Rhein River Sliver... Castles and Cruises

When we first arrived, we decided to do a USO Tour to kick off our travels here in Germany.  I could have done this trip WAY cheaper, but we thought this would be an easy no stress day trip!  The tour cost $99 each, but again, we could have done this trip for way under that.  When you go on these organized tours, part of your fee is to pay the tour guide.  In our case the tour guide was horrible! She first announces its her birthday and acted put out that she had to be working that day.  I know it sucks lady, but put your happy face on when you are giving a tour to bus full of people! Needless to say, it was a great day, but I was mad that some of my money went to her that day because she definitely didn't earn it!

We met on Pulaski Base around 8 am and boarded the tour bus.  Our first stop was Burg Rheinstein, a beautiful castle on the Rhein River.  It took about 30-45 minutes to walk through the castle and see most of the rooms.  You also had the option of buying a guide from the castle for more detail for about 2.50 Euro.

We had beautiful views of the river and vineyards, and the castle was beautifully restored.  

From here we hopped back on the bus and headed to St. Goar to board our Rhein River Cruise ship.  The cruise was a little bit late, but otherwise it was great.  St. Goar is a cute little town that also has a castle.  Most of the towns along the river will have a castle that you can tour.  On the cruise we immediately sat down inside for our 3 course German meal.  I of course had to order some Reisling to accompany our food!  We had soup, bread, schnitzel, potatoes, and desert! It was pretty good!! 

After lunch we were able to roam the boat, enjoy the day on the deck and marvel at all the beautiful castles and vineyards that line the Rhein.  

The cruise ship landed in Rudesheim, a very touristy, but cute town.  We wandered around the town, did some wine tasting, and decided to ride the cable car up to the monument.  

 Rudesheimer coffee is a must try while you are here!!! The coffee is made in front of you and is similar to an irish coffee, but contains cognac! So so so tasty~

Ryan posing at the monument! 

Overall, it was a nice day trip and we did get to do and see a lot.  Our tour guide was not really top notch at all and didn't provide any information that was valuable, but we still managed to have fun and see lots of cool things!! I definitely recommend doing this trip either through the USO or on your own, but remember this is just a sliver of the Rhein! There is so much of it to explore in both Germany and France!!