Grand Circle River Tour 5: Am Rhein [Sky Watch Friday]

According to the original itinerary, we were supposed to sail to Rudesheim along a stretch of the Rhein that passed through a valley dotted with vineyards and castles. Due to the low water level, the Adagio was not able to do this. So, our Program Directors engaged a group of buses to drive us to a convenient location where we could then board a smaller ship that could make the trip. The details escape me now, but the images are more important than how we did it. Note the steep hills where wine grapes are grown.
                                                                      Burg Maus

                                                                    Burg Katz

                                                                 
                                                                    Burg Sooneck

                                                                   Burg Stahleck

The building below, the Pfalz, is in the river and it served as a toll station exacting payment from vessels trying to pass by.

Since I knew that we would be passing through wine/castle country, I specifically packed my infra-red camera. Being a small and lightweight retrofitted Kodak camera, it was convenient to have along. The shot below is the best of the images. 

We arrived in Boppard [image below] where our buses had driven and waited to pick us up for a return to our ship. Tune in next week when we will be in Heidelberg.