rhein river cruise

on saturday, we picked up our sweet skoda rental car and drove to the rhein river valley where we boarded a koln-dusseldorfer ferry. definitely the coolest way to experience this region, which is gorgeous of course. green hills terraced with vineyards, fog settling in over the castles (i saw at least five castles and we were only on the boat for an hour)...loved it.

we boarded in st. goar and floated down to bacharach. these little towns sit right on the river and are famous for their wine and tourist shops.





this part of the river has been a major trade artery for centuries, hence the castles built all along its banks to regulate shipments of goods.













we explored the little towns for a while. cobblestone streets, traditional fachwerk german architecture (thanks for teaching me the word for that, sam -- i had no idea it has a title!), fun little shops. and st. goar is home to the largest hanging cuckoo clock in the world, in case you were wondering.









did i mention it is FREEZING here?? so much for planning to come at a temperate time of year. i already had to take an emergency trip to h&m to get more sweaters; it is seriously frigid. have to give a shout out to b, who took most of the river pictures from out on the deck while i sat inside sipping hot chocolate by the window :)