This weekend we took a trip 2 hours up the Rhein to a small town called St. Goar. The scenery is quite stunning and the train follows the Rhein, going through lots of cute little towns and villages and past a few Castles perched on the Hills/small mountains along the river. The town of St Goar has 3 Castles in its near vicinity.
Burg Rheinfels was once the largest Castle on the Rhein was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen, however was partially destroyed by French Revolutionary Army troops in 1797. Nowdays for 3 Euros you can wander round the ruins completely unsupervised. I was totally surprised that they pretty much let you go anywhere too. There are a few areas that are fenced off but all the fence consisted of was two bars with a huge gap that even I would have no trouble getting through! We had a map which led us through the ruins and explained points of interest (in English, but I did try to read many of the Information boards dotted around the Castle in German with various degrees of success). Next time we come back we will bring a torch so that we can explore s
ome of the dark small passages that snake around the ruins. Unfortunately taking a photo every meter or so for the light of the flash is a horribly frustrating was to travel - It also made me feel like I might have a seizure. My favorite bit of the map we were given was in the Foxhole section where it said "on the left you will notice some stairs leading down. For safety reasons the entrance is locked by iron bars. This is where the mine tunnel begins. The tunnel, hardly 1m high, has several turnoffs. It can be passed and leads us back into the battlements" The iron bars it mention was actually a gate similar to that on a sheep paddock and had no lock. Unfortunatly our lack of "approriate lighting" meant that we will have to save that particular adventure till next time. Maybe when Timmy comes at Christmas time?
The town of St Goar (or to be more accurate its sister city accross the river, St Goarshausen) is also home to the Loreley, a 150m tall rock that juts out into the Rhein. It is the subject of much Folklore. It is said that a maiden, named Loreley, threw herself off the rock in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren, luring hapless sailors to their deaths. There is a poem about the tale written by Heinrich Heine that is one of the most well know German poems. We walked up the steps carved in the mountain side to to the top of the rock and were very glad that we did...........
That night, after resting our weary legs from all that walking and step climbing, we headed to a Hotel restaurant for some dinner. We were one of two couples eating there that night and at a table a few meters away was the Proprietor and his wife on laptops watching the TV. Suffice to say, this establishment wont be winning any "ambiance of the year" prizes! I'm not a huge fan of TV's in dining rooms at the best of times but when the program requires footage of a woman receiving some sort of gynecological exam, I think, my dear people, that it is definitely time to turn it off and put some music on!
Burg Rheinfels was once the largest Castle on the Rhein was started in 1245 by Count Diether V of Katzenelnbogen, however was partially destroyed by French Revolutionary Army troops in 1797. Nowdays for 3 Euros you can wander round the ruins completely unsupervised. I was totally surprised that they pretty much let you go anywhere too. There are a few areas that are fenced off but all the fence consisted of was two bars with a huge gap that even I would have no trouble getting through! We had a map which led us through the ruins and explained points of interest (in English, but I did try to read many of the Information boards dotted around the Castle in German with various degrees of success). Next time we come back we will bring a torch so that we can explore s
ome of the dark small passages that snake around the ruins. Unfortunately taking a photo every meter or so for the light of the flash is a horribly frustrating was to travel - It also made me feel like I might have a seizure. My favorite bit of the map we were given was in the Foxhole section where it said "on the left you will notice some stairs leading down. For safety reasons the entrance is locked by iron bars. This is where the mine tunnel begins. The tunnel, hardly 1m high, has several turnoffs. It can be passed and leads us back into the battlements" The iron bars it mention was actually a gate similar to that on a sheep paddock and had no lock. Unfortunatly our lack of "approriate lighting" meant that we will have to save that particular adventure till next time. Maybe when Timmy comes at Christmas time?
The town of St Goar (or to be more accurate its sister city accross the river, St Goarshausen) is also home to the Loreley, a 150m tall rock that juts out into the Rhein. It is the subject of much Folklore. It is said that a maiden, named Loreley, threw herself off the rock in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren, luring hapless sailors to their deaths. There is a poem about the tale written by Heinrich Heine that is one of the most well know German poems. We walked up the steps carved in the mountain side to to the top of the rock and were very glad that we did...........
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