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Mike playing Su Doku in Boppard |
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Black birds in Boppard for Mike's Mom to identify |
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A view of Boppard from the Rhine |
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The ferry at Boppard |
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Rowers near Boppard |
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Burg Sterrenberg and Burg Liebenstein - these two castles were owned by two brothers who had a fight over a fair maiden |
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Burg Sterrenberg and Burg Leibenstein |
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Those are goats on those steep hills |
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Michael drinking German beer on the Rhine River |
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Christine posing with Mike's glass of German beer on the Rhine River (the beer was yech!) |
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Burg Maus - it was a big castle built in the 1300s, but was blown up by Napolean in 1806. It was rebuilt according to its original plans in the 1900s. |
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Those are vinyards on the steep slopes of the hills - where Rhine wine grapes are grown |
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Burg Maus |
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Rheinfels Castle - this was the largest castle on the Rhine, built in 1250. It was destroyed by the French Revolutionary army in 1797 and is now in ruins. We had hoped to tour this castle, but didn't end up having time. |
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Mike in front of Rheinfels Castle |
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Rheinfels Castle |
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Burg Katz is across the river from Rheinfels Castle. It was destroyed by Napolean in 1806 and rebuilt in 1900. It is now under a rich Japanese corporation's ownership as a hotel (the only way the German government would let foreigners buy it), but the hotel is so expensive no one has ever stayed there. (Never found out what the price was) |
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Mike thought it was funny that the town below Burg Katz was flying a Japanese flag |
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Burg Katz |
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Picture of our boat making waves |
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One last picture of Burg Katz |
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The Lorely rock - a big slate cliff face. There are a lot of dangerous reefs just upriver from here which started a lot of local ghostly legends about sirens. Apparently this cliff has been a holy site since Roman times and has fueled lots of ghostly stories. |
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The castle-looking train tunnels were built in the 1800s. |
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Mike caught a train going into the tunnel |
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Medieval tower remains in the village of Oberwesel |
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Castle Schonburg above Oberwesel |
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Castle Schonburg above Oberwesel |
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Christine on the observation deck of the boat |
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Notice how the observation deck is all cleared out now? |
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Burg Gutenfels (on the hill) and Pfalz Castle (on the island in the river). These two castles ran chains across the river to prevent boats from going downriver unless they paid a "tax" |
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Burg Gutenfels with vinyards in the background |
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Pfalz Castle |
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Burg Gutenfels |
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Burg Gutenfels |
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Pfalz Castle (looks like they're doing restoration work on it) |
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Stairs to the river |
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Vinyards along the Rhine River |
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Bacharach and Burg Stahleck (Burg Stahleck is now a hostel) |
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Bacharach and Burg Stahleck |
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Bacharach and Burg Stahleck |
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Christine in Bacharah with our boat sailing away behind her |
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Christine in Bacharach |