On the Rhine - Steep Incline - Monks with Wine

(Note: I will be adding more photos as time goes on but the battery on my camera died in my first day here).

The first full day in Germany was beautiful. The sun was shining like a bright July day in Edmonton (but this is May) and to ease into our jet lag Professor Peter Jaskiewicz (Peter from now on) had organized a boat excursion down the Rhine river originating in Rudeshiem. The "A" was now being fully adopted by the group and we took it to its first fully Germanic tourist trap - the Drosselgasse. This narrow street reminds me of Harry Potter's Diagon Alley with shops lining its narrow passage as you are targeted for sales of postcards, coo coo clocks, and german chocolate. I narrowly escaped with only a few Christmas ornaments in tow.

We shuffled between ice cream parlors and "gasthauses" (restaurants) back to the docks where we boarded a ferry that would take us from Rudeshiem to St. Goars. It was a relaxing, fun time and along the two hour tour we saw examples of 12th and 14th century castles along the way every 15 minutes or so.

Roshanne and Barb in Rudeshiem

We docked at St. Goars along the famous cliffs of Loreley where legend tells of a young maiden with a golden voice. She would sound so beautiful and look so lovely that ship captains would run their barges against the shoals just to get a closer look. It was here that Peter suggested a short climb up the cliff where we would have a wonderful view of the Rhine and we could grab a bratwurst and some coffee or beer. It sounded lovely.

Of course the hike was a shock to many of our systems. We had been lulled into a state of sedentary complacency and now the 20 year old BComs were jogging up the hill and the old MBAs were forced to keep up. Someone offered me water upon reaching the top, another offered me a difibulator as a joke. I took the water...barely.

After gathering our breaths, our strength, and some lunch, we headed off to Kloster Eberbach, one of the best preserved and oldest monasteries in Europe. In fact it is so pristine it was used as the backdrop of the movie "The Name of the Rose" with Sean Connery. Seeing it up close and learning its history was interesting and it set a good base for what I'm sure will be a theme during the trip - Germany is steeped in history. We toured its different rooms and visited the wine cellars (which had no wine but many casks) and enjoyed learning how religion played the major role in settling the Rhine Valley - a UNESCO Heritage site.

So after the Rhine, the Incline and Wine we trundled back to Wiesbaden to rest up for a full day of Family Business studies at Merck tomorrow.