A River, Some Grapes and Lots of Tractors

On our first day in Bingen we decided to explore the Mosel River Valley.  We've been to the Mosel before, with Andrew, but it was a pretty dreary day and we couldn't see too much through the low clouds.  Today was completely different - bright, sunny and clear.

The Mosel River is the little sister to the Rhine.  It has the same beautiful hillsides covered with vineyards but otherwise it is slower and gentler.  There aren't as many boats on the river, the towns are smaller and less industrial-looking, the hillsides rise more gently and there aren't nearly as many imposing castle ruins.  In short, it has all the charm without the hustle and bustle.  And it is where Germans love to come to vacation, which can be seen by the large number of campgrounds along the river.

Vineyard along the Mosel

Catherine contemplates some ducks

 After a meandering drive up the river we stopped in a river side park so the kids could get out and play while Doug watched the pleasure boats power up and down the river.  With rumbling tummies, we hopped back in the car in the direction of Beilstein, a pretty little town we had visited in the rain a few years ago that we thought would make a great place for lunch.  Well, after one look at the parking lot we kept on moving - it was like Mahone Bay during the Scarecrow Festival, WAY too busy for our taste.  This is a long weekend with Friday being a holiday that marks the Reunification of Germany and it is lovely and sunny on top of that, so there are a lot of local people out and about.

Instead we found the cute little town of Ediger.  It isn't mentioned in any of the guidebooks that we have, and that made it just perfect on such a busy Friday.

Mosel Village, Mosel Vines

We had a nice but hurried lunch on an outdoor patio with a very wiggly Catherine in our laps.  Noah was in ecstasy the whole time with all the tractors driving back and forth.  They are starting the grape harvest right now and every five minutes or so a tractor pulling a trailer full of grapes would come into town from the vineyards.

Grape Vines strung across a village street

I love that most front doors have something out front that doesn't seem to go missing in the night.

The markings on that wall are high water marks for floods.  The highest was in 1993.  Hard to tell but that street is all downhill and the river is at least 5+ meters below that.

Bringing in the grapes

After exploring Ediger, which didn't take long since it is such a small town, we meandered along the river back towards our car.  We then drove a little further along the river before heading back across country to the Rhine.  With Apple Strudel, Cappuccino and a playground as our goal, we headed straight for Bacharach.  We've stayed in Bacharach several times before so we knew we'd find everything we were looking for without too much trouble.

The Mosel

Vineyards along the Mosel

Driving along the Mosel

To get from Ediger to Bacharach, you can either take the long route up the Mosel River Valley and back down the Rhine or you can pop up out of the valleys and take the faster route overland between them.  This is the route we took (after yesterday's marathon drive we really needed that cappuccino and playground) and as we reached a crest on the plain I was amazed by the number of windmills we could see.  In one small section I lost count after 35, and they stretched all along the horizon in front of us.  We drove in this area about five years ago and I don't remember seeing windmills at all (they were probably there but so few as to not be noteworthy).  I guess this part of Germany has really embraced wind power.

So Many Windmills

In Bacharach we found what we needed, although we could have done without the shockingly rude waitress (she had clearly served one to many American tourist brought to this little town by Rick Steves guidebooks).  The playground did a great job of entertaining the kids and had a fantastic view of the Rhine and its boat traffic to entertain Doug.  (I'm thinking I may have to start a guidebook of European playgrounds, I seem to mention one in every other blog post, don't I?)

Playground with a view

Bacharach

Bacharach

After such a full day there was just enough time to get back to our apartment, make supper, have baths and bundle kids (and Dads) into bed for a good night's sleep before another adventure tomorrow.