Monday 9/14 - We Have Arrived in the Rhine Valley

Left Menzenschwand about 9:30 this morning, fired up the GPS and headed to Bacharach.  The GPS was accurate (as was the driver - no "recalculating") and we got to experience the Autobahn.  I was doing 130 (KPH not MPH) and got passed several times like we were standing still (all by Porsche 911s).  You definitely have to stay in the right lane except when you are going to pass.  And timing the passing is challenging as well since the trucks are very regulated about the speed they can drive which is significantly slower than the speed limit for cars.  And in many places they cannot use the left lane for passing - can make for a long line of trucks.

Hit some rain showers just before we arrived but they had stopped by the time we got to the hotel.  Got all checked in and wandered around the town a bit - it is very small but charming and with historical ruins.  The first picture is of our hotel - our room is the one with the balcony on the right-hand side (we overlook the train tracks and the river).  All of the rooms have two sets of double-pane windows to keep out the noise (we will see how good they work tonight when we try to sleep).

And here are a few pictures from around the town.

And here is one of our favorite activities - having an adult beverage and consulting Rick on what we should do tomorrow.

We had dinner at the restaurant here in the hotel - supposed to be the best in town.  The food was excellent (Charlotte had roast beef and I had wild boar) along with a good wine and dessert.

Tomorrow we plan to hike about 8 miles on a loop trail above the town.