Cruising the Rhine

This morning we left Rudesheim in the dark. 

pre-dawn Rudesheim

We entered the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the middle Rhine, where there are all sorts of castles.  Many of the first ones appeared while we were eating breakfast.  After a few tries, I gave up on trying to capture a dark castle against the dark hill on the west side of the river.  I did get a few shots of some of the ones on the east side because I could frame them against the dawn sky. 

We finally got to a point where we could see the castles.  Up on the sky deck many of the passengers were wrapped in blankets.  The outside temp was probably 40, but we had about a 10-15 knot wind outside and our downstream speed was probably comparable, so 20-30 knots over the deck provided a good wind chill.  We positioned ourselves behind the wheel house.  It made a good wind block.

Here's a sample of some of the castles:

 

this used to be a toll booth

 

 

 

This is the famous Lorelei rock.  The Rhine is very narrow, and it makes a sharp turn so the current is swift.  The captain sounded the horn before we entered the swift water, scaring a number of passengers who were standing on the front rail near the horn.















Before lunch we reached Koblenz, where the Moselle enters the Rhine.  We turned upstream and started to follow our last river.

Right at the confluence, there is an impressive monument.