Something amazing happened today. The sun came out! The odds were in our favor, and Germany was
in its glory.
The more adventurous of our group went to explore the Rhine
and its spires of medieval churches and castles that appear around every
bend. (Greg stayed home to tend to his
bad cold, and Jeremy stayed to tend to Greg.)
Many people see the Rhine by river boat.
Another popular method is by bike, which is what we chose.
Our host said we could rent bikes at the youth hostel,
but when I went there I discovered they discontinued their rental program in
February. The internet does not seem to
be a helpful resource for finding bike rentals along the Rhine – I think
because the mom and pop places haven’t discovered the world wide web yet. Online I found that maybe the next town up,
Oberwesel, rents bikes. Thankfully its
tourist office said yes, and directed me to a bike shop 300 meters down
Rustgasse (there is a parking garage across from it). An older gentleman runs the shop, and rented
us three bikes for a total of 25 euro (for the day)!
He has limited hours – he closes by noon – so we would have to lock our
bikes out front when we were done.
In front of the Oberwesel bike rental store
Pfalzgafenstein Castle in Kaub
We biked 15 miles to Rudesheim at a very slow pace of two
hours. The bikes were heavy and (a bit) old, and
Kate’s was too big for her.
We discovered that when the bike path is at the water’s edge, there are swarms of bugs. Chris said we needed goggles and masks. At one point we had to cover our mouths so we could breathe and talk.
The first part of the ride was next to the road - which is nice because you can see around you.
We discovered that when the bike path is at the water’s edge, there are swarms of bugs. Chris said we needed goggles and masks. At one point we had to cover our mouths so we could breathe and talk.
We headed to Bingen where I knew we could take a ferry to
Rudesheim. When we got there, we locked
up our bikes and took a passenger ferry.
Bingen-Rudesheim passenger ferry
From the edge of Rudesheim, looking up to the monument
We enjoyed lunch, ice cream, a quick walk up the
Drosselgosse, and then a ride up the cable cars to the Niederwald Monument.
The narrow cobblestone pedestrian Drosselgosse is "the most famous lane in the world"
It is an awesome view from the cable car!
Kate just wanted to ride the cable car - and not get off at the top.
It was such a beautiful day, I would have enjoyed the walk through the vineyards up to the monument.
From the top you could see the Rhine go on forever (it goes all the way to Switzerland).
This is not a moment I will forget... I love my adventurous Katelyn and Christopher!
The Niederwald Monument at the top of the cable cars
Rather than ride another 15 miles and 2 hours back, we took
the train. It is definitely an
experience to maneuver bikes around a train station, up and down the stairs to
the tracks! Since the youth hostel told
me bikes require a ticket as well (for 5 euro each), I was about to
purchase the tickets from the platform kiosk when the nice lady who works on the
platform caught me and told me that after 9am bikes are free. She also told me which train to catch – which
I wouldn’t have figured out by myself.
For Chris and me, it was a perfect day! Greg and Kate were both disappointed ... Greg because he missed the adventure, and Kate because she went on the adventure (the bike ride ruined it for her).
Waiting for the delayed train
There are bike seat belts on the train
