Rhine River Cruise

To start off our first free weekend from APPE in Germany, our group of 10 headed by bus & train to Bacharach around 7:00 AM.  

We had some free time to roam the cute little town before boarding our Rhine River cruiseboat that would bring us from Bacharach to St Goar. 

Bacharach

Rhine River in Bacharach

The Rhine River cruiseboat was complete with a child's slide, too many people, & a very-well-worth-it view of the adorable towns along the Rhine. 

Aboard the Rhine River cruiseboat

Enjoying the views along the Rhine

Arriving in St. Goar

St. Goar is a cute little tourist town.  Grabbed some lunch before exploring the town in search of Burg Rheinfels (Rheinfels Castle).

Bier & Brezel

Cuckoo clock shop

We didn't make it into the castle, but did enjoy some gorgeous views of St. Goar and the Rhine River. 

St. Goar & the Rhine River

Ladies posing for a pic with St. Goar

Walk through St. Goar to the train station

From St. Goar, we unknowingly boarded a party train, full of soccer fans dressed in jerseys, downing beers, and singing songs!  After almost 2 hours on the train, we arrived in Cologne for some shopping & exploring. 

Arriving to Cologne

Cologne was packed!!! (think Times Square in NYC)  We explored the unique Domfuhrungen Cathedral, then went shopping :)  I was particularly excited when we saw a Kiko Cosmetics, which unfortunately does not ship products to the United States (per my research 2 years ago after a trip to Italy). 

Dom Cathedral

 

Stop for dinner in Cologne

After a busy & beautiful Saturday exploring Germany, we boarded the train towards Velbert with one more bus to catch.  In order to avoid waiting an extra hour for our bus, we had 4 minutes to race off the train in Mettmann and find the bus stop to get a ride back to Velbert.  Luckily we were unsuccessful in flagging down the bus as it pulled away, because it was the wrong one.  We proceeded to find the correct bus and bus stop down the street.  Sarah yelled "746! That's our bus!"  With backpacks, shopping bags, and souvenir masks in tow, we booked it across the street.  Heidi waved to the bus driver, who just shook his head and pointed.  Pointed where?  We didn't know.  Since the bus's right turn signal was on, we ran in that direction until we saw a bus stop.  We had almost completed our second 200-meter dash when the bus passed us by, but then stopped so we could catch up.  Ignoring the passengers' smirks, we laughed the rest of the ride home, glad we were not still waiting for a bus in the cold until 11:00 PM.