Park Hotel Bacharach

... is closed until June 2010. grrrr. But we got our Euro's worth in the rest of the park- we discovered a ride called "City Jets", which is like the Dumbo ride on steroids. The park was so empty that the operator didn't care if we loaded us both into one tiny jet, and used our combined body weight to bounce up and down so hard that we smashed into the ground a few times. Awesome. We also went on Europe's highest sky merry-go-round, but at that ...

... part of the river is known for the Loreley Rock which is actually a very high cliff. This is where the sailors were supposedly distracted by the songs of a mermaid and crashed on the rocks. A little further downstream at river level there is a statue of the mermaid.<br>Tonight is the Captain&#8217;s cocktail party and dinner. The dinner was six courses with no choices. It was better than the other ...

WE took advantage of the One Penny (£0.01) flights from Ryanair to go somewhere we have never been so went to Germany the airport is Frankfurt Hahn which although is it's correct name it is cinfusing to strangers as it is nowhere near the OTHER Frankfurt (about 120km by road). We stayed at the Advance hotel zum Hahn which is in Büchenbeuren<br><br>Advance Hotel<br>Haumptstrassre 35<br>55491<br>Büchenbeuren<br>Deutschl and<br ...

... it was 4 trains away to Bacharach in the Rhine Valley. We made it to Wurzburg, then Frankfurt, and then Mainz... and then we missed the last train out to Bacharach. Thinking we were going to spend the night in a train station and NOT in castle, we reluctantly asked the clerk what we could do... she handed us a voucher, said to go get a taxi, and he would drop us at our door! So we basically LOVE the German Train system, especially since it was ...

Bingen OR<br><br>We had a bit of a sleep-in this morning before our breakfast in the Bingen Hotel. The hotel was really crowded and the breakfast room was packed and generally lacking in food. It was not a pleasant experience, especially bumping up against other tourists who had their chairs and tables crammed up against the buffet tables serving cereals and other food.<br><br>Apparently one of our tour ...

... Derek's, but it ended up being late. So Derek had to go over and get on his train, which was waiting on the track. His train must have been waiting on mine to leave, because his train was still sitting there when my train finally showed up and left 10 minutes late. We managed to catch a glimpse of each other and wave goodbye as the trains passed.<br><br>And then I was on my own again. And I almost immediately made the biggest boo-boo of my trip. I was actually ...

... medieval Germany. Many of them along the river were robber-baron types. Since the Rhine was a popular route for trade, these barons would levy a tax on river traffic. The ships either paid or enjoyed life in the dungeon. Anyway, this provided a nice life for the barons which allowed them to build these elaborate castles. I know I'm sounding like a guidebook right now but I feel like I have to give you some context as to why we're spending two days in a village that ...

... in the ruins of a thousand year old castle.<br> Susan and I headed back down, as we were later than we had told the kids. We were hot and sweaty after our walk, and we dove into the cool and refreshing Rhine for a bit of a swim. Nick and Jessie jumped in too. Russell declined, probably wisely in view of the cocktail of heavy metals, dioxins, pesticides and herbicides that were probably present. I should take a shower now.<br> <br>

Today we took a train ride along the Rhine to Koblenz, where the Rhine and Mosel rivers actually merge. the train ride is great because the track actually follows the river, very scenic! Where the rivers meet there is a huge statue and square with the mandatory organ grinders and today a huge market After ...

Hi everyone! We all made it safe and sound to Germany! We're all pretty tired and have touchy internet, so we're not going to write a lot. But we just wanted to let everyone know that we're here and safe. We're having a great time in Bacharach and around the Rhine River, and will tell you more about it soon!