Castling Along The Rhine

---

Welcome back to the TravelBlog! Yes, I am still alive!
It has been six months since my last trip, six months since I arrived in London aboard the Eurostar from Paris.
So it seems only fair that I should let you know what I have been up to since the last time you heard from me (very briefly);

Within two weeks of arriving in London I had managed to find myself an awesome job with Orange - it was a three month contract with the chance to go permanent on a contractor's wage - nice. Two weeks later I had found myself a flat too, just a ten minute walk from work - gold! Things could not be working out better.
Then suddenly, the day after I had agreed to move into my new flat - my boss pulled me aside to inform me that, due to "over-resourcing issues", they would have to terminate my contract after just one month.
Screwed Over. Big time.
So there I was in the middle of December having just moved in to a new flat and with little money to spare and suddenly with no job. Christmas was just round the corner so nobody was hiring, and the economy was just starting to go downhill. Great.
And something started to bite in the middle of the night - yep, you guessed it - bedbugs.

So 4 1/2 months of the best times of my life were swiftly followed by 4 1/2 months of the worst.
It was freezing cold, I couldn't buy myself an interview, I had no money, was feeling the financial and physical pain of my newfound sleeping companions and I was horribly sick.
Visits from my sister, Tanja, Ivana and Albina came and went, but by then I was a bitter and sour soul and was not in the mood to host.
I temped in Hammersmith for a month to keep the pounds ticking over, and was starting to get closer with my job hunt.
In March, I narrowly missed out on a job which I thought I was just destined to get. I was just about to throw in the towel!
Soon after, I did a first interview with a company called Equinix, and I absolutely nailed it. The second interview however, was a disaster.
So I was more surprised than anyone when I was offered the job. I didn't feel any instant joy or relief however - I still had to fulfil a three-month probation, so this could turn out to be another Orange.
I was also still under stress from giving notice at my flat - I needed to find somewhere else to live, pronto.

Which is what has led me to this blog entry.
A month into my new job, I was to be sent to Frankfurt for a meeting. The meeting was on a Friday, so I thought I might as well spend the weekend in Germany, and do a cruise along the Rhine, like Davies did last year, which is close by. It would also sort me out for three nights of accomodation, as by this stage I had moved out of my flat and had still not found anywhere to live.

Leaving work around 11am in the morning on Thursday 24th April, I got on my first flight in six months at Heathrow, bound for Frankfurt International Airport.
Arriving back in Germany was pretty cool - it was cool seeing foreign signs and using another currency again as I made my way to the hotel on the U-Bahn.
Once there I was greeted by the German sales manager and one of our German saleswomen, who took us out for some nice Italian, complete with vino and grappa - all on the company of course. Our hotel was nice as well, with really comfortable beds which was a change form the couches I had been sleeping on in recent nights - not that I had much chance to use it since I had to prepare for the meeting the next day...
Missing breakfast and a lift to the meeting I don't think impressed the Vice-President of Sales & Marketing who I was travelling with - but the meeting went well and before I knew it, the day was over.

Since I had been so busy with work, flat-hunting and finding temporary accomodation among other things, I had not actually organised anything for this trip except the flight. I knew where I wanted to go and how to get there, but had no idea where I was sleeping that night.
I initially wanted to go to Koblenz and cruise down river to St. Goar, where there was an awesome ruined castle to explore before continuing on and stopping in Bacharach for the night, in a hostel that is set inside an old medieval castle - how cool is that!? I then planned to keep going all the way to Mainz, from where I would go straight to Frankfurt Airport.
By now though, it was approaching 7pm, so there was no way I was going to arrive in Koblenz at a reasonable hour. Also, I had to factor in that I wanted to watch the potentially title-deciding match between Chelsea and Manchester United, and the ferry timetable, which did not have many departures from Koblenz.
Afraid that one of the small towns on the Rhine would not be showing the football, taking the ferry timetable into account, and finding out that the awesome castle hostel was full for the following night, I then decided to go up-river instead and stay in Mainz for tonight, as it was the easiest place to get to at this hour, and being a big town, there was always going to be somewhere showing the football the next day. I would then train to Rudesheim the after the match, where I would stay the night, before cruising from Rudesheim to St. Goar, where I would explore the old Burg Rheinfels and possibly The Loreley (read on to find out what the Loreley is).
An old friend I met back during the World Cup two years ago managed to hook me up with some last-minute accommodation both in Mainz and in Rudesheim - go hotel.de!
So after leaving my laptop at our triple-security Frankfurt datacentre, I made my way to Mainz, where I eventually made it to my hotel and just basically crashed, and had a great sleep after a long two days.

The next day I had some time to kill between checking out of the hotel and the start of the match. With my hotel close to the Hauptbahnhof, it was easy to get to the town centre where it was all happening.
Dominated by the magificent reddish-sandstone Dom, the main square (Markt) was teeming with the Saturday markets. In complete contrast to the hustle and bustle outside, inside the Dom it was almost silent. The main courtyard was magnificently kept, and arches surrounding it maintained a peaceful and respectful ambience.
Back outside, I got wondered around the cobblestoned streets of the old town before grabbing some lunch to enjoy by the river.
Then it was time to find a pub to watch the match and I was not disappointed by the Irish pub round the corner from the Markt. There's one in every town in the world, I tell ya. There were about 20 people in total at the pub, all English, mostly supporting United!
Ballack's goal quietened the place down though, but when Rooney equalised off Carvalho's mistake I felt we were going to get favourable result. Alas, Carrick needlessly handles the ball in the box and Ballack thumps home the resulting penalty. I wasn't happy with Ferguson's B-team selection, despite having a big game against Barcelona (which I am going to!) in a few days. We could have wrapped up the title there and then - now we're gonna have to win this title the hard way.
Anyway, despite the dampener of the result, I now had to make my way to Rudesheim which required a half-hour stopover in Wiesbaden.
Theres something relaxing about taking the train - looking out at the scenery going past you, with some good tunes ringing in your ears - it really clears your mind, which was something I really needed to do.
Apart from a nice park just outside the Hauptbahnhof, there isn't really much to Wiesbaden, but the train ride along the Rhine was gorgeous and I was looking forward the cruise the next day.

Rudesheim is a small town of just over 10,000 and is a quintessential wine town famous for it's fantastic riesling. Like many old German towns, Rudesheim is cute and charming, with it's cobblestoned streets and half-timbered houses making you expect Hansel and Gretel to come careering round the corner at any minute.
The main drag, Drosselgasse is but a small pedestrian alley with boisterous wine bars and restaurants reverberating with music and laughter on eihter side. You also got the feeling that of the three million people that come to Rudesheim every year, most of those are of a slightly older generation.
My hotel, the Hotel Rheinstein was right on the main boulevard on the river just metres from Drosselgasse and would've been perfectly located had I been inclined to mingle that particular night - mind you, Rudesheim is pretty small so it wouldn't really have mattered a great deal where you were staying. The hotel itself was nicely kept while keeping it's old charm and was a real throwback to the 50s and 60s, right down to the Titanic-like wooden glass doors and the nice old lady who checked me in.
The other plus about my hotel's location was that it was directly opposite the ferry terminal - which was of course was an absolute necessity for me as I inhaled my breakfast the next morning before hot-footing it over the road to catch the 10.15am ferry.

The cruise itself was definitely more of a family/retired couples affair but it was relaxing nonetheless. The weather was brilliant too and it wasn't too hot either which was great. As we set off down river, the first castle we came across was the Mauseturm, which is on a little island in the middle of the river oustide the town of Bingen. Apparently a Bishop was eaten alive by mice in there - it has also been used as a river toll tower.
After the Mauseturm, we then passed the ruined Burg Ehrenfels, before coming across the picturesque Burg Rheinstein which dates back to the 9th century. We then passed the imposing Burg Reichenstein and the Burg Sooneck, before passing the pretty little town of Bacharach where the Burg Stahleck castle hostel is.
My lovely 50-minute cruise was then brought to an end as we arrived at St. Goar, home of the Burg Rheinfels, which I was to explore.
St. Goar itself is another pretty medieval town, and provided nice scenery as I took the 15-minute walk up to the mighty Burg Rheinfels.
Built in 1245, the ruins of once the most powerful castle along the Rhine spawls out completely over the hill that it is built. Walking over the original footbridge to the tall black doors that marks the castle's entrance, I pay my entry fee and start to explore. I felt like a kid again as I vowed to go into every nook and cranny that this place offered - it also reminded me of the Quinta de Regaleira in Sintra that I explored last year. The first place I went into was the Grosser Keller or "Big Cellar", followed by a tour through the old battlements. Disappointingly for me, the mine tunnels that are barely higher than a metre and run beneath the castle, were closed. Nevertheless the series of tunnels that were open, some dripping with water and some where only a midget could fit through, were all fascinating exploration indeed and you never quite knew where you were going to come out. After walking past the old brewery, the well, the old pharmacy and stables, got you to the "high battery" which was a high defensive wall that took you to the clock tower, from where there are fantastic views of The Rhine and any potential invaders!
Though it had nothing on the Quinta de Regaleira, the Burg Rheinfels was definitely interesting and worth a visit.
After rolling down the hill from the Burg, I then crossed the river via a very short ferry to St. Goarshausen, which admittedly didn't really consist of much (although it was enough for Jack Johnson to come and play a concert here), but it is from here that you can catch a bus to The Loreley, the giant slab of rock from where a mythical maiden once sang siren songs that lured sailors to their death amongst the treacherous currents. Unfortunately, if I was make my flight back to London, I would not have the time. So like the castle hostel, this would have to wait until next time...
The train back to Wiesbaden from St. Goarshausen was once again a lovely ride, as I left the Romantic Rhine behind me.
Once back in Frankfurt, I had to make a mad dash across town and back again to fetch my laptop from our datacentre. This was reminiscent of 2006 when I got lost in the streets of Frankfurt needing to get to the airport in time for my flight, only this time thankfully, I knew where I was going.
Then it was on the plane back to London, albeit a bit sweaty.

Which brought to a conclusion a relatively relaxing two days to take my mind off the chaos that I was to return to back home. Definitely wasn't the most exciting or fun trip that I have done, but it was nonetheless exactly what I needed at the time, especially considering I didn't organise anything until I got there!
At this stage I haven't planned any more holidays - I think settling into my new job and finding somewhere to live (again) is slightly more important! So until then...

Auf Wiedersehen,
Derek

---

Photos

Burg Rheinstein
Picturesque castle from the 9th century.

The Dom, Mainz
Mainz's main church that dominates the centre of town.

Burg Reichenstein
Looming large over the quaint little town of Trechtinghausen.

Burg Sooneck
Restored in the 19th century.

Christukirche, Mainz
Nice church I passed on the way to the town centre.

Market In The Markt, Mainz
Seems every man, woman and dog in Mainz was at the traditional Saturday market in the old town square.

Old Town, Mainz
Half-timbered houses and cobblestoned streets of Mainz's old town.

Drosselgasse, Rudesheim
The main drag in wine town Rudesheim.

Mauseturm
Where a bishop was devoured alive by mice. Or just a glorified tolling booth depending on who you believe.

Bacharach (Not Burt)
Lovely riverside town and home to the castle hostel Burg Stahleck.

View Of The Burg Rheinfels
From the top of the clock tower.

Tunnelling Through
One of many murky tunnels in the Burg Rheinfels.

Burg Rheinfels From St. Goarshausen
Burg Rheinfels - once the most powerful castle on the Rhine.

Grosser Keller
The big cellar in the Burg Rheinfels.

Staircase, Obviously
In the Burg Rheinfels.

From The Top...
A footbridge leading into the burg Rheinfels with a view of the Rhine in the background.

Wiesbaden
Park where I spent my 30 minute transit time.