A day on the Rhine River

The day started with a bus trip to get to the river, and the Lazy Wench is very glad that she's not a large person. European buses can have very small seats. The first stop was the castle Rhineman. After a steep hike, the Lazy Wench found herself standing on a drawbridge, looking at a portculis and a gate. This was extremely Kewl. The castle had a lovely garden, some armor and a very nicely made table.

Next, the wench got back on the bus and went to the town of Bacharach. Pronounced with very soft 'ch', not as we know the singer's name in the States. Bacharach was a walled town and a lot of the walls are still standing. There are gates where cars can pass through in single file. There is also the oldest house in the area, charmingly tippy and leaning a bit.

After Bacharach, the Wench got on a river boat to travel a ways up the Rhine. Around each curve, a ruined castle could be seen or a town with a ruined castle up on the mountainside. The French destroyed many castles in 1689, during the Hundred Year's War. Still, the ruins are nice to look at.

The midpoint of the tour saw the Lazy Wench marched to a Christmas and Cuckoo Clock shop that also sold wines. There, the Lazy Wench tried a sip of ice wine, an extremely sweet white wine made from frozen grapes.

The tour finished with a visit to a wine distributor and a wine tasting in the cellars. The Lazy Wench didn't find the wines offered to be anything worth carrying home, but the cellars were interesting. Old stone, with a well in the midst and not nearly as cold as she had thought they would be.

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