Cruising Down the Rhine (June 24th)

Rivers throughout history have held a special place in literature and in the hearts of people. Rivers and water continually show up in literature in literal and symbolic imagery. Life and civilization flourish around the banks of rivers. Water is life. As such, nearly every culture places particular importance on rivers. North America has the Mississippi, Egypt the Nile, South America the Amazon, and Germany the Rhine. Of all of the rivers across the world, the Rhine is one of the most romantic and written about rivers ever. I can assure you that the river lives up to its legend. 

The day started off less than Romantic as one would hope when cruising down the Rhine River. It was cloudy nearly the entire day and it rained off and on. Regardless it was a good experience. As a lover of all things medieval and castles, one realizes rather quickly that there are castles after castles along the banks of the Rhine. I would have loved to go explore all of the castles, but that would just be impossible. Many of the castles are private homes. I would love to own a castle. So I will just make bags of money with my bachelor of arts in history and english literature. It can happen! 

Mauseturm (Mouse Tower) 

This castle pictured above has a pretty interesting story which is derived from popular legend. Hatto II was a cruel ruler and he used the tower to demand tribute from passing ships, threatening to shoot their crews if they did not comply. The peasants got angry and decided to rebel. Hatto promised to feed the people and told them to wait for him at an empty barn. Hatto trapped the people in the barn and set the barn aflame. When Hatto retired to his castle, he was besieged by an army of mice. He fled the swam and took his boat to the tower pictured above. Trapped in the tower, Hatto waited for the mice to eat through the door and eventually eat him.

They whetted their teeth against the stones, 

And then they picked the Bishop's bones; 

They gnawed the flesh from every limb

For They were sent to punish him!

They almost devour me with kisses,

Their arms about me entwine,

Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen

In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

~ Henry Wadsworth Longellow

Our cruise of the Rhine ended at the Lorelei which is a large rock formation around a (formerly) dangerous bend in the river where sailors would run their boats aground. Luckily our captain was not affected by the mermaid/siren who seduces sailors through her song. We got off the boat at St. Goar's, where we jumped onto a train going back to Ruddesheim. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the town where my Oma and Opa met for the first time. This is where the magic began. We looked in various shops, got some food, and we visited the Drosselhof-Keller. This is the place where my Oma and Opa met. They were there with friends and they danced late into the night, where my Opa asked for my Oma's address to write her. The rest is history. 

For dinner we stopped at another place. The area around Ruddesheim is known for its brandy. Obviously I had to try some. It was smooth and had a nice rustic finish. After dinner we retired to our humble abode in the country. With only one two days left in Germany, the family was excited to get home, sad to leave, and overall tired.