Western Europe: Germany - Boppard and the Rhine River

Burg Katz

I left Cochem after a filling breakfast and left the B&B via the shortcut. I bought a one way ticket from Cochem to Boppard (€11.50) to take the KD Ferry to my next stop, Bacharach. I found out that the walk from Boppard train station isn't far from the ferries, so Boppard it is. I paid for my ticket (€16, this was after discount for showing valid train ticket, from memory it was a 20% discount, so worth to ask when buy a ticket). The woman at the KD Ferry counter also very kindly let me drop my fat backpack so I could walkabout Boppard.

I only have limited time in Boppard so I just walked along the river and around. Apparently the thing to see in Boppard is a 55m Roman fort of the original 4th century... which I didn't see.

I picked up my backpack and got on the the 1 PM ferry. It was a bigger ferry compared to the one along Mosel. There wasn't any specific place for luggage storage so I carried my backpack and find a seat in shade. Most people don't have carry luggage though and of course probably all of them travelled with at least another person. I had some pre-downloaded Rick Steves' audio guide on Rhine River and listened to them when the ferry reached the check points. There were also announcements via the ferry's speaker when we arrived at certain towns.

When I first read up on Rhine, I keep on seeing description of Romantic Rhine and wondered how does it really looked like to have the word pretty much tagged to it's name? Haha. I don't know why and how romantic is or feels like but Rhine is home to fields of vineyards, hillside medieval castles, idyllic villages with half timbered houses. Of note though the castles are usually not at the top of the hill but hillside so that they are shield from enemies.

The most fabled spot along Rhine is Lorelei. Lorelai or Loreley is a cliff in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. The Rhine at this area is deep and narrow and is one of the most dangerous place on this valley.

According to an old romantic ballad, Lorelai is a beauty from Bacharach who wants to take her own life due to an unfaithful love. A bishop who was fascinated by her loveliness and humility takes her to a convent. On the way there, she stops at the cliff to look back but ended up throws herself in despair when she saw him riding away.

Side note: The Sri Lankan restaurant that I planned to go for the longest time has closed down!