Prost!
ometimes I have to pinch myself. This weekend was one of those times. Touring our region's wine country, watching Germany beat England with a huge group of rowdy German fans and attending yet another festival with new friends were the makings of a great weekend. It's hard to believe this is our life now, but it's definitely sinking in.
Saturday we headed to Rüdesheim with a colleague of my husband's to see the wine country and tour a castle. We started our day with taking the Seilbahn up the vineyard-covered hill, accompanied by a small bottle of sparkling wine and souvenir glasses. Already a good start to a beautiful day.
From the Seilbahn, we had about an hour trek to the next stop on the tour - the chair lift back down the hill. Throughout the forest at the top, there were lookout spots and old buildings and monuments all along the ridge, which offered amazing views and plenty of photo ops.
The descent on the chair lifts (also Seilbahn) was a little scary, but the amazing view coming down to the river more than made up for it. The fact that we were headed to "Assmannshausen" brought out a few chuckles - juvenile, yes, but we couldn't help ourselves.
After a nice lunch in town (I had the most amazing thing: Schweinesteak Melba - pork with baked peaches & cheese on top with a creamy sauce. Yummy!), we hopped on the ferry to get over the river to the Burg Rheinstein for the next stop on the tour.
View of the castle's church from the garden
Iron gate the lead down to the resting places of some of the royalty
"Welcome to my castle - now see all that I have killed!"
Very tiny, very scary stairway up to topmost tower overlooking the river
The view being royalty buys you
All in all, it was the perfect day. It was a little warm, but between the shade of the forest and the occasional breeze over the river, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. And for €14 (yes, total: two Seilbahn rides, two ferry rides and a castle tour) what more could you ask for?
More tomorrow on the World Cup and Johannisfest...
*Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische
