The Mighty Rhine

One of the things my parents wanted to do on this trip was take a cruise on the Rhine River.  You can take cruises all up and down the river, and hop off at different stops, kind of like a bus tour.  We took the advice of the lady at the register, and started in the city of Bacharach and stopped in the city of Sankt (St.) Goar. 

The best part of the cruise is that you see so many castles; more than you would see just driving around the area.  There were so many castles built along the Rhine hundreds of years ago.  Most are still in tact, although many have been turned into restaurants and youth hostels. 

This is a castle on an island in the river.  It's the only one of it's kind.  If I remember correctly, Pirates seized this castle and charged people to pass by it.

What you see on the cruise:

Mom and dad enjoying the view.

Kind of blurry, oh well.

There is so much terracing in this area.  This area is used greatly for vineyards now.

In the city of Sankt Goar lies the Castle Rheinfels.  It was built in 1245, and for five centuries was the biggest castle on the Rhine. The castle was overtaken by the French in the 1700's and was slowly taken apart.  Now all that stands is a building 1/3 the size of the original, but still huge.  Of course you have to pay to see the ruins, but these have been our favorite ruins by far.  There are still tunnels under the castle to walk through, walls to climb and stairs that lead to nowhere.  It's so cool.

Proud Cooper moment:  He HATES heights.  But he climbed up (what seemed to him to be) a huge wall.  This was his victory yell.

Mom and dad.

"Mom, take a picture of me climbing this thing!"

And there's the toe touch.

Head stones.

Yes!  Those are MY kids!

Still needs work...

This kid has it...

She looks like she is hailing something...

The PG translation of this directional sign is "poop place."

Her favorite thing right now is to jump from a high place into her dad's arms.  She trusts him more than anyone else.

"I was here."

We walked around Sankt Goar a bit, and wandered into a gift shop.  Coop was looking at a train on the floor (which I don't even see in the picture) and crashed.  It actually made a shopping a whole lot easier.

More views on the boat ride back to our car...