning to the boat we headed to the lounge for the port talk. This is where Gavin tells us the events for the next day. Seems like tomorrow is gonna be a wild ride with a German Feast for dinner followed by “party night” at 9pm in the lounge. I’d better rest up. But first, dinner.

Greg and I each got a wedge salad (no pic) and split the pretzel app.

This was the first time that everyone at the table got the same entree. It was delicious.

It was also the first time everyone got completely separate desserts.

Other desserts not pictured were a creme brûlée, bread pudding, passion fruit sorbet, and a fruit plate (does that even count?)

This might have been my favorite day of the trip so far. Rothenburg ob der Tauber was the cutest town.

Next up….Wertheim!

This chapel on the hill originated in the 1600’s but was a tiny structure. The members raised money to build a much larger Church.

Würzburg has 60 Catholic Churches and is 90% Catholic. It contains 130k residents, half of those are under age 30 due to the large university in town.

The sunset was spectacular so enjoy the numerous shots of the chapel.

As we pulled out of Würzburg we immediately headed into one of the numerous locks.