River Cruise Oct 9/14 - cruising the Rhine Gorge.

Last day on the boat, and it rained - a lot!  But it was so nice anyway.  I still stayed on the "sun" deck, under the roof, and the scenery in the Rhine Gorge was absolutely wonderful!  I LOVE river cruising!

There was castle after castle, and one of the cruise managers gave a running commentary on the castles and towns we passed.  Too bad I can't remember any of it.  :-(

I can't imagine how they got the materials up there to build this one!

 Lots of grape vines below this one among the rocks!

The Rhine Gorge is about a 65 km stretch of river with a very fast-moving current, and a lot of rock, which makes it difficult for the boats to negotiate.  But VERY beautiful!

This huge rock formation is known as the Loreley Rock.  It soars 120 metres above the river, and is at the narrowest point in the gorge.  Folklore says that Loreley, a charming female, was betrayed by her sweetheart, and is accused of bewitching men and causing their death.  Instead of being put to death for her actions, she was sentenced to live in a nunnery.  On her way there, accompanied by 3 knights, she asked to climb the rock to view the Rhine once more.  She does so, and falls to her death.  Hence, the Loreley Rock.  That's just one of the legends.  :-)

Switzerland is known for its many tunnels, but Germany has a lot as well.  This is a railway tunnel.

 These appear to be cormorants, but some of them have a lot of white on them - immature ones maybe?

We saw quite a lot of herons, some in flocks.  This rocky area was in the middle of the river.

The navigable portion of the river was quite narrow here, and we had to wait our turn to pass through.

There were 2 railway tunnels here, one going each way, and this train was loaded with new cars.

Always the cathedrals in the towns, and usually a castle above the town.

"I'm the king of the castle....."  I wonder if they really appreciated the view?

The cathedrals always tower over the rest of the buildings in the towns.

Always mid-morning, we were served coffee and biscuits.  It felt really good that day, as some of us die-hards spent the morning in the cold and the rain up on the deck.  I for one didn't want to miss anything!

I don't think I have ever seen white goats with totally brown heads, but we saw lots of them that morning.

Much of the 30 year war (1618-1648) took place in this area, and  there was much destruction, leaving many castles in ruin.  Some have been revived, and are now used as museums, hotels, etc.

This building is on an island, and is where taxes were collected from the boats using the river.  There was a chain which was pulled up so no-one could get by un-noticed.

Such a pretty little town!

Another town - with grapevines growing behind it on very steep slopes.

A very colourful town - and the castle is pretty close to the river in this one.

I liked the look of this one, and the flag tells us that it is in use for something.

I'm guessing this one is a hotel, and the structure attached to it on the left is an exit stairway.   

"The wise man built his house upon the rock....."  I love this one!   

This is an indication of how fast the current was, and we were moving upstream, which means the RED should be on the right, not the GREEN.  At least that's the way it is on our waterways.

 


This is one of the ruins, with lots of grapes growing around it.