Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Nahe Day 2 and back to the Rhine

From Kirn we went for another big day and made it all the way back to the Rhine, just north of Bingen. Again, the Nahe delivered the magic.




Again, it was blazing hot we accidentally went up a mountain that took us above the town but at a winery, where we tasted and then bought a bottle of crisp Riesling.




And we rolled down into Bad Münster, where they have something truly cool: cooling towers. These are tall framed structures that seem to be full of small branches. Water is pumped up to the top and then drips down through the sticks, making a cooling mist and turning 38 degree days into 19 degree days. We picnic'd beside one, with our refreshing bottle just bought from the winery, and cruised around a little in town.






Outside a kitsch store we found these awesome treasures:




After the long and narrow river valley we were used to, suddenly the valley widened and flattened out. Again, we were in the fields...




As rain threatened and our hunger increased, we reached the end of our Nahe trip and got back on the Rhine - a very different Rhine from what we had seen anywhere else... castles and steep vineyards and huge boats.



Joshua's tent skills get better and better. We could have slept in this one.



Our campsite was protected by ancient fortifications.

No comments: