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the maximum yield.

The third, and at first most surprising observation, was that there
is a tremendous amount of industry in the valley. Every town has several
good sized factories with huge smoke stacks as prominent as the church
spires on the skyline; also in many of the small side valleys there are
mining or factory operations. This is really not surprising when you
think for a moment of the excellent, cheap transportation available.
Not only the river barges, which are seen loading all along the way, but
also a steady stream of freight trains running back and forth on
sides of the river.

The composite picture I formed in my mind of the Rhine valley is of lovely
natural scenery in a romantic, historical setting- the green hills and old
towns and castles aspect- plus intense; energetic human acticity [activity]- a busy,
active, industrious but jolly and cordial people. They work kard [hard] and well
but they like to relax over the good wine too and in Mainz and Coblenz
each year they have the best fasching carnival celebrations in all of
Germany. Obviously the Rhine is many things at the same time and thus
all the more interesting.

If Friday was the day for noting the unexpected, Saturday certainly
fulfilled the Rhine's romantix expectations. Actually, this began with
the hostel Friday night in Coblentz- actually a part of an old fortress
located on a high bluff overlooking the Rhine and the Moselle as it
flows into the Rhine, and the city. The old walls, passageways, dark
cold rooms etc were right out of the medieval days. And the view of the city
was absolutely splendid. About 10 miles south of Coblentz
we came upon the Marksburg Castle, the only unruined castle on the Rhine
dating in part from the 11th and 12th centuries, last really used in the
18th century. We climbed a path up to the castle- about 400 feet over
the river- and spent about 2 hours there. Ate lunch on the walls looking
out over the river, wandered around etc. Then we took a brief but fascinating
30 minute tour through the inside of the castle itself. We saw
living rooms with walls 9 feet thick (they are 18 feet thick in the
cellar) old tables, clothes chests, portraits of former "residents" etc
with the dim lighting and chilled air giving the final authenticity.
Also a small chapel room with the paint now fading badly from the walls.
The kitchen with a fireplace large enough to roast a whole ox. The torture
chamber with a stretching rack and other ingenious devices. It was
really fascinating and so much more meaningful than seeing all of the
items in some museum. This way we really got a total picture of a way
of life. As we rode on southward, the towns thinned out and the mountains
rose straight up from the river (still planted in many parts with vineyards
even so.). The stretch from Braubach to Rudesheim- between Coblentz
and Mainz- is the most beautiful for scenery on the Rhine. Many ruins,
rugged hills, with the river winding and turning often, the famous Lorelei
bend where the river narrows to 350 feet with a sheer rock cliff. All of
it was magnificent, even in mostly overcast weather.

We spent Sat. night at the hostel in the town of Lorch, about a mile up
the valley of the Wisper river. With a view of both this and the Rhine
valley- really a splendid location. After dinner in a small cafe, we went
to a local wine house and sampled some excellent Rhine wine and bought