Gorgeous Gorge of the Rhine

The Rhine River flows through a gorge (narrow valley) cut through a range of mountains (hills) upstream of Cologne; the valley walls are 250-500 feet high.  The river is faster and more constrained, and there are towns along both banks, alternating from side to side, spaced sometimes just 1-2 miles apart.  A few larger cities with churches town halls and hotels are located where various tributary rivers join the Rhine.  This is the castle corridor of the Rhine.  Most of them are high on the hills or on large rock outcroppings; many are just stone ruins, but several have been maintained or restored, with museums or hotels. Here are a few of the beautiful views.  

There is a lot of traffic moving through the gorge.  There are railroads on both sides, roads on both sides, and a steady stream of barges and boats. For the boat traffic there are several radars located on the points, and the captains are able to view the radar remotely- it works well and we saw no collisions.  

We stopped at two towns along the gorge during the day- and watched from the top deck during the rest of the day.  

The second town was Rudesheim- and we had dinner onshore at a restaurant from 1729- with a music band and a clock that had 16 bells on the outside wall and little people that came out on a carousel movement- we listened to the bells three times, 7 pm to 9 pm, and then sailed overnight to Frankfurt.

We slept past the walking tour time, and went into town and rode a hop on hop off double deck bus- a good way to view the city without walking as much.  It was very warm, over 40 C (104 F).  The city is built on both sides of the River Main with 20 museums along one side, pedestrian bridges crossing, and a parkway along the other side.  The old town has several great buildings, but the city also has the most modern buildings of any other European city.  

The Main River is smaller than the Rhine River, and the water level is controlled- except in the highest floods- by the upstream locks; there are 100 locks on the Main.  We are traveling most of the way up the Main to Bamberg- but that is around another bend.