Bacharach - Sankt Goar und Boppard

Breakfast as usual and off to catch the train again.  Trains from Bacharach are hourly in each direction, and all leave between :22 and :30, which is easy to remember.  This morning we were heading north, so it was the earlier timeslot.  The weather today was looking fantastic.  First stop – Sankt Goar and Burg Rheinfels.  Caelli’s foot was particularly sore right from the start, so we looked for the tourist train to take us up to the castle.  It departed from underneath the largest hand-crafted, free-hanging Kuckucksuhr in the world.  (Note the Burg in the background under the clock.)

The views from the Burg were really nice, as usual.  They built these places up high to get the best views of river traffic from far away.

Burg Rheinfels itself is a ruin, and only a fraction of its former size.  It was built in 1245, and for five centuries was the biggest castle on the Rhein.  It was built to guard a toll station, and earned the nickname “the unconquerable fortress”.  It withstood a siege of 28,000 French troops in 1692 (the French managed to destroy just about everything else on the Mosel and the Rhein at this time).  It was finally destroyed by the French in 1797 and was never restored.

We had a bit of fun with the self-timer on the camera.

Caelli’s foot was a real problem today, so she couldn’t walk much at all.  We’d find a seat for her, then Phil and I would explore the area, move on to the next bit, find a suitable sitting-place, and move Caelli.  Then we’d explore that bit.

We went through some of the mine tunnels and cellars.  Caelli was okay with those that had relatively smooth footing (it was the cobbles that were the worst).

We also saw some gorgeous blue flowers.

Caelli went back down the hill on the tourist train; Phil and I walked.  We caught the next train to Boppard, which is a bit further north again.  Boppard has a chairlift, and it’s a long one – 20 minutes each way.

There were some nice views at the top (of course!)  Boppard is situated on one of the biggest bends in the Rhein, and it doesn’t all fit in one photo.

There were also some paragliders.  They took off and landed at the same spot.  The yellow and red one managed to take off; the white and red one didn’t get enough initial lift and aborted.  He took off about 10 minutes later.

We had hot chocolates at one of the cafes up there.  If you look carefully in the first photo, you can see the Rhein in four different places, making it look like lakes (there’s a tongue twister for you!)

Back down on the chairlift to Boppard...

...to catch the train home, and Phil and I went out to buy some bread rolls to snack on tomorrow.  We found some high water markers here, too.  It must have been bad in 1784!

We grabbed a quick photo of the well at the bottom of our street in Bacharach.  It has wire over the top so you can’t fall in, but there’s water in it!  (Caelli is riding a fish with legs, by the way.)

Each evening in Bacharach we've trekked up to Burg Stahleck for the pay internet access.  It's only 500 metres, but there are 350 steps in that distance (and a heart rate around 160 bpm!)  After the glorious weather we had today, it started raining just before I left.  Typical.  One final photo - a Schmetterling we saw today.

We can now say butterfly in five languages!