Andrew and the boys had two days off last week so we headed up to the Rhine Valley for an overnight stay. The Rhine Valley (located in Western German) is peppered with castles, and with our boy's affinity for all things medieval, we decided it would be fun to go. We stayed along the Rhine River, which within a 45 mile stretch, has about 20 major castles on it. The placing of these castles was done with the purpose of taxing river traffic, and often the castle Barons would place a chain in the river, preventing boats from passing without paying the self imposed tax. Selfish, but it resulted in some pretty cool castles for us today.
Bacharach, Germany
We stayed in Bacharach, and if anyplace screams "story book Germany" this is it. Aside from it's beauty, it is a very relaxed village which is a huge plus for me.
The hotel where we slept was the original castle wall.
We took a little cruise to St. Goar which is an hour upriver.
I don't know why, but Afton didn't seem to appreciate the castles as much as the boys. Maybe if one were painted pink we would have seen some enthusiasm.
I really try hard to keep my kids quite while are touring, but it is next to impossible to do when we are touring a castle. While we were visiting this castle the boys were madly dashing around and at one point I heard one of them yell, "THIS IS AWESOME!!!" I had to smile that time.
We saved the crown jewel- The Burg Eltz- until the very end of our trip. Just look at that shot below, how awesome does that place look?
Unfortunately, this is what the Burg Eltz looked like when we arrived...
As you can see they are doing some major restoration work, so most of the castle was covered in scaffolding. Now, for those of you flooded with pity for us, don't worry. We plan on going back once this castle is restored to all of it's glory.
The upside is that there was a beautiful hike to get to the castle. It was a nice ending for our little getaway.
3 comments:
I love reading all about your adventures in Europe and seeing all of your pictures! I hope one day I will be rich and can travel all over the world and see some of these amazing things for myself. BTW, your kids are looking so grown up...and of course, super cute!
OH WOW!! i am in a mad dash right now, so i will haveto come back and finish my thoughts but i just had to get this "WOW thing in....both in awe over the castles and more importantly my BEAUTIFUL grandchildren!!
Your a devil. We should be there with you! Every time Jack comes home from work and says he can't stand his boss, I think we are one step closer to moving to Germany!
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