I write this hoping I’ll have a chance to post it before our trip is through, but knowing we have only 9 more days until our trip comes to an end and we fly back to Boston, finding wireless before then isn’t all that likely, but its a quiet moment and I have words in my head.
We’ve spent one glorious day hiking the ruined castle of Rhinefels in the town of St. Goar, Germany. The castle is perched upon a hill overlooking the Rhine river where the beautiful villages and the vineyards are nestled in a set of picturesque valleys along the water. Castles rise over boats, cars and people going about their daily lives echoing a time of medieval knights, kings and fortification against enemies. We approached the castle from the train station below in a deep shadow cast by the mountain above us. After a hearty climb on the fussweg we came upon the walls of the weathered and crumbling monument. We strolled along snow covered paths through 700 year old archways covered in ivy. We climbed over walls sagging with age, but still strong with its original purpose. We crawled into tiny spaces lit only with a candle and imagined what the passage might have been like in the 13th Centruy under the rule of Count Dieter. As the sun set over Rhinefels and we boarded the train back to spend a night in our own castle I was filled with the satisfaction of an authentic experience of medieval history that I could never stumble upon in the United States.
Our castle certainly stirred less feelings of romanticism and imagination, but it did test our athleticism. The hostel, also a historical landmark called Burg Stahleck or Stahleck castle is perched on a huge hill/small mountain overlooking the Rhine River. It like most castles for the purpose of fortification is not easily reached. After a vigorous 15 minute hike along the edge of a steep incline (i suppose its a decline if you fall) on a path filled with ice patches we like to call death traps and hundreds of stairs later we came to the top of our mountain. Our castle was commanded a breathtaking view that shone brightly under the perfectly clear sky beaming with constellations. It was gorgeous and worth the back breaking (think rigorous hike with a lunch pack, then add 20+lbs in the form of a months worth of belongings) ordeal of scaling the mountain.
Anyhow…. I’m being long winded. Germany was lovely. The Rhine was stunning. Vienna was cold. Prague is fascinating and we come home both too soon and not soon enough!
PS I would also like to mention my 2 stupid injuries to date, that were both minor, but still painful. Injury 1 happened in Cinque Terre and was caused by my own carelessness when I ripped open my thumb with my razor while blindly feeling through my bag for some toiletry item. It bled for quite some time and still requires a bandaid on ocassion. Injury 2 was likewise caused by my stupidity and happened at Rhinefels when I was passing through an apparently too short archway and smacked my head with a resounding TWHAP into the jagged rock surface. Don’t worry mom no concussion! But I had a small knot and a tiny scrape that has since healed and is only minorly tender at this time. I just thought for anyone who really knows how much of a clutz i am this would be amusing info. 🙂 YAY ME!
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