Having Maria, Nona, and Papa here to help with Jay we decided it was a good time to take a day-cruise down the Rhine River. Watching a toddler on a boat is no easy task ;) We are so happy we went! The cruise was breathtaking. We saw spectacular views of the German country side, a large number of majestic castles and quaint little towns dotting the riverside.
To top it all off the weather was perfect. The sun was out all day long and blue skies with fluffy white clouds filled the horizon. We were surprised by the amount of castles along the river edge. One popped up about every half a mile. We learned they were once used to toll boats traveling up and down the river. The ships really had no choice other than to pay since the castles were equipped with cannons and the like to destroy any who refused. I hear the penalty for skipping a toll payment in L.A. today is a $157 ticket. What can you do? Both
amercements are pretty effective deterrents. Anyway, the castles are fascinating to see today.
When I think of castles in Germany now I automatically think of crazy King Ludwig who commissioned the Neuschwanstein Castle, better known as Cinderella's castle. He built several other castles in Germany that we've seen, one more lavish than the next. Apparently Ludwig had some ancestors as crazy as he was because a previous King Ludwig built a castle along the Rhine River in the 1300s. I guess I shouldn't say it's
along the Rhine River but rather that it's
in the Rhine River.
King Ludwig had it built smack dab in the middle of the river for border protection. The name of the castle is Pfalzgrafenstein. Yeah. The German language has some really long words with an absurd amount of consonants. We recently found this word on a storefront window:
After looking up the words on Babel Fish translation I found out it means: tax consulting company / restaurant consulting economics. Apparently you can squish a bunch of words together in German resulting in one HUGE 27+ letter word. Anyway... back to the cruise. One of our favorite towns along the river was Assmanhausen. My dad commented that it's probably where several Proctologists live. After the cruise we had a yummy dinner at the American Diner Cafe and Maria had the chance to take a picture with none other than Lady Liberty. Can life get any better?
Having Maria, Nona, and Papa here to help with Jay we decided it was a good time to take a day-cruise down the Rhine River. Watching a toddler on a boat is no easy task ;) We are so happy we went! The cruise was breathtaking. We saw spectacular views of the German country side, a large number of majestic castles and quaint little towns dotting the riverside. 
To top it all off the weather was perfect. The sun was out all day long and blue skies with fluffy white clouds filled the horizon. We were surprised by the amount of castles along the river edge. One popped up about every half a mile. We learned they were once used to toll boats traveling up and down the river. The ships really had no choice other than to pay since the castles were equipped with cannons and the like to destroy any who refused. I hear the penalty for skipping a toll payment in L.A. today is a $157 ticket. What can you do? Both amercements are pretty effective deterrents. Anyway, the castles are fascinating to see today. 
When I think of castles in Germany now I automatically think of crazy King Ludwig who commissioned the Neuschwanstein Castle, better known as Cinderella's castle. He built several other castles in Germany that we've seen, one more lavish than the next. Apparently Ludwig had some ancestors as crazy as he was because a previous King Ludwig built a castle along the Rhine River in the 1300s. I guess I shouldn't say it's along the Rhine River but rather that it's in the Rhine River. 
King Ludwig had it built smack dab in the middle of the river for border protection. The name of the castle is Pfalzgrafenstein. Yeah. The German language has some really long words with an absurd amount of consonants. We recently found this word on a storefront window:
After looking up the words on Babel Fish translation I found out it means: tax consulting company / restaurant consulting economics. Apparently you can squish a bunch of words together in German resulting in one HUGE 27+ letter word. Anyway... back to the cruise. One of our favorite towns along the river was Assmanhausen. My dad commented that it's probably where several Proctologists live. After the cruise we had a yummy dinner at the American Diner Cafe and Maria had the chance to take a picture with none other than Lady Liberty. Can life get any better?
1 comment:
Wow, how fun! I've always dreamed of going down the Rhine (or at least part of it)! There sure are some picturesque sites to see!
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