We have had a great trip up and down the Rhein, with our home base being in St. Goar. We arrived wednesday in Koblenz and had a nice 3hr boat trip down the Rhein to St. Goar. We stayed at the "Jungenherberge" which means youth hostel. It was not swanky, but we had a great spaghetti dinner and then hung out on their deck overlooking the Rhein for the evening. Brent Brock won our 15 person card game of "screw your neighbor" pocketing about 3 euros for his victory.
On Thursday we took a feery across the Rhein to St Goarhausen and jumped a train to Rudesheim. We did a bit of shopping there and then took the cable car up the mountain and visited the Neiderwald Denkmal. From there we took a great hike that included a couple great Rhein River viewing points and included a trip through the haunted hole!
After this we took the Sielbahn (chair lift) down into Assmannhausen and had a great wine tasting & lunch. After a quick train ride back to Rudesheim we jumped on another KD Boat and cruised back past Loreley Rock to St. Goar.
Friday we visited Burg Rheinfels and explored the tunnels and paths of this castle ruins. Groups explored dark tunnels using their cell phones as lights. Small groups found their way to different lunch spots and had a last relaxing time in the tiny burg of St. Goar.
Friday afternoon saw a hectic train ride to Cologne and then a nice dinner out as a group at a traditional German restaurant in the Heumarkt platz area of Koln. Many of the group sampled Kolsch style beer - the only beer that is also a language (dialect of German).
Today the students got sent on a scavenger hunt - it will be interesting to see just how good/comfortable the group has become with self navigation (actually small groups) in Germany. We meet together later to share stories and have a final group dinner.
Some photos from Wed - Friday.....
The "Rhein River" group giving their location presentation from a pretty sweet location - the deck of our youth hostel in St. Goar on the Rhein.
The group on the Ferry across the Rhein .... just one of the many forms of public transport we have used on the trip. On Thursday we ....walked, ferry, walked, train, walked (and shopped) cable car up, hiked, chair lift down, walked, train, walked, boat, and then walked. Now that is traveling!
The group outside the restaurant in Assmannshausen....
On the KD Boat leaving Rudesheim on Thursday - the Neiderwald Denkmal is on the top of the hill behind the group. (That statue is the photo at the start of this blog entry)
The ruins of Burg Rheinfels in St. Goar. This castle ruins area was a favorite of the students as they explored all the tunnels and pathways and got a feel for what the largest castle/fort complex on the Rhein once looked like.
Dr. Eckert's Daughter, Emily in one of the many tunnels at Burg Rheinfels.
On the hike overlooking the Rhein...
Wow did we have a great trip. We learned a lot about German Business and Culture. The students were great - always ready to tackle the next challenge. Yesterday they did a scanvenger hunt in Koln and Bonn and then did presentations about the experience. I will post things soon but I can tell you now: they had a blast and proved to me and more importantly themselves that they can be independent and successful in Germany.
The group on the Ferry across the Rhein .... just one of the many forms of public transport we have used on the trip. On Thursday we ....walked, ferry, walked, train, walked (and shopped) cable car up, hiked, chair lift down, walked, train, walked, boat, and then walked. Now that is traveling!
The group outside the restaurant in Assmannshausen....
On the KD Boat leaving Rudesheim on Thursday - the Neiderwald Denkmal is on the top of the hill behind the group. (That statue is the photo at the start of this blog entry)
Dr. Eckert's Daughter, Emily in one of the many tunnels at Burg Rheinfels.
On the hike overlooking the Rhein...
The Groups......
This was the Winning Team!
