Thursday 19ty September, 2014……

Rain this morning but we had decided to stay on board whilst most of the other passengers have gone to see the Marksburg Castle in Brauchbach…..we can see it from the boat but we’re told there are some steep steps in the castle and as Michael is trying to let is cracked ribs heal we have given this tour a miss….also we are ‘castled’ and ‘chateaued’ out!!!!!  Time for a relaxing catch up on the boat…..With everyone back on board by late morning we were on our way again with an early lunch before we entered the Rhine Gorge…then we were all up on the sundeck with so much to view on both sides of the Rhine…..and the sun had come out and it was hot again…this area of the Rhine has the greater concentration of castles, castle ruins and vineyards and many picturesque villages……later in the afternoon we docked at Rhudesheim….a world famous and UNESCO heritage listed area of Germany’s Hesse province is the Rhine Valley section carved through the  steep slate mountains between Koblenz and Bingen….Central to this is Rhudesheim….incorporated with this town is a long and chequered history dating back to the Romans which saw numerous conflicts and culminated in becoming the famous wine “Reisling”…Rhudesheim has a population of 10,000 with 3 million tourists a year visiting this spot….I have been here before and it still is my favourite spot on the Rhine…..everything is picture postcard and today again didn’t disappoint!!!  We travelled in mini train, the Winzer Express, to Siegfried’s Musical Cabinet…..this is an incredible collection of mechanical music instruments and organs and all in working order……we enjoyed some great music and all very interesting in that a lot of the instruments were housed in what was an old wine cellar…..we walked back to the boat wandering through the streets of Rhudesheim……dinner and entertainment on board tonight…..3 people who call themselves “Music along the rivers”…..a pianist who was brilliant, a woman with a magnificient voice and a guy playing the French horn….it really was most enjoyable and so we hit the cot around 11 pm……life on the river just getting more relaxing every day!!! M & F.

Marksburg Castle.....Braubach.....

As above...pic taken from our boat......

All the rail tunnels have these mini castles built at the entrance...Hitler knew the Allies were avoiding bombing heritage thing so he ordered that these mini castles be built on all the railway tunnels and it worked as the German rail system came out unscathed during the war years!!!!

Vineyards on the Rhine.....

As above and the railway....so many trains on the tracks through the Rhine Valley.....

The villages and vineyards of the Rhine Valley....

Pic taken from our sun deck...all the boats tied up and the vineyards.....

Our boat and the mini train in Rhudesheim.....

The Siegfried's Music Museum...this instrument was incredible....violins that played in the upper part with the piano below....

Outside Siegfried's Museum.....Rhudesheim.....

The streets of Rhudesheim....

As above.....

Relaxing in the lounge on board The Jewel.....