COLOGNE to RHINE RIVER to FRANKFURT to WARZBURG to ROTTENDORF

So this morning we had planned to wake up before sunrise, walk across the bridge to the other side of the Rhine River and watch the sunrise against the Dom (Cathedral). Instead we woke up at about 9 30 and had some PB & J waffles before our 10 30 tour of the Dom. Our tour was very interesting. It was less than an hour but was very informative. Our tour guide (who was wearing all black and had purple hair) was a very smart lady. She told us stories, legends, and the symbolism of the Dom and the city rather than just babble about the architecture of the building (although she did tell us about its significant architecture). There was a twenty minute video after the tour that talked about the cathedral more. I videotaped it on my camera so hopefully the sound comes out alright (and hopefully the film was not copyrighted). After the tour we hit the road in the direction of our next stop: Warzburg. We drove along the Rhine River on a road known as the Romantic Road. Between the cities of Kolbenz and Mainz (I believe they are called) are several castles. It was a beautiful (but drizzly) drive.

We made several stops along the way. We stopped on the side of the road a few times to get some good pictures of the castles in the mountains and on the edges of the cliffs. We drove through several small towns along the river and decided that we want to live in one of those towns. One of the major stops was at a place called Loreley. It is a rock that is in the middle of the Rhine River that sparked a legend: A ship was sailing down the river and the sailors heard this captivating voice singing in front of them. When they looked to see who was singing, they saw a beautiful lady standing on a rock in the river. They were in such awe of the siren that they did not pay attention to where they were going and crashed the boat into the rock. Now, there is a statue on this rock of a beautiful woman distracting all the boats on the river. We drove up the cliff overlooking this spot. We then, hiked the rest of the way up, following the path to the top of the cliff that looks out onto Loreley rock and the Rhine River. The view was spectacular. We unfortunately were not able to go to any castles because since it is the off-season, none of the castles that we found were open for tours or anything. We have a lot of pictures of castles, however. We saw several, many of which were within a mile of the other. It is a very popular road to drive down in the summer, and now I know why.

We next stopped at Frankfurt early in the evening for a quick bite to eat. We walked around for a little bit and then visited their Dom. It was rather small but I still liked it. It was painted orange and white on the inside, which made it brighter than just the plain grey stone. We stopped at a store on the walk back to the parking garage so Meg could buy a sweatshirt because she was getting chilled from being wet so much (I think the rain is following us). She couldn't find one that she liked, but I found socks that I liked. They were 5 euros for 4 pairs. I have now bought a pair of paints, 4 pairs of socks, and 2 Tshirts since I got to Europe. The only thing left that I would like to buy would be a nice pair of shoes. They are very cheap in Barcelona but I haven't found that right pair yet. All in due time I suppose.

We left downtown Frankfurt at 8 and then made it back to the center of Frankfurt by 8 30. We left downtown a second time at 8 30 and headed south. Part of the joys of a road trip in a foreign place I suppose.

We were meeting Mike (Mrs. McGuire's friend from high school) in Warzburg. He lives in Rottendorf so when we got close we called him and he drove and met us. We then followed him to his house and we met his oldest son who is 15. Mike then drove Meg, Tom, and me into Warzburg to give us an overview of the city. He showed us where the city castle was, the Dom, the Royal Residence, and the Rhine. We stopped at a cafe and then came back to his house. We sat around for a little bit and talked some more about Germany. We slept in the basement in sleeping bags on air mattresses. It felt like a sleepover. I miss those sleepovers when we used to sleep in sleeping bags in the basement (or in tents that were pitched on the sides of hills).