Bingen am Rhine - Oct. 27-29, 2018

One of our pleasures of being in Germany is spending time on the Rhine. This trip we decided to stay in a town we had only passed through by train on previous visits to the Rhine Valley.

So what do I start off with? A photo of the Nutella muncher showing she who never eats bread slathering Nutella on a slice of real good tasting German bread. Wonder how I know the bread tastes so good? Breaded Bob.

Saturday morning market in the town square.

No matter where in the world we are in a store, Linda spends time in the office supplies department. Looking Linda.

Some signs are self explanatory.

Every time we look up there are vineyards.

And sometimes when we look down there is a reminder of the past. Paula Mandel was 59 when she was murdered at Auschwitz.

Linda wanted a cobblestone in the worst way.

View across the Rhine.

Linda’s favorite Riesling in the center. We bought it by the bottle, not by the glass. I’m not big on Riesling, but had to admit it was very good.

This restaurant’s specialty was local food with seasonally available ingredients. It was boar and venison for me tonight. We liked their food so much we ate there on three different nights.

Sunday morning we were out for a walk when we saw what looked like a small castle in the middle of the Rhine. Turned out the water level of the Rhine is lowest it’s been in a hundred years. This was the tool booth where the princes collect fees from the boats passing by hundreds of years ago, it has been rebuilt a number times, with the Romans actually erecting the structure on this site.

We also discovered it was the first time it had ever been accessible on foot, so there was a constant stream of Germans walking out to look at it. Another of those wonderful stumble upon’s we occasionally discover in our travels.

Demonstration vineyard that had all the different grapes grown in the Rhine Valley. Of course Ms. Silvaner Drinker had to have her photo taken in front of her favorite wine grape variety.

Yes dear. That was the “Mouse Tower” we walked out to.

After every walk Linda checks out her tab top finds.

It was one of the Special Sundays before Christmas when the stores were allowed to be open.

The meat market had a stand where they were grilling wursts. Some things are just too good to pass up.

Taking the ferry across the Rhine to Rudesheim. We had the ferry all to ourselves on this Monday morning. Let’s just say most people were smart enough to stay indoors on the very cold day and leave it at that.

Did I mention it was really cold? And even more so up here.

Up at the top.

Our hotel.

Vineyard soil.

Contrary to what you might think, she is not picking up a rock. She’d already put several in her pocket.

Not bad, but much better in the bottle.

Heading back down. Surprisingly our car was not overloaded despite all the rocks in Linda’s pockets.

Nothing beat hot homemade tomato soup and bread with a glass of wine after being out in the cold.

Crowded boat on the way back, what with there being another passenger besides us on the board.

A new take on the term, “ferry crossing”.