The Rhine - River of Romance

For at least twenty-five hundred years, the Rhine has been the gateway into much of the hinterland of Europe. The waters are navigable with but one or two treacherous  portions.  At any given time, two or three barges can be seen making their way ponderously upstream or quickly passing with the flow downstream, carrying everything from petrochemicals to manufactured products.

On this trip we decided to make stops along what is decidedly the most picturesque and historically rich segment of the Rhine.  This is vineyard country with castles and quaint little towns tucked in any place where land was halfway suitable for habitation.  Our plan was to stop as we felt inclined, taking in the surroundings, castles or food venues according to our tastes and the time we had available.  It was to be a full day of marvelous sites, sounds and aromas.  Our first stop was at a town called Bacharach.  The picture to the right is typical of many we saw in this charming village.

We hiked up to Burg Stahleck, once an imposing fortress, now a hostel, which  provides a commanding view of the Rhine.  Many people choose to explore the Rhine by taking advantage of the well maintained walking and bike trails

Bacharach is very much a tourist oriented community with the shops, restaurants and lodging establishments catering to the heavy summer tourist traffic. 

Oberwessel was a Celtic town in 400 B.C., then a Roman military station.  It now boasts some of the best Roman-wall and medieval tower remains on the Rhine.  The enchantment of this place lies in the old battlements crisscrossing the town with a little creek hunkered between old houses which  obviously served as a ready-made sewer in olden times.  This town and nearby Bacharach tell the story of a boy abused and killed.  Local citizens attributed the death to the Jewish population resulting in tragic consequences for the innocent Jewish citizens. 

Another castle overlooks this town and its colorful history.  The Prince of Schonburg Castle had seven spoiled daughters who always rejected suitors because of their shortcomings.  Fed up, he invited seven of his knights up to the castle and demanded that his daughters each choose one to marry.  They complained that each man had too big a nose or was too fat, too stupid, and so on.  The rude and picky girls escaped in a riverboat.  Just down stream, God turned them into the seven rocks that form the reef just downstream from the town.