Bacharach

 June 7 and June 8

We headed out from Amsterdam and drove 1.5 hours to a large open air museum that showed Holland through the years - Arnham Netherlands.  This was where the movie (and actual event) of “A Bridge Too Far” was from.  At the museum we had a Holland specialty for lunch - Pancakes ( closer to crepes), both savory and sweet.  Pictures were posted by Christine on the 7th.  

We then drove on to the Rhine river valley to the small German town of Bacharach.  In Bacharach  we had a great tour of the town given by a local man whose relatives and friends had lived through WWII.  The stories he told were both heartbreaking and interesting, from people helping each other to Jewish neighbors being rounded up.  He also brought us into the hillside to show us how they grew their grapes to produce their wines.  Later in the morning we drove down river to Sankt Goar to explore a large castle and had bratwurst and sauerkraut for lunch.  To round out the afternoon, we took a fun river cruise back to our hotel on the Rhine river. On our way to dinner Christine and I took a detour up a hillside to the local castle, which is now a youth hostel and also saw wonderful ruins of a gothic church that was destroyed in the 17th century.  We temporarily got lost on the path to the castle and ended up pulling ourselves up with a steel cable up a steep hillside.  The castles and countryside were beautiful, and the company of the tour group was great!!! I hope you enjoy the pictures from this part of the trip.  

Yes, we are drinking dark beer! ….. When in Germany…

In the background is Stahleck castle in Bacharach, older than 1135.   The ruins in the middle are Werner chapel built 1289 and destroyed in 1689. They are an example of high gothic architecture.  The relic in the foreground is my wonderful sister circa 2022.

View from the vineyards, we offered to test taste the wine

City walls of Bacharach 

Home away from home - for 2 days anyway  

Rheinfels Castle in St Goar - built in 1245. Christine is pictured above here thinking about buying it .  I am pictured below thinking of the knights and ladies roaming the grounds

Attempt at artistry

Cool castle pic- from Rheinfels Castle  

All the ladies in our tour group. As you can see they are a fun groups of gals.  

Rhine river cruise pics - beautiful countryside 

More adventures to come !! -