Two days, two boat trips, four castle tours. At least that was the plan.

My mom, sister and I headed to the Romantic Rhine for two days of ‘castle-ing’!  Day one went great. First stop was Burg Rheinstein, which had a beautiful terrace, creepy crypt, and extra-tall tower to climb. Then we moved on to the ‘Castle of Death’, Burg Reichenstein. Owned by Friedrich Wilhelm Utsch, who was an avid hunter…every square inch of the castle interior was covered in mounted trophies! What a wonderful room of death!” (insert Ace Ventura voice here).

Burg Reichenstein

Whilst riding the boat down the Rhine, you can really see how close together all of these castles are. It was interesting that back in the day, each castle and its surrounding areas were ruled by a separate monarchic family. Merchants transporting their wares would have to pay a toll at each of the castles in order to continue their voyage. Some castles had long chains that spread across the river, which were raised or lowered depending on confirmation of toll payment.

Burg Pfalzgrafenstein is probably the Rhine’s most famous castle, located in the middle of the river and resembling a massive stone ship.

Burg Pfalzgrafenstein and Burg Gutenfels on the hill.

Day two started out with a healthy hike up the hill to Marksburg. The tours were only in German, but my mom and sister were good Sports about it and followed along as best as possible with the English handouts. Marksburg is the Rhine’s oldest original castle, suffering no pillage, fire, or war during its 900+ year history.

Marksburg

After Marksburg, with blue skies and sun overhead, we headed to the boat to move onto the next castle. This is what we found…

Even though the boat company told us that the chances of services running today were 90%, there was SO much flooding along the Rhine, that the boat was prevented from safely docking. Mind you, we had disembarked here successfully the evening prior and there was no rain during the night. Oh well! I guess this is what that remaining10% looks like…sad boaters.

Sad Boaters

As we were making a Plan B, the dock operator showed up on his bike, waded knee-deep into the water, turned around, and then left. Short workday, I guess. Lucky guy. With minimal delay we were on the way again, thanks to the German train system!

Last stop was a funicular trip up to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. What was so amazing about Ehrenbreitstein was that there was evidence of fortifications on the site dating back to 1000BC! I mean, I understand Carbon-14 dating and all that, but I still think it is totally amazing that archeologists can determine exactly what was happening at the site that long ago.

Ehrenbreitstein also has a fantastic view of Koblenz, where the Rhine meets the Mosel. Check out all the flooding on the right side of the picture!

Two days, one boat trip, one train ride, four castle tours. Just a slight modification of the plan! A huge thank you to my sister and Mom: for being flexible, for being patient with my freak-outs, and for eating the lard-spread that showed up at our dinner table.  I love you both. You are amazing castle-goers!