The other side of the river (Thursday 14th September 2017)

Today’s mission is to explore the towns on the opposite bank of the Rhine. What’s the big deal, I hear you say. There aren’t any bridges across the Rhine in this part of the river’s long journey to the sea. There are a few car ferries at strategic locations, however. We drove down the river towards Koblenz, but this time right by tUe river. At Boppard we stopped as this was our designated crossing point. Boppard is a nice village, that like all villages has its “old town” section and it’s newer section. There was a market on in and around the streets of the old town so we stopped for a wander. We visited the village church which had as it’s centre-piece a magnificent crucifix suspended above the altar that dated back to the 13^th century.

An kindly old chap was selling hats of all sorts and styles not far from the church. His cheery demeanor and his quality merchandise were just too hard to walk past so I tried on a few different styles. Taking Kerry’s advice I settled on a woolen cap - the sort that older blokes might wear! Kerry found a scarf and a couple of other trinkets and then we grabbed the car and headed down to the ferry.

The trip across the river took only 5-6 minutes and cost EUR 5.60. The skill of the ferry captain is something to be in awe of. I can only imagine that there must be some stringent qualification process before one can be licensed to pilot these ferries and, indeed, any vessel on the Rhine in these parts. The river flow is surprisingly rapid and therefore require quite some skill to guide the vessel so precisely to the bank. My new hat is off to them all!

 

Once safely on the other bank we continued downstream to the village of Braubach. It was about lunch time when we arrived but the place was like a ghost town. Almost everything was shut. An ancient bar was open, however. It was a classic dimly lit room with massive dark beams holding the place up ,very dark paneling on the walls and small lead-light windows. We only dropped in for a coffee which came in percolated form in an actual coffee pot! We drank our coffee and departed. High up on the hill above the village was the object of our drive to Braubach. There sat the Marksberg Castle – one of those classic Rhine river fortresses. This one has been around since 1100, in one form or another. It is the only castle of the middle Rhine that has never been conquered by an invading force. It did, however, suffer extensive damage just before the end of WWII when the Yanks fired upon it from the other side of the Rhine – for target practice, one presumes. Because it was never conquered, and despite the efforts of the Yanks, it is the best example of a Middle Ages fortress in this region.

 

We took a tour, in German, for just EUR 7.00. It was an hour very well spent and although we didn’t understand very much of what was said we had a guide book in English to help us. The guide along made an effort to explain some the more important facts about the castle’s history in English, just for us. I found the “Knight’s Armour” display quite interesting. The display showed the progression and development of armour through the ages from the Greeks in 200BC to the end of the Middle Ages. The average Knight in those days carried about 50kgs of iron on his back into battle. The other interesting thing was that the horses they rode were much larger and stronger than modern-day horses as they had to carry so much extra weight. Nevertheless, they were still quite nimble for their size.

We left Marksburg Castle and headed upstream, back from whence we had come. Just beyond the town of St. Goarshausen we passed around the famous Loreley Rock, a treacherous section of the river where the currents and shallow water have claimed many boats. The local legend tells of a girl as a sort of siren who, sitting on the cliff above the Rhine and combing her golden hair, unwittingly distracted shipmen with her beauty and song, causing them to crash on the rocks. Nine kms further on at Kaub we took the ferry back to the western side of the Rhine arriving in Bacharach about 20 minutes later.

After visiting the grocery store and a bar on the way home we opted for an early night.