Deutschland Along the Rhine

Brian and I just got back from a quick weekend in Bad Kreuznach and Rudesheim, Germany. This was a very special trip for me especially because Bad Kreuznach is where my mom was born and raised and where she and my dad met and got married. I visited my mom's family there many times growing up but haven't been back in more than 10 years. It was so interesting to see stores that I remember going to back then. Brian and I spent most of our first day just walking around and enjoying a non-touristy German town. We even stopped and had currywurst for lunch (a hot dog in a ketchup/BBQ sauce sprinkled with curry powder) - yum!

After Bad Kreuznach, we continued driving to Rudesheim, Germany, a place known for Riesling wine. No one told us about the car ferry though! We were driving along and all of a sudden, our GPS told us to "board ferry." We hadn't heard that before but soon figured it out and drove onto the boat that would cross the Rhine River from Bingen to Rudesheim.

Rudesheim was beautiful and definitely worth a trip if you are in that area of Germany. There are vineyards everywhere! A highlight of our trip was taking a cable car over the vineyards to the Niederwald Monument. After that, you take a short hike through a beautiful forest and make your way to a chair lift that takes you through the trees to Assmannhausen, a town further down the Rhine. You finish with a ferry back up the Rhine to Rudesheim. All three legs cost 11 Euros total per person - definitely a great price for an AMAZING experience!

When we arrived in Assmannhausen, we stumbled upon an annual street party for the town. We grabbed a table, ordered some Schnitzel and beer, and enjoyed listening to the German DJ spinning the latest German songs! At times, the area was so beautiful and surreal that we almost felt like we were in Epcot!

Our final stop on our way back to the airport was Bingen. We enjoyed the Winter Festival throughout town and then grabbed a Bratwurst and German potato salad for dinner before heading back home.

Here are some photos from our trip. And if you're interested, click on the video below to hear some of the musical highlights of our lunch in Germany. Auf Wiedersehen for now! =)