Germany: Rhine and Moselle Valleys

(Kate)

Today our friend Steve was a wonderful tour guide; he took us to see various castles and other sights in the Moselle and Rhine Valleys. So beautiful! We enjoyed muesli for breakfast, typical German tourist food for lunch, ice cream, and ended the day sitting in Steve and Franziska’s courtyard eating cheese, drinking nice wines, and savoring lovely cool weather while we can. Owl and bat sightings before bed. An excellent day!

1. I got up early to walk a few miles along one of the routes of the Camino de Santiago (known as Jacobsweg here in Germany). It was really nice to be walking in the countryside again.
2. and 3. Burg Eltz - a beautifully maintained castle in the Moselle Valley. We took a guided tour but couldn’t take pics inside. You can see in 3. how the castle is built into the rocks on the mountainside. It’s quite a massive structure, and it’s been owned by the same family since it was built! Construction first started in 1472.
4. A very nice trail through a forest back to the parking lot of the castle.
5., 6., 7., 8. There was a castle of some sort almost literally at every bend in the road/river in the Rhine Valley. Some are ruins, and others have been turned into tourist attractions, hotels, or youth hostels. These are just a few of them. That’s the Rhine River in 7.
9. and 10. Views from the very picturesque town of Bacharach.Read more