Europe 2012-Day 16: The Rhine River

Once again we were up early, this time we were planning to go on a boat trip down the Rhine River. As we were going to take a train from Koblenz down to Rudeshiem we had to leave the apartment by 7:30 AM. I didn’t actually feel very well so I tried to sleep in the back of the car while Nate drove. As we got to Koblenz we had to decide which of the several train stations we actually wanted to go to. After driving in circles a few times we found the correct one and parked.

When we bought our tickets the lady told us it was cheaper to buy round trip train tickets instead of a one way, with it only costing us 35 euros for all 4 of us. We had about 45 minutes to kill before our train was supposed to leave, so we went to McDonalds for a quick snack.

When the train conductor came by he told pointed to the signature line on the ticket to let us know we needed to sign it. Nate tried to ask if only he was supposed to sign but the guy didn't speak any English. He laughed and said something about being a Sheriff, and then went on his merry way.

Dave and Kristie admiring castles from the train windows

The train ride took around an hour. At one of the stops on the way down a little girl and her mother got one the train and sat across from us. The little girl kept swinging her legs just barely missing my shins. I think she was hoping for a little attention, I looked at her and gave her a smirk and a wink, and she knew she was caught, and stopped. 

As soon as we got off the train we rushed to the boat ticket office hoping to catch the possible 1:15 boat. When we got to the ticket office though we found that they had a special schedule for the day due to a firework show they were doing in the evening. Because of that they only had two more boats for the day and neither of them went as far as Koblenz. The farthest we could go was Boppard which is about 9 kilometers away from Koblenz, but the good news was we could use our round trip train tickets to get us back to Koblenz from Boppard.

These cool trees are found all over Holland, Germany, and Belgium

This is the church in Rudeshiem

The boat we were going to get on didn’t depart until 2:15, so we had some time to kill. We decided on a place for lunch that had a view of the river.  After lunch and some quick shopping we headed to the boat. We were able to get near the beginning of the line to board so we were able to sit where we wanted on the boats upper deck.

There seems to be a castle on every bend in the river

There are tons of ships going up and down the Rhine River.

Dave is still a kid at heart

Nate and Dave taking the fun way down

As we finally got under way the only issue was that the movement from the boat made it a bit cold as the sun was hiding behind clouds most of the time. Even with the cold the boat ride was enjoyable and after a couple hours we had to disembark in Boppard. After getting off the boat, and finding the train station we had to wait for about 45 minutes for the next train. 

My Dad's nickname is Crankenbauer, here is a sign directing to Kranken's house

Getting back to the train station in Koblenz we decided to have a quick dinner at McDonalds. We still had a couple hour drive home and Dave and Kristie had to finish packing.

Nathan enjoying the autoban on the way home

We got fuel at Bedburger land

As we drove home there was a beautiful sunset that brought to mind the words of the song “What can I do”:

“When I see the beauty of a sunset’s glory
Amazing artistry across the evening sky
When I feel the mystery of a distant galaxy
It awes and humbles me to be loved
By a God so high

What can I do but thank You,
What can I do but give my life to You
Hallelujah, hallelujah
What can I do but praise You,
Everyday make everything I do a hallelujah
A hallelujah, hallelujah”

Europe 2012-Day 15 Ghent, Belgium

After getting Nate off to work we headed south into Belgium to the town of Ghent. We made our way down the narrow one way streets until we found the Castle Gravensteen. We arrived with perfect timing as they were just opening for the day.

Castle Gravensteen in Ghent, Belgium

This is the street just outside the castle. It's located in the middle of the city.

The castle is marked with numbered signs and arrows to take you on a tour. There are brief explanations of the rooms in English, Dutch, and Flemish.

The sign above is for this room. The Great Hall.

Most of the stairways were circular and lit with small windows.

I was surprised that there was really nothing for furniture in the castle, however it does house an extensive amount of torture devices including a guillotine that were historically used in Ghent.

Had to take pictures of the armory for Nate

This sword was over 6' in length, you would have to be a giant to wield this one

This sword is also a gun!

The view from the top of the castle.

Kristie standing on top of the castle wall to get a better picture. Falling is not recommended.

This is what it looked like below where Kristie was standing.

This guillotine was used in Ghent from 1796 to 1891. The blade is original

The Castle was originally built in 1180 by count Philip of Alsace, and was used by the Counts of Flanders until the 14^th century.  After that time it was used for various things such as a courthouse, a prison, and even a factory. The Castle was actually scheduled to be demolished when the city of Ghent decided to buy and restore it back in 1885.

This room was full of torture devices.

This was the Kitchen. Obviously the cook must have burnt something.

After our tour it was time for lunch. As we didn’t want to spend hours at a sit down place we settled on a fast food type place where we all got a burger and fries. When we were on our castle tour we could see several cool looking cathedrals not far away and so we decided to try find them. As we wandered we found the city square with ... you may have guessed it, another open market!

In the city center

We did find one of the churches but it was closed. Around that time it started to rain so we headed for the car. Getting out of the area proved a bit challenging as there seemed to be construction everywhere and with all the one way roads and canals we ended going in a circle two or three times. I finally told Dave to just drive the opposite way for awhile until Tomtom stopped trying to direct us into the construction road block. We eventually got to the freeway and headed for Eindhoven.

ASML from the freeway

Nate actually got off work on time, and we decided to try an Italian restaurant that had been recommended to him. The name of the place was Mangiare, and all the food we had was really good. I’m sure we’ll be back there in the near future.