Koblenz - Middle Rhine Scenic Cruising - Miltenberg – Grand European Viking River Cruise
Koblenz
In the morning of our fourth day we took a short bus ride to see Marksburg Castle. It was built 900 years ago to protect the town of Braubach. When Napoleon conquered Germany he used the castle as a prison. The castle ownership changed many times based on who was in power at the time. This is a very impressive looking castle that stands on top of a hill overlooking the village.
Viewing this castle provided a good overview on why castles were built and what the lifestyle was in the castles. We saw many cannons used at the time and were told that some were used just to welcome dignitaries when they came down the river while other had such limited range they really didn’t provide much defensive protection. As the cannon design improved they were able to build cannons that were large enough to fire at anything that floated down the river which provided a real defensive and offensive weapon. We were able to walk through the living quarters of the noble family that lived there and were amazed to see how small the beds were. People back in this time slept mostly sitting up in bed because they were afraid to die due to the fumes of the stoves that heated their rooms and these fumes tended to be more deadly closer to the floor. We saw the main room where they ate and entertained visitors. The long dining table was brought into and out of the room with all food and dishes on the table. The noble people did not like to see their servants work and their servants had to do all the food serving and dishes removal outside the room. There was a very strange outhouse attached to this room and when the noble person used it the door remained open and they were able to maintain a conversation with the other people in the room while they did their business. We also saw the evolution of armor that was used by the noble men and soldiers back in this time along with a workshop where the blacksmith did his work. It was very interesting to get a good perspective of how castle life was back in this time.
This Marksburg Castle was impressive but it was so amazing to see how many similar and even larger castles we saw later that afternoon down the river.
Middle Rhine Scenic Cruising
In the afternoon of our fourth day we just cruised along the Rhine River. The temperature was perfect and the sun was shining. You could sit up at the bow of the ship or the top deck and watch the beautiful sights while our cruise director, Carl, made announcements identifying the various sights we saw. This is something you don’t get to do very often in an ocean cruise ship unless you are doing an Alaskan cruise. The small villages along the river are so quaint and you can see many medieval buildings in the center of these towns. All towns have their very distinctive churches and many have city hall buildings with large clock towers. In the center of each town is a tall decorated May pole which will be used for their May Day celebration in a few weeks.
In the afternoon of our fourth day we just cruised along the Rhine River. The temperature was perfect and the sun was shining. You could sit up at the bow of the ship or the top deck and watch the beautiful sights while our cruise director, Carl, made announcements identifying the various sights we saw. This is something you don’t get to do very often in an ocean cruise ship unless you are doing an Alaskan cruise. The small villages along the river are so quaint and you can see many medieval buildings in the center of these towns. All towns have their very distinctive churches and many have city hall buildings with large clock towers. In the center of each town is a tall decorated May pole which will be used for their May Day celebration in a few weeks.
Miltenberg
On our fifth day we visited Miltenberg which is a small village of only 5,000 people in central Germany. It was originally settled over 2000 years ago but became much more well known when the Emperor of the time stayed there 900 years ago. This was one of the prettiest towns we have visited so far. The buildings were kept in pristine condition. Even though they were built hundreds of years ago they were well maintained to portray their appearance when they were originally built and when repairs were made they had to use the same construction techniques of the rest of the building. We learned about the signs and paintings in the front of the buildings so that you could identify when the structure was built, what the name of the original owner was, and what was sold in the store. All of these shops have creative signs that come off of the building like a sign post but are made with wrought iron that looks like an artwork. You can walk along the street and see each shop’s sign without even seeing the store front and typically will know what is being sold there. The shops along the streets had many interesting items to look at: bowls, dolls, clocks, toys and other things. Many people from our ship had a great time in buying souvenirs here. The churches, town square and other buildings were really nice to see. The town square had a fountain that was attractively decorated with eggs and flowers for Easter.
We took a walk up to Miltenberg Castle that was built 800 years ago. It is currently a museum but offers a nice high view of the city. We took many pictures from this vantage point of this picturesque city. This was a very enjoyable stop on our cruise.
Sharon and Greg
Koblenz
In the morning of our fourth day we took a short bus ride to see Marksburg Castle. It was built 900 years ago to protect the town of Braubach. When Napoleon conquered Germany he used the castle as a prison. The castle ownership changed many times based on who was in power at the time. This is a very impressive looking castle that stands on top of a hill overlooking the village.
Viewing this castle provided a good overview on why castles were built and what the lifestyle was in the castles. We saw many cannons used at the time and were told that some were used just to welcome dignitaries when they came down the river while other had such limited range they really didn’t provide much defensive protection. As the cannon design improved they were able to build cannons that were large enough to fire at anything that floated down the river which provided a real defensive and offensive weapon. We were able to walk through the living quarters of the noble family that lived there and were amazed to see how small the beds were. People back in this time slept mostly sitting up in bed because they were afraid to die due to the fumes of the stoves that heated their rooms and these fumes tended to be more deadly closer to the floor. We saw the main room where they ate and entertained visitors. The long dining table was brought into and out of the room with all food and dishes on the table. The noble people did not like to see their servants work and their servants had to do all the food serving and dishes removal outside the room. There was a very strange outhouse attached to this room and when the noble person used it the door remained open and they were able to maintain a conversation with the other people in the room while they did their business. We also saw the evolution of armor that was used by the noble men and soldiers back in this time along with a workshop where the blacksmith did his work. It was very interesting to get a good perspective of how castle life was back in this time.
This Marksburg Castle was impressive but it was so amazing to see how many similar and even larger castles we saw later that afternoon down the river.
Middle Rhine Scenic Cruising
In the afternoon of our fourth day we just cruised along the Rhine River. The temperature was perfect and the sun was shining. You could sit up at the bow of the ship or the top deck and watch the beautiful sights while our cruise director, Carl, made announcements identifying the various sights we saw. This is something you don’t get to do very often in an ocean cruise ship unless you are doing an Alaskan cruise. The small villages along the river are so quaint and you can see many medieval buildings in the center of these towns. All towns have their very distinctive churches and many have city hall buildings with large clock towers. In the center of each town is a tall decorated May pole which will be used for their May Day celebration in a few weeks.
In the afternoon of our fourth day we just cruised along the Rhine River. The temperature was perfect and the sun was shining. You could sit up at the bow of the ship or the top deck and watch the beautiful sights while our cruise director, Carl, made announcements identifying the various sights we saw. This is something you don’t get to do very often in an ocean cruise ship unless you are doing an Alaskan cruise. The small villages along the river are so quaint and you can see many medieval buildings in the center of these towns. All towns have their very distinctive churches and many have city hall buildings with large clock towers. In the center of each town is a tall decorated May pole which will be used for their May Day celebration in a few weeks.
Miltenberg
On our fifth day we visited Miltenberg which is a small village of only 5,000 people in central Germany. It was originally settled over 2000 years ago but became much more well known when the Emperor of the time stayed there 900 years ago. This was one of the prettiest towns we have visited so far. The buildings were kept in pristine condition. Even though they were built hundreds of years ago they were well maintained to portray their appearance when they were originally built and when repairs were made they had to use the same construction techniques of the rest of the building. We learned about the signs and paintings in the front of the buildings so that you could identify when the structure was built, what the name of the original owner was, and what was sold in the store. All of these shops have creative signs that come off of the building like a sign post but are made with wrought iron that looks like an artwork. You can walk along the street and see each shop’s sign without even seeing the store front and typically will know what is being sold there. The shops along the streets had many interesting items to look at: bowls, dolls, clocks, toys and other things. Many people from our ship had a great time in buying souvenirs here. The churches, town square and other buildings were really nice to see. The town square had a fountain that was attractively decorated with eggs and flowers for Easter.
We took a walk up to Miltenberg Castle that was built 800 years ago. It is currently a museum but offers a nice high view of the city. We took many pictures from this vantage point of this picturesque city. This was a very enjoyable stop on our cruise.
Sharon and Greg
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