Parting is such sweet sorrow. One beginning is just some other beginning's end... all those other cliched phrases.
Well, there it was; Our last day and night in Germany. While I was incredibly sad to be leaving Germany, because I have more than enjoyed my time there, I am also very excited for the new adventures yet to be had in Prague. A huge thank you to Karen and Gary Daniels, if they see this! You both have been so kind and generous in helping Hillary and I prepare for our semester in Prague. I am more thankful than you could ever know for all the trouble and expense you went to in order to make my experience the best it could be.
Our last day in Wattenheim. Or, our last day in the areas surrounding Wattenehim, really. Karen, Hillary, and I hopped in the car and drove to find the Rhine river Valley at what Karen kept calling "its least boring parts."Our first stop was in a sleepy mountain town just on the edge of the river and nestled into the hills. The town, Bacharach (like Burt) was a beautiful quiet town that truly showcased the architecture of the 11th and 12th centuries. While walking the streets, I often felt as if I was walking crooked because the homes had begun to slant so much in the settling process. At one point, we came across an alley way, that was clearly well traveled. However, the traveling must have been done by someone not nearly as big as myself because I had some trouble squeezing between the buildings. Our stop lasted just long enough for Hillary and Karen to grab some pretzels before we hit the road again.
The next stop was Rheinfels. This town is most noted for the incredible and immense castle built on the hill overlooking the river valley. We headed up to the castle in hopes of finding some soup for a mid day meal. Finding nothing in the way of food, we did, however, find amazing views of the valley, the tiny towns and villages nestled in the hills, and the numerous castles along the way (apparently built in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period through tax money raised off tariffs from ships). On the way out of Rheinfels, we stumbled upon the world's largest beer stein seller. Some of the steins were three feet tall and cost 1700 Euro (over 2000 American!). The collection was incredible.
After a spinny ferry ride across the Rhine, we arrived in our last destination of the day: Rudesheim. At this point in the day, the wind was cutting off the river and really chilled the air. Almost every shop in the entire town had signs up reading "gone until March." While disappointed, Rudesheim was more of a tourist area, and while having some very quaint sights, was probably not worth spending any money or significant time there.
That night, Hillary and I were in for a treat. Gary and Karen hopped us in the car as we travelled to the next town over for a nice dinner at Burgschanke Neuleniningen (no, that's not a typo). The restaurant was in an 11th Century castle shell- here I say shell because all that was left of the castle were some wall remnants and an underground cellar (the restaurant). The cellar was a dimly lit stone room where dinner moved at a slow pace- much more enjoyable for conversing. I had a garlic steak (the only words I even remotely recognized from the menu). As we chatted, I tried some cabernet sauvignon. Still not to my liking. The steak was amazing, but the garlic stuck with me and Hillary had a difficult time talking to me later that night due to the smell.
After dinner, we attempted to see the lit walls of the castle, but realized that it was much too cold to be outside at that time of night, especially because we had not planned on being outside for very long.
That night, we watched our last episode of Fringe (the TV show) with brownies and ice cream before doing some preliminary packing to prepare for our early morning flight from the country.
On to Praha!!!
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