A Trip Down Memory Lane (& the Rhine River)
As much as I adore autumn and love the wintertime, May is my month because it’s the one I entered this world in. I am a spring baby, and, to celebrate my aging, I wanted to take you on a trip down memory lane—and the Rhine River.
This particular memory isn’t very old because it was only just last year I was living in Germany with my husband (if that sounds random to you, I understand; I give a great explanation in what was my first ever blog post that’ll shed light on the matter). I was absolutely spoiled last year because not only was I having an abroad adventure on a boat, my mother and grandmother had flown out to be with us. Allow me to set the scene of 2025’s birthday.
The morning was overcast, chilly, and a touch of rain threatened. We didn’t let that deter us, and those of us with rain jackets donned them. Online, we’d read that the KD Line riverboats, which we’d booked tickets on, offered refreshments, so I know we were envisioning the coffees and cappuccinos that awaited us. Then we got in the car and drove north to Bacharach, just one of the towns along the Rhine you can either embark or disembark at.
One of the great rivers of Europe, the Rhine finds its headwaters in the Swiss Alps then travels north and west until it drains into the North Sea. Its name pulls from Celtic tradition, from a word meaning great running water, and you can find many iconic cities along its route: Basel (Switzerland), Strasbourg (France), and Cologne (Germany), to name a few. The portion of the river we cruised didn’t take us to any of those big places, but there were plenty of cute towns, castle ruins, and vineyards.
We were pretty cold, by the time we boarded the boat because we’d had to wait outside for it and the day was shaping up to be a breezy one. As soon as we crossed the gangplank and found ourselves a table on the upper-deck, Boysy very graciously went to get us those warm beverages we’d been daydreaming of. Only three cappuccinos, though, because he was crazy and opted for a cold beer, instead. Insanity. One of my favorite pictures from Mom and Grandmo’s entire trip was taken then.
Mom, in her blue rain coat, and Mo, in her bright red one, huddled near each other on one side of the table, chilled and hoods up—but smiling.
We could have seated ourselves inside on the lower-deck where there were more formal dining tables and booths. They had accommodations for inclement weather or if it’d been too hot, but we figured we could deal with it for the sake of getting better views. And being cold was absolutely worth it. From where we sat, we could easily watch both sides of the river and were able to walk about or go find a place to stand at the rail. Being able to see both riverbanks was important for optimal sight-seeing (duh) but also because the banks weren’t flat land. You had to be able to look out and up.
Where we were on the Rhine is like a rock gorge. The river isn’t super wide across, and the earth is steep and hilly. There were many spots with terraced vineyards, and scrub and different foliage grew all along. Some parts were more rocky and jagged, and some a sheer slant. Of course, the towns right down on the water were constructed on flatter parts, and a railroad ran on both sides of the river, sometimes disappearing into tunnels and sometimes out in the open.
A recording played over the boat’s speaker system any time we neared a point or structure of interest. For instance, one of the first things we learned about was a building on an island in the middle of the river. We were told, back in the day, it served as a customs house. Anyone coming along via the water had to go there before entering the town or proceeding. Or, also, there were a fair number of castles throughout (ruins & whole); sometimes the recording offered information about those.
I’d never traveled by boat before this. The only things, in my experience, boats were for were fishing and tubing. With that information, you can also tell I’m used to boats being much smaller than this passenger vessel we were on. Anyway, I tell you what: seeing the Rhine Valley from the deck of a ship was the way to go. It’s leisurely and relaxing and no one’s stuck driving and unable to also take a good, long look out the window because they have to keep their eyes on the road. You didn’t have to stop and find a gas station, if you wanted a snack or drink, and you could stretch your legs whenever you pleased. And there was never a bad view. Ideal, all around!
I can’t actually remember just how long it took us to go up-river (maybe forty minutes?), but we got off to spend a few hours in the town of St. Goar.
We picked this stop—and the river cruise, in general—after reading about it in Rick Steves’ guide to Germany. Here’s a free tip, should you ever plan your own German adventure: consult Rick Steves via his book. The whole year we were over there, whenever I was looking to see what there was to do in a specific region or big city, I made sure to flip through what he had to say. Yes, some of it was the obvious, touristy stuff, but so much of it was little stuff. Small details to notice or self-guided walking tours that took you by a city’s nooks and crannies.
St. Goar—or Sankt Goar—was one of the spots Rick Steves mentioned in his book, and it sits on the river below two, old castles. It resides on the west bank, and its sister city, Sankt Goarshausen, is on the east. Immediately, when you lay eyes on it, you can’t help but think it’s such an adorable little town. Even before the boat brought us closer to the town center where we disembarked, the houses we started seeing along the water were just darling. Each one was unique and colorful.
Our first objective, once we got off the boat, was to grab lunch. There was a restaurant we had our eye on, but, when we walked up the alley to it, it was unavailable because a big group had reserved it. So, it was back down the alley for us. Not that we struggled to find a good place to eat. A bistro situated right near the water was just what we needed. Only for a warm entree, though, because there was a different place I had picked out for dessert.
It’s difficult, in a cafe with so many delicious-looking options, to make a decision, so I made two decisions this day. The first one was to try what appeared to be a chocolate-covered lump. You may now be thinking, “Q, how can something you’re calling a lump be delicious-looking?” To which I admit: I did not choose it for looks but because of its name and how it was connected to local lore.
One of the tales we heard from the recording on the boat was about a section of the river right as we approached St. Goar and a huge rock jutting out into the water. It’s called the Lorelei and has been the site of numerous shipwrecks throughout history. A myth associated with this history is that of a siren of the same name as the rock and who you can read about in the poem “Die Lorelei” (“The Lorelei”) by Heinrich Heine. There’s even a statue of her placed down close to the water.
And this chocolate-covered lump I ordered was called the Lorelei, too, so, naturally, I had to try this thing that was tied to local myth. So, we’ve come back around to dessert, which also means I will tell you what my second decision was: a huge slice of Black Forest Cake. It was exceptionally boozy. Hadn’t seen that level of intensity coming, but one of the things we learned from our year living over there is that odds are a German dessert will somehow, in some way, have something boozy about it.
After dessert, we needed to walk around and start seeing some things before we ran out of time before we needed to catch the boat back down-river (and before a nap found us). Another Rick Steves suggestion was a shop not far from the cafe. Both places were in a pedestrian area with lots of places to get food and do some shopping.
This next destination was Montag Steins and Clocks. It’s a family-owned and run establishment, and their claim to fame is the huge piece of decor hanging out front. It’s the world’s largest free-hanging cuckoo clock!
Inside, they had lots of souvenirs but, you can probably guess from their name, mostly steins and cuckoo clocks. Mo really wanted a clock and thinks they’re super fun, which they are, and Boysy wanted a stein. What was cool was how one of the employees actually talked to us about the process of stein-making and walked us through each step. Very interesting. Stein, if you didn’t know, means stone, so it’s referring to the material the mug is made out of. Honestly, it was a smidge overwhelming just how many steins they had, and I don’t know how Boysy was able to make a selection but he did.
The other shop that was a St. Goar highlight Stefan’s Wine Paradise. Now, that kind of place is usually lost on me, but it shared space with a Christmas store. That is absolutely my kind of shopping.
Here’s the reason why the Wine Paradise was and is a fantastic place—Stefan himself. Think tall, friendly extrovert, and that’s him. He was eager to offer us samples and share about his family’s vineyards, and he was equally as eager to hear where we’d come from, what brought us in, that it was a special trip having Mom and Mo out, etc. When he learned Boysy was stationed at Ramstein, Stefan shared about how he’d done some wine tasting things with some of the airmen, and we discovered he knew our priest from base. Stefan was also telling us about how his family provides the wine for the local monastery, and he gave us small, wooden crosses the monks make there.
And all of this ground covered without even mentioning that the wine was incredible, according to Boysy and Mo. The only thing I sampled—and that I, too, found incredible—was the eiswein, which is made from grapes that have frozen on the vine. Hence, the name (eiswein = ice wine). This is a rare variety of wine because the conditions have to be just right and the harvest must be quick to take advantage of the moment before those conditions slip away. Well, I don’t drink wine very often and, when I do, it’s a sip of a sweet blend because I’m a fiend for all things sweet. And only a sip otherwise it’ll put me to sleep. But, oh goodness, I could have had a whole glass of that eiswein even if I’d be knocked out before I could finish it. So. Dang. Delicious.
By that time, we needed to be heading back toward where we’d be getting on the boat that would return us to Bacharach. It was the perfect little taste of this town on the Rhine, and we were looking forward to enjoying the scenic views from the boat again. The sun had even decided to peak out a bit, and, though there were some clouds, the rain stayed away.
This day was definitely one of the highlights of Mom and Mo’s entire visit, and we loved it so much that we took Boysy’s parents, when they came out in the summer. Even the cold and the damp don’t mar this memory, and it was one of those times that I think all four of us, in the moment, were fully aware of what joy and delight there was to be had and that, indeed, we had it.
I celebrated this year’s birthday in much different style, which is perfectly fine and normal. Every year can’t be a cruise on a European river. What’s still wonderfully the same is I was with my loved ones, and me, mom, and Mo are gearing up for another trip—this time a ten-day roadtrip—beginning of next month. Happy birthday to me because I’ve been gifted, once again, all that joy and delight with more on the horizon.
