Germany- Part 1
…the vacation part
We started at a castle/youth hostel beside the Rhine River in Bacharach, Germany. When we arrived we found that the hostel had accidentally not reserved our rooms like we had requested, so we begin by rearranging some of our plans. It ended up working out just fine, and with other guest’s cancellations, we were able to stay at the hostel five nights.
Some highlights included:
- Boat ride on the Rhine river
The Rhine River
Evan & Ellie
- Renting bikes- their weren’t any little bikes with training wheels available and Evan had never learned to ride without, so we decided to get a small bike for Evan and try to teach him. Kevin spent about an hour and a half that morning trying to teach him, and after many scrapes, bruises and crashes, he seemed to be getting the hang of it. So we set off on the trail, the rapidly moving Rhine River on one side, and at times rapidly moving cars on the other. I think Kevin and I spent half of our bike ride praying that Evan wouldn’t end up in the river, in front of a car, or causing a crash with another biker! Thankfully all went well, with only a few minor crashes, and we ended up riding about 8-9 miles that day! We all slept well that night!
Kevin teaching Evan
Riding
Kevin & Evan
Ellie enjoying the easiest ride of anyone
We enjoyed all the greenery, something you won’t find much of in Southern Spain right now
- Eating lots of bratwurst and sauerkraut
- Visiting Burg Eltz
Burg Eltz is Rick Steve’s favorite castle in all of Europe. As he says: Lurking in a mysterious forest, it's been left intact for 700 years and is furnished throughout as it was 500 years ago. Thanks to smart diplomacy and clever marriages, Burg Eltz was never destroyed. It's been in the Eltz family for 820 years.
The highlight for Evan & Ellie was wading in a stream near the castle!
- And of course, sleeping in a real castle!
The Castle/Hostel we stayed in
The view from our hostel room in the castle
-Wendy