Mainz, Germany
On the way to Mainz we had one of our favorite lunches of the trip -baguette sandwich with salami and a sharp white cheese, chips, carrots, apples and of course mountain spring water from the Swiss Alps.
This was at Alex Gastro in Mainz. (see my Beer Report for more beer stories)
We took a four-hour boat ride from a town just north of Mainz up to Koblenz. The Rhine river is, sort of like the Loire, known for white wine and castles. I thought it was interesting how their vineyards slope down the hill instead of across it, as in Italy.
This is Bacharach and the building on the hill is a 12th Century castle that is currently a youth hostel. We thought about staying there but in the end found it would be too difficult to make it work.
We talked with a young newlywed couple from Texas for most of the trip. He took this picture of us.
Ah, beer. Jamie actually sort of liked a swig of my Kirner Pils we had at lunch earlier this day, so she tried this Paulaner Pils. She did not like it as much as the Kirner. I enjoyed my plate of pork schnitzel and she had a unique dish of flour dumplings with cheese and onions.
It was in Germany that I realized my money belt was a little lighter than usual. What was missing? Can you say passports? We had rushed out of the hostel so quickly, and since we had no need to "check out" (we had already paid and there was no key to return), we forgot them. Thus we made an unplanned but welcome return to Gimmelwald.