As you can guess, the first weeks of the new year I spent laid-back with good friends. Refueling the inner engine after a round birthday (I got 30 on January 12th) takes a little time. Still, in those weeks I did one nice e xcursion in Germany. With my friend, I visited some medieval fortresses alongside the Rhine. The river has been very crucial in the Middle Ages, resulting in many castles and fortifications on both sides. We took a tour in the castle of Sooneck, which you can see on the left. It was erected in the 11th century, and it has a rich history.
After that, we drove a couple of beautiful miles alongside the river, until we reached the village of Bacharach. It is one of the most intact towns in the area, but unfortunately the Germans blundered with the railroad. The railroad track goes straight through the old town of Bacharach. Apart from that, the beauty of the town is still intact.
We crossed the Rhine a few miles downstream with a ferry, and saw the famous spot of the Loreley. The story goes that a beautiful singing woman sat on a rock about 120 meters high above the river and distracted the shippers to the extend that they lost their minds and shipwrecked. The real reason for the high number of boats that went under near the Loreley is the fact that the river is much narrower there and the current heavier. I verified the falsehood of the myth by seeing for myself that no woman sits on that rock. I didn’t however verify the truth of the scientific explanation because I wanted to keep my feet dry.
After the Loreley we drove to a beautiful forest and went for a walk until the sun set. That Rhine trip was really worth it and tickled my appetite for traveling.