Hold on to your butts. . . ~ Libby and Tommy go to Europe

Today ya'll get a two-fer! Yesterday we took a river cruise down stream to St Goar (That's "Sankt Goar" in German, and pronounced "Sahnkt Gwhar.") St Goar sits below Rheinfels Castle. Today we rented a couple of bikes from the hotel, and rode them to a town called Bingen. On the way back we came across a castle that was accessible from the bike/foot path we were using and decided to explore it.

The boat trip to St Goar wasn't spectacular. The low clouds remained low for most of the voyage, and it was cold on the top of the ship. Our pictures of the numerous castles on each side of the river aren't the best as a result of low cloud cover.

History (Ignore the next two paragraphs if you don't care)
We didn't know it at first but we didn't go to St Goar for St. Goar. The only reason to go to St Goar is to visit Rheinfels Castle. Built in the 1245 by Count Diether V von Katzenelnbogen, the castle's original purpose was the protection of St Goar's tax collectors. Medieval tax collectors on the Rhine were really collectors of tolls from merchants transporting goods up and down the Rhine.

The castle's ownership passed on to the family Hesse in 1479, and during that same century it saw a reinforcement to help protect against canon fire. The castle was utilized in the Thirty years War, and despite becoming the most technologically advanced castle in the Holy Roman Empire in 1797 it's occupants were forced to concede to French Revolutionary forces who destroyed the outer walls. Over time much of the castle's stone material was repurposed for other structures. It's a lot smaller today then it would have been in the eighteenth century.

(For all you history haters start here.)
That being said it is still massive, and a whole lot of fun to explore. While not having any guided tours without prior arrangement (and with 10 or more people) upon entrance to the castle you get a tour pamphlet that walks you through two tours: A castle tour and a defenses tour. We did the defense tour first. It was a little confusing to be honest. The castle is on multiple vertical levels which made identifying what was described in the guide unclear at times. It didn't really matter though because we had fun anyway. The defenses tour where we were taken through many tunnels under the castle.

Libby in the Battlements

I was a bit more adventuresome at times than Libby because I love tunnels and closed spaces. Libby prefers neither of these environments. There was one tunnel that was a lot of fun to explore. It started as stairs and eventually turned into an uneven grade. The passage became progressively more narrow until it opened back up again. None of it was lit and it stopped having windows outside so it required a flashlight to see anything.

The tunnel

Eventually (~5 minutes) it lead to a spiral staircase that was the most narrow and original (original as in least bit altered for the public) stair case I've been on. Most stone spiral staircases you find are much more accommodating in terms of the width of the stairwell, and have either a thick rope running down the center or have a hand rail. I got to the top and was in a large hall that opened up outside with a rail at the end. It also had another spiral staircase going down but I decided to head back as I wasn't sure where I was in approximation to Libby and didn't want her to worry.

The stairwell at the end of the hall.

The view from the end of the hall

There was more exploring but I've talked enough about tunnels. There is a cellar in the castle that was absolutely ginormous. I later found out it is the largest self supporting cellar in Europe. It's 79 feet long and both 52 feet wide and tall. In places the ceiling is 13 feet thick. It was made to store 53k gallons of wine barrel.

The cellar

We ascended the steps to the top of the highest point we could and took this

St Goar

We briefly visited the castle museum where there are lots of really cool models, depictions of the castle throughout time, and information about the castle's changing purpose through the years. I even found a spear gun! No, really. On one end is a pistol and the other is a spear. I can't imaging how hard it would be to fire the pistol end with any accuracy (or what amounted to accuracy at the time). It seems you'd have a better chance at hitting your target by throwing the spear at your target.

The pointy end

The boom end

There was some stuff you wouldn't expect from a castle museum like a book press and a loom from the 1830s I think.

On the way down I found a Subaru that I'd never seen before. It was a little four-door hatchback called a "Trezia."

We had lunch in St Goar where I had a great beer, and knocked most of Libby's wine out of her glass ~~trying to save~~ saving her from a bee that had landed on the lapel area of her jacket. After lunch we boarded the ship and went home.

I forgot to mention. We both enrolled in Rheinfels military service.

Today we made the long journey--long by bike anyway--to Bingen. The distance from Bacharach to Bingen is just short of 20 miles, and Libby, being the biker that she isn't, is in a decent amount of pain. Her abilities to sit or stand have been severely hampered by this experience.

The ride itself was a lot of fun (yes even for Libby). For the most part it was on flat ground, and was always with the river in view. We saw a number of castles on the way, and discovered what looked like summer home-type-things with gardens between the road (or railroad) and the trail. They were really cute.

Example of some of the gardens and Burg Hohneck

We don't know what this is.

Awwwwww

Once we arrived in Bingen, se had lunch next to the river.

I should mention that across the river we could see a giant statute. We didn't know what it was at first, but I later discovered it is called The Niederwald Monument. It's 738 feet above the Rhine, stands 123 feet from the ground, and is comprised of 32 tons of bronze.

Lots and lots of bronze

After we ate lunch we headed back to Bacharach. On the way back we decided to see if we could get into Rheinstein Castle. This was a great idea. It was a difficult switchback hike after all the biking we'd done, and all the walking up hills have been doing this whole trip but it was worth it.

The castle was originally known as Fautsberg, Faitsberg, or Voigtsburg, and its oldest recorded mention is from 1323. It was constructd by Archbishop Peter von Aspelt of Mainz as a counter-fortification to Reighenstein Castle. Those who held major clerical positions typically held large land holdings and with those land holdings came a large amount of wealth. People in these positions were not against acting as any other secular lord would to protect or extend their dominion.

The exterior of the castle I believe is all original, but the interior is not original. Lots of it has been painted to provide an "original" effect by painting original architectural devices. Thought impressive, it isn't as impressive as it would be had what is seen in paint was actual wood and stone.

Tricksy paint

There are a couple of really beautiful court yards outside. One has a neo-gothic basalt well that was designed by the architect of the Köln (Cologne) cathedral. The other had a fountain.