Rhine Valley

On the tip of an old coworker, we decided to make a stop in the Rhine Valley, on our way from Frankfurt back to the airport (which was about 100km from Frankfurt). What started out as a rainy, yucky day turned into a really beautiful afternoon. This was the only day on our entire trip that it rained, and wouldn't you know it stopped raining every single time we got out of the car. So, our entire 4 hours in the Valley were sunny and dry.

We started in Bingen au Rhine, before taking the ferry over to the Rudesheim in the Rheingau area. Here, there are vineyards as far as the eye can see. You can walk through the vineyards on the paths seeing various landmarks on the way. As we were ascending the hills, we noticed a large structure off in the distance. After consulting our trusty tourist's map, we determined it was the Hildegard Abbey. St. Hildegard was apparently a theologan (among other pursuits) in her time, so Joe was quite giddy at this discovery!

After a lengthy, though beautiful walk, through the vineyards, we came to the place:


Though, most of the Abbey was closed to the public, the church was open and it was really beautiful. I refrained from taking photographs as there were some sisters (nuns) quietly worshipping inside.

During our walk, we did walk through a quiet little neighborhood. I saw this mural painted on the wall and had to take a picture. I loved it! (The window is real).



When you are done walking through the vineyards, you can sit and enjoy a glass of locally made wine in any of the numerous wine taverns. This was such a beautiful, charming and quaint area. We think you could walk from town to town in the valley simply by walking the vineyard paths. Something we may think about doing at some point in the future. It was really breathtaking.

We ended up back at the airport a little earlier than necessary so decided to drive around a bit and happened upon another valley region--Bernkastel Kues in the Moselle Valley. If the drive wasn't spectacular enough, the valley was like something out of a fairy tale book. Amazing. Sadly, no pictures. Guess we'll have to go back.