Family is Here! Part 1

On July 13 Chuck, Erin, and the boys arrived for a two-week stay in Germany and surrounding areas.  We got them situated in their apartment in Friedrichsdorf, 

and then had dinner at Stadt Berlin.

The next morning we took the Rhine River Cruise,


which departed from Rüdesheim and headed towards St. Goar,

passing by literally more than a dozen castles along both sides of the river.
Some were in good condition,

some in fair,

and others, mostly in ruins.

The colorful and picturesque towns and vineyards were every bit as interesting as the castles.

This building in the middle of the river was something like a "toll booth,"

 where long ago duties were collected for traversing the river.

 Ollie made a good captain,

while Chuck and Erin enjoyed the view.

Apparently, floating for two hours was not exactly the boys' favorite thing!

Oh well, we older people loved seeing it all--castles, churches, vineyards, and villages!  

It was an amazing ride for us older folks!

It seemed that every ten or so minutes, we would come
around the bend and behold another castle.

This particular castle, Bacharach Castle, is now a youth hostel; and believe it or not...

...Erin actually stayed there about 15 years ago when she backpacked through Europe!

This is the Lorelei, a famed legend of ship captains being distracted by a beautiful maiden's singing from atop the mountain, causing them to wreck their ships on the rocks below.

At St. Goar we got off the boat and caught the little train which took us to Rheinfels Castle above.

  This was a good choice because the castle is in ruins, 

which meant the boys could play & climb as much as they liked!

 We saw the preparations for a wedding reception and thought,
"How cool!  A wedding in a castle, no less!"

The boys especially liked the narrow passageways--

and some tunnels dark enough that flashlights were required.

They literally climbed anywhere and everywhere they could! 

While taking the next two pictures, we were tempted to leave the boys and walk away!!!

It was really THE perfect castle for two young boys, as well as parents & grandparents!

Here's one last view from the castle before heading down for our return trip.

And now we're all ready for the lengthy return trip up river!

Elder G loved loved seeing the German flag blowing in the wind.

And with that we ended our first day showing the Hubands around Germany!