We woke up and had breakfast and tea and headed out the door for a short drive from Mainz to the port where we would hop on the ship. We arrived RIGHT on time and boarded. The boat was packed on the inside, but Inka and Kaja and I decided the view from the top deck would be better anyway. We grabbed a table and a few chairs and departed up the river. The Rhine River has more than 40 castles along its banks!! Many have been destroyed, and many have also been restored as well, either into private estates or for public viewing. Our destination was about 70km up the river at the Marksburg Castle. Thankfully, they announced everything in English (along with several other languages), but Inka also kindly got me a book describing the castles along our journey.
We also passed dozens of wine vineyards through the winding and steep gorge. This area is mostly known for their white wines, and the vineyards were mostly on our right side due to their location facing the sun. They are also all on hills, so everything is tended to by hand!! And on our journey, there were many quaint towns with the churches being the main centerpoint of each city.
I could picture myself riding on this ship all day long- especially in some nice weather! ;) But our journey did come to an end after about two hours. We got off the ship in Braubach, and gave Thomas a call. He did not come with us on the cruise so he could meet us with the car in town. There was lots of road construction and he was a bit behind so us ladies decided to find a cafe and get some tea to warm up. Of course, we couldn't resist the pastries as well!!
When Thomas arrived we hopped in the car and made the short, but steep, journey up the hill to the Marksburg castle. This castle was one of the few not destroyed along the river mostly due to its situation so HIGH up. Personally, I think it was one of the nicest we had seen during our cruise!
The castle owes its name to its patron saint, St. Mark. The founder, liked the location and settled on it in 1150! With many changes over the years, the castle is today owned by the German Castles Association. We signed up for a tour and I was given a book in English to follow along. I was really surprised at the grandness of the kitchen- it had its own floor! The cannons were pretty neat to see too- they could shoot up to 1000 meters!!
One of the rooms I thought was fun was the armory room. Some of the armory back in the day was close to 90 pounds, and the men rode on horses, who were also covered in armor. Those poor horses!! We also learned that during battle, men would raise their shields over their eyes to look their enemies in the face, which is where the traditional military solute comes from that we know today. Makes so much sense!!!
After the tour we grabbed a drink at the cafe at the castle. We saw a couple on the tour that had a Canadian flag on their backpack and I joked that they were probably Americans (see my second blog if you don't know what I'm talking about). Anyway, they said they were from Victoria, so that was pretty cool!
The drive back was long due to traffic, but it was right along the river, so I couldn't complain!! We made it back to the house and dropped off Kaja who unfortunately had some homework to do. Thomas, Inka, and myself decided to go to a local winery for dinner. I wanted to say that I had visited a winery while I was in Europe! We sat down and had some wine and federweisser, as well as some beer. The winery was decorated for Oktoberfest (blue and white checkers)- did not know Oktoberfest had its own colors!
I ordered a shnitzle with mushroom sauce and some hashbrowns. Oh my GOODNESS was it good!! Delicious!! I really enjoyed Thomas and Inkas company- we could've stayed and talked all night! But they had to work in the morning, so we instead bought a bottle of Federweisser to have with the next nights dinner and headed home!! Just another fun-filled day in Germany with good company!!
