Germany – The Rhinesteig – Days 5 and 6 – 10.1.21

Thursday, September 30th –  After hiking and walking almost 65 miles during the first four days to Burg Eltz and then from Koblenz to Kamp-Bornhofen to St. Goar on the Rhinesteig along the Rhine, we spent our 5th day just relaxing in St. Goar. St. Goar was a very important commercial and religious town along the Rhine during the Middle Ages.

Because the Rhine narrows here with shallows and swift currents, it is one of the most dangerous stretches along the Rhine. Because of all the shipwrecks, the Lorelei legend developed -a German legend of a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine River in despair over a faithless lover and was transformed into a siren who lured fishermen to destruction.  The bluff that she threw herself from is now a tourist attraction.

We started our Thursday with an amazing buffet at our hotel (Schloss Hotel) in St. Goar and then enjoyed a walking tour with a local guide. We toured the local church, where our guide performed a flute solo. We then toured the town, which was beautiful with lots of middle aged structures, and at the end of the tour our guide gave us the history of the Lorelei Legend while we sat along the Rhine. Because she spoke no English, Rolf did a great job translating during the entire tour.

After the tour, on our way back up the hill to our hotel we stopped at a local bakery, where Rolf introduced Elizabeth and me to German Black Forest Cherry cake. We loved it so much, Elizabeth and I would pick up a slice to eat during our boat cruise the next day. Afterwards, I went to the hotel spa for a massage and Elizabeth went to a local Biergarten with some fellow hikers.

At the end of the afternoon, we had a private tour of Rheinfels Castle ruins (Burg Rheinfels), located above and adjacent to our hotel. It was started in 1245. After expansions, it was the largest fortress in the Middle Rhein Valley between Koblenz and Mainz. Impregnable, it survived over 30 sieges, but was handed over to the French Revolutionary Army in 1797 without a fight because the local commander at the time was sympathetic to the French Revolution ideals of Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood. When the Germans tried to recapture it, the French destroyed much of it before evacuation. It remains the largest castle overlooking the Rhine, and historically covered five times its current area.  While much of the castle is a ruin, some of the outer buildings are now our luxury hotel, a “wellness” centre, and restaurant. The tour was excellent and I really enjoyed touring the dungeon, the butcher shop, and the cavernous storage space.

That evening, we took a shuttle to Oberwesel and had an amazing dinner at Historiche Roein Roictschaft. After returning to our hotel, a few of us had a nightcap at the bar. In solidarity with Rafael, I had a Scotch.

After an amazing morning run with Rolf and another wonderful breakfast, we departed St. Goar on the vessel “Goethe”. Built in the early 1900’s and sunk during WWII, the vessel was salvaged and refurbished to carry tourists up and down the Rhine. We had a wonderful two plus hour cruise up the River to Assmannshauser, where we would start our hike to Rudesheim.

After our hike into town,  we enjoyed some famous Rudesheim coffee in our hotel’s beautiful outdoor space, followed by yet another fabulous dinner at our hotel restaurant. It was extra special because John, our fellow hiker who is also a professional singer, joined the band who was playing and performed a beautiful song from an opera. His singing was so moving it brought goose bumps.