The Rhine River Valley

From last Friday: In a couple of months I will write a post about living on Dresden’s river, the Elbe. But today’s post is about Deutschland’s more famous waterway: the Rhine. I type this on the train heading north from Frankfurt am Main, German’s financial capital situated in the highlands of Hessen, up to Bonn, capital of the former West Germany on the plateau of Nordrhein/Westfalen. This stretch of the river's 820-mile course is known as the "heroic" Mittelrhein (Middle Rhine). As we travel in the same direction the Rhine flows, we pass countless picturesque scenes on my right-hand side. On the near bank Gartenstädte (Garden Cities) alternate with narrow strips of businesses and houses, sometimes only one house wide. On the other bank are the slopes of the Rhine Gorge. Plots of grapes tilt precariously among the forests--this is Riesling territory--and castle keeps and churches top the rocky cliffs with some regularity. Adorable small towns nestled at their feet on the water’s edge. I’ve made this trip once before, in the summer of 2006, when I participated in the German Historical Institute’s Summer Archive Trip. I was on my way to Koblenz, where the Mosel and the Rhine Rivers meet at what’s called the Dreutsches Eck (German Corner). I remember that I periodically looked up from reading Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth Century French Hermaphrodite to admire the river valley. Nevertheless, familiarity in no way bred contempt today! The view was too beautiful not to do the touristy thing and snap a few pictures to share with you.  Unfortunately, my first foray into a video slide show didn't work, so here are a few snapshots.  The view was gorgeous, even though it was a rather gray day.

 

p.s.--I got some of my information from this genealogy website.

p.p.s.--My first train home from Bonn was late due to construction on the tracks, so I missed my connection at Frankfurt to Dresden. Thus, my inter-city Verkehrsmitteltabellierung* adds 2 buses, 1 S-Bahn, 1 taxi, and 5 trains (instead of 4).

*I just made that word up; it means "transportation tabulation."