Down the Rhine

Even though we were out late in Cologne, we awoke at a reasonable hour, 10 a.m., had breakfast and then set off for Andernach to meet with Heinz-Josef.
From there, we took a regional train along the Rhine and stopped at Marksburg Castle, one of the few castles along the river that is still completely intact.
The castle sits on a high hill overlooking the swiftly moving Rhine.
It’s easy to see why the castle was never damaged by battles in the Middle Ages. The slopes are steep on all sides of the castle and would be a nightmare for opposing to climb, let alone fight.
We took a tour of the castle — thankfully aided by English books since the tour guide only spoke German — then trekked back down the hill for a weisbier from Bavaria.
The pub we chose was erected in the 1500s, and didn’t look like it had changed much since it first opened.
The sheer history of Europe continues to amaze me.
The Germans living near Marksburg Castle think nothing of going to a bar built in the 1500s for an after work drink whereas in the United States, mention a building from the 1880s and the oohs and aahs last for minutes.
After the weisbier, we continued our ride down the Rhine and saw castle after castle along the way.
We probably saw 15 castles from the train during the whole trip.
Our destination that afternoon was Rudesheim, a small town that is the site of a monument commemorating a German victory over France.
The monument sits on a ridge overlooking the Rhine and is accessible by foot, car or chairlift that goes over vineyards.
We decided on the chairlift to get great views of the river and the grape fields, which are used to make Riesling.
But before we did we stopped into a little wine bar to sample some local Riesling. I’ve always liked Riesling, and the wine was excellent.
After touring the memorial we ate dinner at a restaurant to have some famous German white asparagus.
White asparagus, or spargel in German, is only available for a handful of weeks in the late spring.
It was delicious.