Overnight we travelled from Traben-Trarbach to
Koblenz. Have a look at a map of the Moselle River some time and you will
see that while a crow could fly in no time from one to the other, by river it
winds so much it takes over 8 hours as the river twists and turns back on
itself and we negotiate lock after lock.

We woke up in Koblenz. Our cruise manager Rik (Dutch) advised that there would be a camera shop in Koblenz where we could replace the CF card, however we would be leaving for Marksburg Castle at 8.30, so we would have just 30 minutes on our return to find the shop and re-board the boat at 12.30. At this news we finally appreciate how tight the schedule is.

We headed off in two buses down beside the Moselle River to the junction with the Rhine River and then across the bridge spanning it, The guide on the 1st bus telephoned to say that they were stopped because a truck in front of them was on fire and three cars had collided in the off ramp trying to avoid it. We immediately exited and wound our way through villages that should
never have to cope with a bus. As it turned out, the other bus made it through only 20 minutes behind us, so they didn’t miss out. This is the only castle on the Rhine never to have been attacked and therefore in mint condition. We had a great guide again and the interior is as impressive as the exterior. I had photographed the castle to within an inch of it’s life when I made a day trip down this section of the Rhine 7 years or so ago. I will again photograph what is left of it this afternoon,

Like so many historic sites, it is amazing to stand in a castle and reflect on the fact that 500 years ago, men in armour and on war horses came in through a series of gates climbing up into the castle on narrow cobble stone streets, passed through doorways which when closed had arrow slits cut in them for defence and covered balconies with trapdoors above from which to throw
rocks down on the attackers. Inside they
stabled their horses, entered the main hall where all the cooking and eating
was done and where all the servants slept close to the hearth, climbed the
stairs to the bedroom and living room which were the only rooms with walls panelled
with decorated timber panelling and a heating stove which was fed from a door
in the wall so the servants wouldn’t enter the chamber itself.

We returned to the boat, ran from shop to shop following
directions till on the third try found a photo shop and bought two CF
cards. Back on board in time to leave
for the 6 hour cruise down “The Romantic Rhine”. That’s the stretch with 22 castles perched on
peaks above the river and toll gate towers dotted along the shore. If I took 300 photos last time, I took another 200 this time. The top deck of the boat was crowded with almost all 111
passengers. A clear blue sky and 30C temp. made for a long hot trip but no one could drag themselves away.

We finally reached Rudesheim very late in the afternoon. We had booked two of 20 seats
for dinner tonight on the top deck of the boat, looking out over the river. They only do a couple of these special dinners and we figured Rudesheim would be about perfect for us. Twas.

After dinner we strolled though town and as the sun set around 10.00, stopped for a Rudesheim Coffee. Take one large cup, pour in a small bottle of brandy, set it alight and stir with a spoon, pour in coffee and top with a massive dollop of cream and start drinking. No spoons provided so
you can’t make the mistake of stirring it and as you drink further and further down the stronger the brandy. Ches loved it. No, really, she did.

Tomorrow when we awake, we will be in Aschaffenburg from where we will visit Heidelberg.

Occasionally when I add photographs they aren't integrated into the text but grouped at the bottom of the page, as with Marksberg and a few others here.