We reached the end of the Moselle River at Deutsches Eck this morning. There’s a huge statue of Emperor William I at the promontory; it was erected in 1897, destroyed down to the plinth during World War II, and re-erected in 1993 after German unification.

We sailed up the Rhine, passing fairy-tale castles like Marksburg.

We reached Boppard just before lunch and took a quick walk along the Rhine. Boppard is a very cute town; here’s the house directly opposite our docking place.

Martin, our tour manager, says that the dog in this house’s window has been faithfully watching for at least 10 years.

We happened to be there for the annual Onion Market, which has been happening since the Middle Ages – these days, there were a lot of merchants selling random stuff (at least three booths with knives and other tools, several with yarn, and quite a few selling clothes that I’m sure were not made in the EU). I almost bought an articulated dental mirror to use when trying to look behind things at home, but didn’t like the feel of it – where is Edmund Scientific when you need them?

(Photo courtesy of Boppard Tourism)

We took a “Masterpiece Collection” excursion to Castle Ehrenburg in the afternoon. It was built in the 12th century and like Yoda, it looks pretty good for its age.

The castle includes a hotel and spa, but if you’re on a limited budget, you can stay in one of their medieval wagons.

There’s a beautiful church (St. Margaretha Catholic Church) across the Rhine; we won’t get to visit it (the nearest bridge across the river is an hour’s drive away), but I couldn’t resist taking its picture. They call themselves a “cycle path church” and offer air pumps and patches as well as spiritual blessings!

After dinner, we went for a stroll to the downtown. Things were very quiet, though the restaurants were busy. I liked the way Basilika St. Severus was lit up.

We arrived in Bernkastle early in the morning; we had a choice of a walking tour of the town or a strenuous bike ride, both followed by a wine tasting. We chose the walking tour. The ruins of Berg Landshut dominated the skyline.

The town is actually called Bernkastle-Kues; Kues was on the other side of the Moselle. Our guide told us about the St. Nikolas Hospital in Kues, which was founded in 1465 as a place for needy old men to live; it’s still a retirement home today!

Our guide took us into the Market Square, complete with fountains, Rathaus, and lots and lots of stores and restaurants.

German mailboxes (this one’s in front of the drugstore) are more interesting than the ones we have at home.

Our guide pointed out the Spitzhäuschen (Pointed House), an excellent example of the half-timbered buildings found throughout the market area.

We left the market square and stopped at the Bear Fountain (the bear is Bernkastle’s heraldic animal).

Our guide took us outside the old city walls so we could see a “Doctor Wine Cellar”, and then she told us the legend behind the name. We returned to the town through the Graacher Tor (the one remaining city gate) and saw plaques commemorating the Jewish residents lost in the Shoah.

We saw our first stolperstein of the cruise a few feet from the gate; they commemorate two Jews who had fled to Cologne and hidden in 1939, then moved to Bernkastel later in the war and were killed by an Allied bombing raid in January 1945.

That completed the walking tour; our guide then took us to Weingut Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler for a Riesling tasting (and explanation).

The wines were tasty, but I didn’t want to bring any wine home with me; Bernkastel wines are available in the US at decent prices, anyway.

We left the cellar and walked up to the castle; it was worth it for the views.

We went back to the ship for lunch, passing a roadside vineyard along the way; the grapes like very steep slopes!

After lunch, we went back to town for a little light shopping and exploration; I was somewhat surprised to find a monument to the town’s fallen soldiers from the World Wars, complete with Iron Cross, but our travel agent says that we’d see similar monuments in most small towns.

We left Bernkastel around 6 and began sailing upriver. The scenery was distracting, but we managed to concentrate on dinner (and some Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler wines) anyway.