Saturday 29/8/15 – We started our journey through the romantic Rhine valley from the town of Koblenz.
The Rhine river majestically and serenely meanders it’s way through the valley, all the while busily carrying barges, cruise boats and other water craft to their destinations. It has been an important trade route since prehistoric times into central Europe.
We rode through so many amazing and beautiful old towns. It is a surreal feeling to know that these buildings were built hundreds of years before Australia was even discovered!
At the old town of Rhens, we came into the square to find they had a celebration happening.
They had an old, wooden carousel, a keyless concert organ, decorative old ferris wheel and other carnival attractions; all so old and beautifully maintained.
In another small square, we spoke to a guy, who told us the town were celebrating 800 years for the church and 500 years for something else, sorry can’t remember what! He said they were celebrating into the night and we should stay, sadly we didn’t.
He had a lovely 60 year old old Messerschmitt KR175 three wheeler parked near his beer stand. It was even autographed by the designer Fritz Fend in 1998. What a gem!
Ancient Castles, some restored and some not, dot the hillsides and tops all through the valley, giving it a fairy tale effect. The castles were built by knights, princes, bishops and a mafia of local robber barons. Many castle were laid waist by French troops under Louis XIV. Today some have been lovingly restored as hotels in more recent times. Green grape vines, laden with fruit, grow in perfect rows in every available space, at times on the steepest of steep slopes.
One can only wonder how different and stunning this valley must be during Autumn, when the vines are changing colour.
For us today, it was brilliant sunshine and hot with 36 degrees. We climbed up to a hilltop vineyard for some ‘light relief.
Today we rode north to south on the west side of the river, and stayed at a lovely old hotel in the town of Bacharach, but not before we stopped at Boppard for some ’sustenance’ along the way!
Had a lovely afternoon and evening walk through Bacharach. The shell of the original cathedral that sits on a hill top is still used today for concert recitals, and we believe some weddings.
Met Judy and Colin from Frankston (about 45 minutes from our home). Had a beer, wine and lots of laughs with them before exchanging contact details and agreeing to catch up when back in Oz.
At their recommendation, we had tea in the local Greek restaurant. It was a very entertaining evening, topped off with a night cap ouzo!
Sunday 30/8/18 – Up early at 7am to spend another lovely day in the Rhine Valley. This time we went south to north on the east side of the river. So much eye candy instore for us again today, with more castles, medieval villages and vines.
Sadly we left the beautiful Rhine valley at Petersburg. More lovely twisty, winding roads were in store for us, as we headed up through the mountains, before we finally stopped for the day in Wiesbaden, tired and hot, but happy after a scorching day of 36 degrees.
Monday 31/8/15 – Today we headed to Frankfurt, and of course we had to have a frankfurt in Frankfurt didn’t we? Well frankfurts are not usually breakfast food, however we found a nice restaurant in the city centre and explained our mission to the young waitress. She was delighted and said ‘sure we can do for you’, as she laughed her way all the way back to the kitchen. She asked about our travels, and her frequent exclamation was ‘super!’
After much laughter and pictures at the Frankfurt cafe we headed on the road again, winding our way up through the mountains to the beautiful plateaus towards Wurzburg, and the start of the Romantische StraBe (Romantic Road).
John & Jo Spencer's Travel Blogs 
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