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If Friday was the day for noting the unexpected, Saturday certainly fulfilled the
Rhein's romantic expectations. Actually this began with the hostel Friday night in
Koblenz - actually a part of the old fortress Ehrenbreitstein, located on a high
bluff overlooking the Rhein (and the Moselle as it flows into the Rhein) and the
city. The old walls, passageways, dark cold rooms, etc were right out of medieval
days, and the view of the city was absolutely splendid. About 10 miles south of Koblenz
we came upon the Marksburg castle - the only unruined castle on the Rhein, dating in part from
the 11th and 12th centuries, last really used in the early 18th century. We climbed the path
up to the castle (about 450 feet over the river) and spent about 2 hours there, ate lunch
on the walls looking out over the river, wandered around the old walls, etc. then we took
a brief but fascinating 1/2 hour tour through the insides of the castle itself. We
saw living rooms with walls 9 feet thick (they are 18 ft. 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 equally ingenious devices. It
was really fascinating, and so much more meaningful than seeing all 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 (part of the distance between Koblenz and Mainz) is the
most beautiful for scenery on the Rhein - many ruins, rugged hills, with the river winding
and turning often, the famous Loreley bend (where the river narrows to 350' wide)
with its sheer rock cliff, all of it was magnificent, even in mostly overcast weather.

We spent Saturday 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 Rhein valley - really a
splendid location. After dinner in a small cafe, we went to a local wine house and
sampled some excellent Rhein wine - bought a bottle to take back to the Burg with
us to share with Dr. Boerner too, since he helped us plan our trip and is anyway a
generally great guy.

Sunday (it is now Monday morning 28.3.60) we had a few more miles of the rugged
Rhein to Rudesheim, then mostly flat, slightly rolling country on into Wiesbaden
and across to Mainz. The most interesting incident was in passing Bingen, where
there is a stretch of shallows and very dangerous water. Just at about the time we
rode by a large barge had run aground and damaged its rudder, tying up
traffic behind it as effectively as a big accident on the bay bridge. We stopped for
about half an hour to watch as the damaged ship drifted carefully backward through
the line of companion vessels to find safe anchorage for repairs; then slowly the
waiting boats moved single-file, cautiously through the narrow safe water channel.
While all this was going on we fired a constant line of questions to an old man standing
beside us, and in that half hour we learned a lot of river lore. Once again traveling
by bike (and thus seeing so much more of what we pass) and speaking German made