Sunday I got up early because I was worried that I wouldn’t get up in time for the early train to Frankfurt…..since I was about 8kms from the Hauptbahnhof (remember…railroad station) I was undecided about how to get there….anyway I took a cab….problem solved. Got there in plenty of time to sit and have my egg mcmuffin and a coffee.
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| This little guy had been on the train all of one minute! |
The train ride was uneventful, getting to Frankfurt about 1:30. By 1:45 I had a cache and was heading to find some lunch. Then found a place to get wifi (thank you Starbucks) and found a message from Sheryl that she would meet me in front of the train station……so waited and waited
And waited some more…..finally at about 4:00 there she was, I had just sat down in SB, because my feet were sore from standing. I have found there are not many places to sit down in a train station….
We checked into the hotel and then went to explore Frankfurt. I’m not impressed with what I saw of the city mind you the area around the train station is kind of the red light district….but we did walk quite far up to an area where there is lots of regular stores and apartment buildings, but still not my favourite city.
Monday….Since Sheryl only slept half the night…we got up earlier than the
set alarm clock….packed quickly and caught an early train 7:40 to Mainz where the plan was to go on a boat cruise up to our hotel in St Goar.
Got off the train and learned we were still a ways from the river and the KD boat docks….got on a bus that was suggested at the information centre at the train station. But when he let us off I thought we still had a ways to go and needed to find another bus. We must have looked a little confused when an elderly lady came up to us and asked if we needed help…it turns out that we were really only a block away from the dock….danke danke Frauline or we would still be wandering around Mainz.
The boat from Mainz only leaves at 8:45 and 9:45 to go north to Cologne….it stops at several places along the way to pick up and drop off people. This little trip is one that I had seen in the Rick Steves travel books and it sounded like fun.
Although it threatened rain several times along the way and it was cold, the trip wonderful….. vineyards, campsites, villages, castle after castle….rushing from one side of the boat to the other because there was just so much to see.
We landed in St Goar at 1:00. Bonus the hotel I booked the Hotel Rheinfels was right across the road….and it includes breakfast. No elevator though and we are on the 2nd floor (that’s really the 3rd floor North American style).
Because we were early and our rooms weren’t ready yet we stored our luggage there and went for a walk up the street….it is a really "cute " village..getting a few souviners and a pair of shoes each (Birkenstocks) We went back to the hotel to take our purchases back and get our luggage up to our room (with help) and when to get on the little train that would take us up to the Rheinfels Castle.
An amazing place built in 1245 and was once the biggest castle on the Rhine. This was very different from the palace we saw in Berlin. This is a maze of rock walls, rooms and towers. We spent a few hours there missing the last little train down and instead walking back to the village. We had dinner at one of the little restaurants along the way, then checked out the train station we have to go to tomorrow (another bonus a block behind us!)
By this time we had run out of battery power on our cameras and Sheryl was starting to get feel tired….She will be on schedule by tomorrow for out trip back to Berlin.
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