The mighty Rhine

After returning to the Frankfurt area last night, we left this morning for the Rhine region, albeit at a more relaxed pace then the last few days in the former DDR. Our destination was to be Rüdesheim, a town along the Rhine not too far from the city of Wiesbaden.

Upon arrival there, it was pretty obvious that it was Sunday and that there was not a cloud in the sky. People lined the main street while cars and a never ending line of motorcycles crawled by. The town centre is very touristy by German standards. A seemingly neverending maze of cobblestone alleys and squares all lined with shops and restaurants await visitors.

The townsite is at the base of a gently slopping hillside that is almost entirely covered by vineyards. We took a Gondola to the top of the hill for €4.50 and made our way back down via the countless switchback type trails.

Once we had done all our exploring, we stopped for some ice cream. The town really was busy with visitors from all over, many foreign languages could be heard, including english with a distinctly american accent...

Today, we were accompanied by our host, Pat's uncle, and by his girlfriend. Pat's 2 cousins from Germany also came with us, and it was sure nice to chat with them a little, considering this was only the 2nd time they had ever met. Pat's cousin Sandra now lives in the UK and flew in on the occasion of our visit. Andy, the other cousin, lives nearby. He was nice enough to drive us around today and his love for the Autobahn became quite evident during the trip to Rüdesheim!

Once we got back to home base in Bad Soden, it was time for dinner at a restaurant with Pat's Grandma. Upon our return, we kept busy preparing our luggage for the second phase of our adventure: we fly to Antalya Turkey tomorrow. We'll be heading to Frankfurt airport around 4:00PM in order to catch our 7:00 flight. There are some tight weight restrictions on luggage on our flight (thank God just on the luggage) so we had to pack carefully. Before heading for the airport, we will take in some last minute shopping with Sandra.

Not sure when the next installment will be, as from here on in, we will be relying on internet cafe's to blog from. Our first day on the bikes will be a tough one: 600 km. Poor Erin...

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