Off to the World Cup - 2006!!

We headed out from Heidelburg yesterday morning, and headed toward the Rhine River valley. This isn't the longest river in Europe, but it's the busiest, I think. We stopped in the city of Mainz for cruise info and food, then met our boat in Bingen, perhaps not the most scenic little town on the river, but very friendly, and convenient for both boat and train connections. We boarded the Lorely of the Köln-Dusseldorfer line, and headed downriver. This section of the Rhine, die Mittelrhein, was the heart of German romantic history, with castles dotting the heights on both sides of the river, and pretty little towns along both banks. This was something Brad had specially requested, a cruise on the Rhine, and when we reached the famous rock of the Lorelei, actually asked to have his picture taken (!). I popped through close to 300 pictures, absolutely sure I would forget I was ever there, I guess! I lost track of how many castles and forts we passed, and of the towns we really wanted to come back and explore.

Interesting history for us was the contiuation of military history in the Rhine valley. Every castle on the river, save for the beautiful and well-protected Marksburg, had been destroyed at least once, most by the French in the late 1600´s.




We reached the city of Koblenz around 6:30, and took the train back up to Bingen for dinner at a little Italian restaurant. We had seen the red card in the ITA-AUS game just as we got off the boat, and our waiter explained with hand gestures and German that went mostly over our heads that the game had ended with a penalty kick. Boy, did we feel out of touch!