the noise in my head: Shut Up and Drive or Life on the Autobahn!

We snugged into our little bedroom alcove and slept the night, well, I did. Gordon thinks he ate too much chocolate during the day to sleep restfully. The little window above our bed was open and he heard it rain during the night and we both heard some sort of animal on the roof. When Gordon peeked out to see the rain he saw BATS as well! Very exciting. We were told there was a ghost but not BATS!

Stepping around the castle to a lookout point, a lovely planting of trees.

And the mighty Rhine from on high.

The Schloss Hotel

A train, a barge and a playing field

Vineyards up the slate-covered hills

Our little cottage from below

The entry to our little room with veranda

The vineyards in Oberwessel were incredible. Bryan and Anne and Mike and Emily, we should be here together!!!! The scenes are just lovely!

Looking up the Rhine which flows from south to north

Vineyards reaching all the way down the mountain sides.

A giant church in Oberwessel.

After a bizarre cold-cut breakfast (but the coffee was good!) and snapping off a few pictures, we headed out toward our next destination Koln. But on the way we stopped at St. Goar and went to the Rhinefels Burg, the Rhinefels Castle. Walking through the little village and up to the castle we took in many spectacular views and enjoyed our tour of the castle. I (very cleverly) downloaded Rick Steve's best of the Rhine River onto my Kindle which included his tour of the castle. So we purchased tix to go into the castle and with Kindle in hand, toured the castled according to Rick. Free and easy and informative. Trust me, not that I'd ever want to be a prisoner, but definitely NOT at Rhinefels Burg in the early 1600's! 15 prisoners to a tiny cell sitting on a bench over, well, "crap". Two prisoners managed to live in this situation on bread and water for 2 1/2 years before succumbing. Sounds great eh? Anyway.

A GIANT coo-coo Clock

Gordon acting weird....that's supposed to be a cloak he's miming!

Nice tall archways!

Studying my kindle for the next step. Gordon calls me the "damsel in distress!"

Awww, overlooking the Rhine and town of St. Goar

And with a view of the Rhinefels in the background

Another far off vineyard.

Panoramic!

Gordon on bridge entering Rhinefels.

We bought a delicious pretzel and bottles of water and had a plum while contemplating our drive into Koln and to our next night at the Excelsior Hotel in Koln. So it's my turn to drive. Fine. This portion of the drive is on the AUTOBAHN!

On the Autobahn everyone drives in the slow lane, the right lane, at whatever speed you want. BUT all the trucks drive in the right lane and may not pass or overtake another truck or vehicle which means any car spends a great deal of time passing trucks in the slow lane. Trouble is, check your mirror, all the cars behind you are quite a ways off....signal and pull out to pass and presto! Someone is RIGHT on your arse!!!! So you speed up to pass the slower vehicle and must immediately get back in the slow lane to be passed, at warp speed, by the faster vehicle. My kind of freeway! Anyway, everyone is very respectful, the freeways are 2 or 3 lanes of concrete pavement WITHOUT potholes (unlike California) and pretty much unlimited speed. I like the speed signs that say 130! Kilometers that is which equals about 80 miles per hour which ALL the Mercedes and BMW's totally ignore. AND all the cars in Germany are in great shape, younger and in mint condition.

Also the towns that we've been in the past two days are pristine. Clean, tidy, beautiful flower pots, nice.

After my exciting drive on the Autobahn and an hour later we arrived in Koln at the Excelsior Hotel right downtown and across from the GIGANTIC Cathedral. A 5-star hotel the Excelsior is....only the second time we've stayed in a 5 star hotel. Pretty nice! Beautiful room, fabulous bathroom (not a quaint castle room mind you, but.....) in a contemporary downtown in a lovely and large college town. We went out for a couple of drinks and sat at an outdoor cafe on a large square in front of the giant cathedral and then off to a great Italian Restaurant several blocks away.

Lobby of the Excelsior Ernst

Stepping outside the Excelsior to the massive Cathedral.

The square in front of the Cathedral. Filled with students, musicians and jugglers. That cafe on the left with white umbrellas is where we sat to have a beer and observe Koln-ites!