Northern Germany's Top 5!

Bacharach, Germany

Fun Fact #1: Our hotel is a small tower. Colette and I got the room, actually suite, at the top. We’re like princesses, and naturally enjoying every minute of it. As Colette put it, “If I had long billowy hair, I’d totally throw it out our window right now just like Rapunzel.”

 Presenting...Bacharach's Top 5!

Bacharach

5. In a place that has such a war-filled history, I have found serenity and peacefulness. Sitting in the nook of my hotel room, I can look out the window and sigh contently. Even with the steady buzz of traffic from a busy street directly underneath and the whizzing of passing trains and boats, the birds seem to overpower them; all I notice is the calm currents of the Rhine River and the tree-covered mountains behind them. The kitschy décor of our 700-year-old hotel building seems to blend perfectly with the medieval and classical architecture of the town, nestled into the hillside. 

4. Stumbling into a small shop in a nearby town (Obersteefels…I think), Colette and I found true German hospitality and friendliness. Little did we know when we walked into Stefan’s Christmas and Wine Paradise to take a few snapshots of the Nutcrackers in the windows, that Rosi would immediately come up to us with small shot glasses of fresh peach brandy for us to try. After our first tasting, they didn’t seem to stop. She asked us to browse the wall of wine and brandy and pick as many flavors as we wanted to try. We sampled blackberry and chocolate brandy (of which, I had to purchase), and then moved onto wines. Bacharach is very particular and proud of the wines they make. Much sweeter than American and other wines, they specialize in white wines, especially the Eiswine. Then, Stefan, the owner of the store came over to chat with us as we were encouraged to taste away. (We found out he is pretty close with our tour founder, Rick Steves!) He even let us try a very rare red Eiswine; it’s about $300 a bottle because it takes 65 pounds of grapes to make one bottle, and each grape’s skin has to be peeled off by hand. If that wasn’t enough, he gave us a free bottle of blackberry brandy, since it was our favorite, to enjoy, “this evening, back at the hotel, when [we were] just sitting around.” Needless to say, Colette and I enjoyed our discovery of the shop and the hospitable employees that run it!

3. Herr Jung (pronounced “Young”) is the sweetest 81 year old German man in the entire world. The local guide for our Walking Tour through Bacharach, Herr Joung weaved his own childhood memories into the history of the town and its role in the various wars throughout the decades. He took us through vineyards, where the native sweet white wines originate (and are sold almost exclusively throughout the area); we climbed one of the guard towers to look out at the village nestled on the bank of the Rhine River. He told us about losing his brother, discovering, when he was a boy no more than 10, the destroyed body of an American soldier in the nearby woods, and of the American family that sent packages of food and saved his life at the end of World War II. He expressed genuine remorse at what had happened to the Jewish people in his town and a hint of shame for all of Germany’s wars. That such a sweet, kind man survived such tragedy in his life is remarkable. And, he is almost nothing but smiles and joy.

View of the Rhine River

Burg Rheinfels Ruins

2. Climbing through the mine tunnels of the Burg Rheinfels (Castle Rheinfels) ruins. It pretty much speaks for itself. Castle? Nice. Ruins? Sweet. Mine tunnels? That’s just fantastic. I had to bend over nearly 90 degrees to fit the tight confinements of the cobbled, stone walls as I crawled through. And since it had been raining all day, it was slick and muddy. Our guide, Gabby, gave directions to some of the younger boys leading the line (they were about 18, along with about 5 – 6 other boys on this trip who are also that same age), and then she sent us on our way. Winding and bending through the dark passages made my heart beat a little faster, but leaving my trust in the hands of a bunch of 18 year old boys? That was terrifying! We luckily made it out, and I felt a little more trusting as we went through a second, less confining and more easily navigable tunnel. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Burg Rheinfels Ruins

1. Colette and I joined the ‘young-ins’ after a full day of walking, hiking up to the Burg Rheinfels, and a Canal river cruise down the Rhine, to hike up to the castle at the top of a nearby hill. The castle now acts as a youth hostel. It was a bit of a hike, but we loved spending time with Derek, 18 and going to Illinois in the fall, Kaiah, the same age and from Colorado, and Alexi, an adorable about-to-be sophomore in high school. (We promised Derek’s mom and Alexi’s grandmother we would take good care of them!) While we were all surprised to see that it really was ‘youth’ running about the hostel—8 – 10 year olds shouting and playing everywhere, we had fun climbing up and down the castle and trying to sync our camera timers to get group shots of us and the view.

*There are some wonderful people on our tour, in a variety of ages. We’ve got some older married couples, a dad and his 10 year old son, a few mothers and their ‘just graduated high school’ sons, a grandmother and her 3 grandsons of various ages, a family with 2 boys about college age, a grandmother and granddaughter, a family of 3, and two girls traveling together from Colorado. While we're quite an eclectic group, we are all having fun together! It's becoming my family away from home. And this is probably the top highlight I’ve discovered in Northern Germany.

Me, Colette, Derek, Lexi, and Kaiah