Viking Cruise #21: Docking at Rudesheim, Germany

In today's blog about our Viking River Cruise on the Rhine River, we docked at the town of Rudeshiem.  What's interesting about this stop, is that the cruise offered a day trip to a winery (which we didn't do), but didn't mention we could walk the town. Fortunately, we love to explore and we had to figure out our way to get there. We were glad we did. Rudeshiem turned out to be a highlight of the trip, we got to explore it with fellow passengers and new friends Mary Ellen and Mary and we even splurged on tee shirts for ourselves. :)  

(Photo: L to R:  Rob, Tom, Mary Ellen and Mary - we met in the town and enjoyed walking around together. Credit: R.G.) 

WALKING AROUND - Mary Ellen, Mary, Tom and I agreed that the town has a nice feel to it. There were some brick-lined streets, and there were quaint little shops. We also stopped and got a Pretzel. It's Germany, and the country is famous for them, and rightly so. The Pretzels are delicious!  Fortunately, the day we got to the town, the sun finally came out, and temperatures warmed into the 60s, so it was a vast improvement over the earlier part of the week (cloudy and in the low 50s). 

MARY AND MARY ELLEN - We were so fortunate to meet Mary Ellen and Mary - We immediately bonded with them and befriended them. They are best friends who live in the same town, same block, and were special education teachers - who both still meet with their now adult students. They both have dogs, too, so we had lots to talk about. Meeting and befriending them really made the trip. In tomorrow's blog you'll meet others we bonded with. Walking the town with Mary and Mary Ellen really made it super-special. 

ABOUT RUDESHIEM - Rüdesheim am Rhein is a town in the Rhine Valley, Germany. It’s known for winemaking, especially of Riesling wines. In the center, Drosselgasse is a lane lined with shops, taverns and restaurants. Nearby, Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet is a museum of automated musical instruments. Medieval Brömserburg Castle is home to the Rheingau Wine Museum, exhibiting wine paraphernalia from ancient times to the present. **However, we didn't visit the castle, the wine museum or the museum of musical instruments. Instead we really just enjoyed walking around this very quaint town!

PASTRIES - Every town we visited in Germany had a bakery or two or three. Rudeshiem was no different, and I had to take a picture of the amazing cakes in one of the places.

QUAINT STREETS- Walking around really gave a feeling like we were in another country (other than the U.S.). The brick-lined streets, the lantern-type lights, and the shops filled with goods made for a quaint town. 

NEXT: On to Speyer, Germany!