October 22, 2019

It’s Tuesday and we are motoring along the western bank of Loch Lomond, heading up into the foothills of the highlands. Carved out by glaciers at the end of the last ice age, the loch crosses the Highland Boundary Fault bridging the lowlands to the highlands of Scotland. 23 miles (36 km) long, the loch becomes narrow and deeper as it moves out of the lowland sandstone and cuts into the bedrock of the highlands.   The day is misty and grey which helps to give the loch and surrounding hills a dramatic, atmospheric feel. We’re sitting in the back seat watching quietly as the hills, the mist, and the water merge into a beautiful mosaic that can only be the landscape that is Scotland.

We arrived in Glasgow the day before, our train only about 30 minutes late. We navigated our luggage across Glasgow Central Station and met up with friends and hosts for the week, Glenn and Maureen. We met Glenn in 2017 at the Big Big Train concert weekend at Cadogan Hall and instantly hit it off. The following summer he and his wife Maureen both came to Sankt Goar, Germany for the Night of the Prog Festival and the friendship deepened. When the band announced they would start their UK tour in Edinburgh, they kindly invited us to come and stay with them a few days before the tour, an invitation we readily accepted! Even after a year and a half, we picked up where we left off, staying up into the wee hours talking and laughing. The evening included a fabulous pasta dinner followed by an amazing crumble made with apples, berries and wonderful spices, all cooked  up in the famous Codere Prog Kitchen.   Feeling fat and happy, we headed out after dinner to catch the train into downtown Glasgow for our inaugural visit to the world renowned pub and Glenn Codere favorite haunt, The Pot Still.

As a pub, The Pot Still dates to 1867 but the Murphy family has owned it since 2011. A favorite among Glasgow residents and tourists, it is also famous on the Big Big Train forum as Glenn’s regular evening haunt. They have some limited pub fare (savory pies mostly) and good beer on cask, but they are most famous for their wide selection, and deep knowledge of, excellent Scotch whisky. Mike’s not a big fan of whisky, but Carol, far from being a connoisseur, still enjoys the taste and decided to go for a dram.  The bar was slammed and not wanting to be a bother, she simply ordered a Dalwhinnie single malt, something we have at home and that she knows she likes. Collum, the barman, however, had other plans.  He said there wasn’t quite a full dram left in the bottle, and wouldn’t she like to try something new and different?  Well, if you’re going to insist! Collum brought three bottles down and talked through the nuances of each, offering up a sniff to catch the nose.  Carol settled on the Cardhu malt, a Speyside 12 year old single malt.  Clean, crisp and very approachable (especially to a Scotch novice), it went down nice and smooth.

The pub was packed and full of both locals and tourists intermingling filling the rooms with the sound of multiple accents from all over the world.  We enjoyed a couple of pints and a few more drams of whisky before heading back to the train to take us home.

The Pot Still

The Pot Still

The Pot Still

Decisions, decisions……

The next morning, feeling only a wee bit hazy from the night before, following a restorative breakfast of coffee and bacon sandwiches, the four of us pile into Glenn and Maureen’s car and head up towards Loch Lomond. The geology of Scotland is fascinating. The Highlands were once part of the same alpine mountain range that today form parts of the Appalachian mountains, formed over 300 million years ago when the continent of Pangea was formed. Even in the very southern foothills the landscape is dramatic. We veer off west from Loch Lomond and after following many twists and turns on the narrow road, we stop for photos at a bend in the road that boasts dramatic views looking back the way we’ve come. Or would if it weren’t raining with a thick layer of fog!! Still, we managed to get a couple of shots through the mist. “Atmospheric” laughs Maureen.

Misty views.

Misty views.

After the photos, Glenn and Maureen take us to the village of Lochgoilhead, situated, strangely enough at the head of Loch Goil.  They had fancied a cottage there once and considered it as a retirement destination.  Looking over the calm water with the boats bobbing on the waves, and the misty hills and small buildings dotting the edges of the loch, we can see why they like it.  Beautiful and peaceful.

Loch Goil

Loch Goil

Village of Loghgoilhead

View from Lochgoilhead

Anyone who knows us knows that sampling good beers and ales is a favorite pastime of ours, and the UK is one of our favorite places to indulge in our passion! We’ve had many good English brews and now came a chance to sample some of Scotland’s finest. The Fyne Ales tap room is just a short hop from Lochgoilhead so we stop ff for a short visit. A farm brewery founded in 2001 to help bring commerce to the area, Fyne Ales brews about a dozen year-round beers, plus varying seasonal offerings. On tap this day is a range of styles ranging from a session blonde (Jarl) to a spiced latte stout (Basic). We try a sample of five, with our favorite being the Highlander, a Scottish amber.   The brewery sits in the Argyll valley at the head of Loch Fyne surrounded by misty hills and we can’t help but stop to admire the view before piling back into the car.

Taps at Fyne Ale Tap House

Our sampler

Dramatic views from the brewery

House at Fyne Ales

Glenn and Mike admiring the view

The next stop is the lovely town of Inverary on the western shore of Loch Fyne. Strolling up the main road, we duck into a few shops, including one where Mike tries on a flat cap for grins, only to learn that he actually looks great in it! Can’t convince him to buy it though…. We hadn’t planned to eat yet, but it’s after noon by now and the day has been chilly and damp. The Hotel George, right on the main street in town, boasts a fisherman’s stew that we decide we just can’t pass up. Thick and tasty, full of smoked fish and seafood, it warms us up and gives us just what we need to continue on our way.

Strolling the main road in Inverary

Mike, Glenn and Maureen at Inverary

Mike goes Peaky Blinder!

Main road of Inverary

Fisherman’s Stew at the Hotel George, Inverary

The views of the loch from the edge of the village are simply stunning.  Fishing boats glide across the still water, framed by the hills in the background.  If it weren’t so chilly, we could stay here for hours!

Loch Fyne

Fishing boat on Loch Fyne, Inverary

Loch Fyne

Loch Fyne

Continuing our journey we head north and find ourselves truly in the foothills of the highlands. Conversation in the car drops off as we listen to music and watch the landscape going by. We know this is only a peek at what Scotland has to offer in terms of natural beauty and we know that taking a trip to explore the rest of the highlands and the islands of Scotland is high on our list. For now, we are enjoying what we are seeing and looking forward to the last stop of the day which will involve late lunch/early dinner at the Drovers Inn in Inverarnan, just above the tip of Loch Lomond. The Inn dates to 1705 and, while it has changed ownership many times over the years, it looks like it is little changed since the early 18^th Century!   We get a table near the bar and next to the fire.   The eclectic décor is further enhanced by cobwebs strewn about in honor of Halloween.   We order three pints of Guinness and peruse the menu. Standard pub fare – Steak & Guinness Pie, Hunters Chicken, Venison Casserole, and, of course, Scotland’s national dish, Haggis, Neeps and Tatties.

Haggis is one of those things that, if you’ve never had it, and only read about it, sounds like something you never want to eat. But everyone who tries it seems to love it and those who grew up on it swear there is nothing better.  We had determined to try it before we even got to Scotland, so we ordered the appetizer portion, which turned out to be a hearty helping. Haggis traditionally comes with Neeps (Swedes/Rutabagas) and Tatties (mashed potatoes) and ours is no exception. The fisherman’s stew from earlier is long gone, and quite hungry again, we dig in. And the haggis is delicious. For all you naysayers, try it before you bash it! The only problem is that by the time we’re finished, we’re already full and we still have our entrees to eat! The rest of the food is delicious, however, and we manage to consume it all.

The Drovers Inn

The view up the road

The Drovers Inn

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties!

The day ends with a group of tired but happy campers on a quiet drive back to Glasgow.  (Maureen has taken the wheel now so that Glenn could enjoy that pint of Guinness at the Drovers Inn.)  What an amazing day with wonderful friends,  and our trip is only just begun. We have a few more days of sightseeing in Glasgow and Edinburgh before the Grand Tour begins.   So much to look forward to!

Monday, October 20, 2019

It’s raining in London as our train pulls out of Euston station at the start of a five-hour journey to Glasgow, Scotland.   Happily ensconced in the quiet car, watching the suburbs of London sail past.

Our flight to London was uneventful. We do love the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Smooth even when it hits bumps along the way. Our arrival in London was a little more exciting.   Our usual routine is to take the London Express from Heathrow to Paddington Station where we enjoy an English bitter at the Mad Bishop and Bear. We knew the Express wasn’t running, but planned to take the TFL (Transport for London) instead only to be told that it wasn’t running either and that the only option was to take the Underground. The Piccadilly Line would take us to Piccadilly Circus where we could switch to the Bakerloo line to Paddington. Our mistake became clear within minutes. The train was excessively overcrowded and within a few stops we couldn’t even see each other! We each had visions of one of us getting off and the other getting stuck on the train. By the time we got to Piccadilly and saw that the connecting trains were just as crowded we decided to bail and grab a taxi or an Uber. We exited the station right into…… the massive anti Brexit demonstrations being held in downtown London!   Even as we were stood there, Boris Johnson was holding forth in a special session of Parliament while what was later reported to be a million people strong protested in favor of a new referendum.   EU flags and “Bollocks to Brexit” stickers were everywhere. If we hadn’t just come from an all-night flight, carrying all of our luggage with us, we might have been tempted to join in.

As it was, we walked away from the crowds and found a quiet street. Tried hailing an Uber but with the crowds, none could make it to where we were. Finally, we just decided to walk to our hotel about 2 miles away. We rolled our suitcases through the crowds and along busy streets until, after a mile, we found the Museum Tavern (across from the British Museum) where we found the lovely Bitter ale we’d been anticipating as well as a meal in the form of a wild mushroom and ale pie (Carol) and a chicken and mushroom pie (Mike.) It was good to be back in London! Reinforced and reinvigorated, we made it the rest of the way to our hotel, the Premier St. Pancras, just across from the British Library.

Pies and cask ale for lunch. Happy Campers.

St. Pancras Station and Hotel

British Library

We spent the rest of the weekend catching up from jet lag and exploring the immediate area. The St. Pancras district of London is named for a Roman era Christian martyr to whom two local churches are dedicated. The Old Church and the New Church. Carol being unable to pass up a Saxon era Church, we spent part of the morning exploring the grounds of the old church. It’s not clear just how old the church is, but it is considered to be one of the oldest centers of Christian worship in England, with some saying that a church has existed on the spot since the 4^th Century. We explored the churchyard which remains a serene and quiet spot in the middle of busy London. Imagining how it must have been when this was still the site of a little country church. An interesting sight in the yard is the “Thomas Hardy Tree.” In the early 1860s, as London expanded, the need for an expanded rail system came with it. The new rail line (which still exists) cut right through the old churchyard. The writer Thomas Hardy, a young man at the time, was given the job of helping to relocate grave sites that were in the way of the rail expansion. Left with numerous gravestones, he laid them around an ash tree that still stands.

Old St. Pancras Church

Thomas Hardy Tree

We followed our visit to the church with a stroll along the Regent’s Canal. Built in the early 19^th century to link up the Grand Junction Canal with the Thames, it is now used mostly for pleasure cruising. Another peaceful and quiet escape in the middle of the city, it took us to the Coal Drops Yard, one of two London coal drops built in the early 19^th century to drop coal brought down from Yorkshire. Now converted to retail we enjoyed a quiet lunch before heading back to our hotel.

Walking along the Regent’s Canal

The weekend in London allowed us to recover from the flight, get somewhat adjusted to the local time, and to begin the rest of our adventure.  The train is now speeding through northern England on its way to Scotland.  The countryside is beyond picture-book beautiful.  And we can’t wait to see what happens next!

View from the Train

It’s a Saturday late in August and we’re listening to Mark St. John’s weekly progressive rock show on the Voice of Peace.  Mark dedicates a track  from Big Big Train’s recent live release, Merchants of Light, to us, and really, to the whole BBT family who gathered in Germany last month and instantly we are transported back to a certain Biergarten overlooking the Rhine.  And it’s time for the final blog post from our trip.

Last year we went to London to see Big Big Train play live at Cadogan Hall.  We posted about that amazing experience;  not just of the music, but of the memorable gathering of passengers, culminating in an unforgettable night at the Antelope pub with friends who instantly felt like family.  Our decision to travel to Germany less than a year later to see Big Big Train play was driven, in large part, by the thought of connecting again with this wonderful group.  (Oh, and yes, to see our favorite band’s mainland Europe debut and to bask in their wonderful music!)

As we planned the trip, and as we got closer and closer to Sankt Goar, we looked forward to seeing everyone but wondered in the back of our minds if we could ever reproduce the experience of the weekend at Cadogan Hall and the Antelope.   We knew it would be good to see everyone, but we just didn’t think that the magic of that night could possibly be reproduced.  We tempered our expectations and said we’d be happy with whatever unfolded.

What we discovered is that memories can’t be reproduced, but new ones can be just as magical and memorable.

Arriving in Sankt Goar ahead of most of the group our job was to scout out a gathering spot for everyone as they arrived from different directions.  That was easy.  The Bistro Café Sankt Goar, with our favorite server, Susan, fit the bill nicely with its outdoor seating and plenty of space.   We parked ourselves late afternoon and waited….. wondering how many would actually show up.   We needn’t have wondered.   As late afternoon shifted into early evening the  chairs and the tables around us filled up with friends old and new.  Some we’d met in London, some we knew only on Facebook.  The ten months since our night at the Antelope disappeared and we were immersed in the warm glow of friends with a shared love of music, beauty, adventure, and humor.  Over German lager and bratwurst the group talked and laughed.  Told stories and shared memories.  We toasted friends who hadn’t been able to make the trip and made sure they were with us in spirit.   The sun sets late in Germany in the summer.  We barely noticed it going down and before long it was midnight and the restaurant was getting ready to close.  Folks headed off towards their respective hotels and Airbnb rentals and we had one last pint of beer with Scottish friends Glenn and Maureen before finally calling it a night.   A quick plan was made to meet for breakfast and thus launched the beginning of a most unforgettable weekend.

Dinner at Café Sankt Goar  — With Mark, Spike, Astrid, Graham, Geoff, Tobbe, Marie, Glenn, Maureen, Graham, Peter, Andreas, Buster, Barrie, Irene, Jo, Rich, and Michael)

Photo by Spike Worsley

Of course we didn’t fly all the way to Europe just to eat, drink and make merry.  The purpose for the gathering was the Night of the Prog Festival featuring three days of music from a wide range of progressive rock bands.  Most significantly for us was that Big Big Train was going to be one of the two co-headliners on Friday night.  This was a big moment for the band.

Big Big Train is mostly a studio band and they rarely play live.  A devoted following of Passengers easily filled the small music halls in London when the band did play in 2015 and 2017.  Coming to the European mainland and playing before a crowd of thousands was going to be a whole new experience.  We wondered how the crowd would react, and how it would all work in a large outdoor venue.

Friday was the big day.  We woke to the sun shining over the Rhine and gathered with our friends at Café und Bäcker St. Goar, a small sidewalk cafe and bakery that serves coffee and light breakfast.  (Communication for the weekend was facilitated by use of WhatsApp.  Whatever did we do before the internet?)   Having had breakfast at our hotel, we ordered lattes, while others ate breakfast, and then we all boarded the ferry to the village of Sankt Goarshausen on the opposite bank of the Rhine.  Our friend Mark, who was camping at the festival site, met us and led us to Cafe Rheingold where we had a round of pre-festival German lagers and eagerly awaited the day ahead.  Finally, it was time to head up to the top of the Loreley rock to what would be our home for the day – the Loreley Amphitheater.

Built by the Nazis before World War II, the Amphitheater was initially used for education and propaganda purposes.  Over the years it was used for theatrical productions and then in the 1960s became a popular venue for rock concerts.  The venue is situated near the top of the rock and has some truly stunning views of the Rhine.

Arriving at the festival.

Big Big Train wasn’t scheduled to go on until 10pm, but determined to have great seats, we made our way to row 5, where friends were saving spots for us.  Arriving in time for the 2:00 pm start we sat through a succession of mostly progressive metal bands – Deafening Opera (Germany), Retrospective (

Poland), Antimatter (England), Threshold (England) as well as the other co-headliner Riverside (Poland).   Prog metal is not really our cup of tea but we were determined to get our money’s worth out of our tickets and were hanging out with great friends.   Again, we wondered about the atmosphere of this open-air venue, with its gaudy lighting and smoke generators.  Surely they’ll tone it down for Big Big Train, right?  We’re used to seeing them in a posh theater, with pristine sound and simple lighting that doesn’t distract from the music, with a polite, respectful audience.

It’s unusually hot for Germany this weekend and there is no shade over the amphitheater seating.  The stone benches are uncomfortable, even when sitting on the inflatable cushions that we brought.  But we are enjoying ourselves.  Afternoon turns into early evening.  We leave our seats long enough to grab a bite to eat and to meet the band during their pre-scheduled signing session.

The gang. Photo by Tobbe Janson

Photo by Rod Moor-Bardell

Photo by Graham Smith.

By time Riverside finishes at 9:30 pm, we’re exhausted.  But the sun is setting and Big Big Train is next!  The band takes the stage and we are re-energized.  They open with one of our favorites, “The First Rebreather.”   The entire crowd is standing and at the end of the song the crowd of 2000+ erupts in cheers and applause.  Not only does the lighting and smoke work, the band uses it to maximum effect to accentuate the music and illustrate the stories that are at the center of their music.  The crowd is standing, dancing, clapping, singing along and we know that something very big is happening in the evolution of this amazing group of musicians.  By the time they leave the stage, shortly after midnight (and about 15 minutes past their scheduled ending time), Big Big Train has clearly made hundreds of new fans, and have proven they can adapt to a festival environment.   Full of emotion, we head back to the buses that are standing by to take the crowds back to Sankt Goarshausen and the ferry.  The joy of the moment only tempered by the fact that we have to bid adieu (adjö?) to Tobbe and his wife Marie, who are flying back to Sweden in the morning.

If Friday was about the music, Saturday was about friendship.

Morning came early.  We hadn’t gotten back to our hotel until almost 2 and then couldn’t get to sleep.  On just a few hours of sleep we returned to our Friday morning routine of coffee at Café und Bäcker Sankt Goar, and beer across the river at Café Rheingold.  Everyone talked about what a brilliant show BBT put on the night before.  We found we weren’t the only ones not being able to sleep until very early in the morning due to being so buzzed by the music.

Lingering a bit too long over our lagers, we arrived at the amphitheater during the end of the set by a young German band called Smalltape.  We all wished we could have heard more of them and they turned out to be a surprise favorite of the reviewers.  Next up was Rikard Sjöblom’s Gungfly.  Rikard was a member of Beardfish before being recruited by BBT as guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist.  Gungfly is the band Rikard assembled to record and perform his solo compositions.

After Rikard’s energetic performance, we decided it was time to get out of the intense sun and head over to the Biergarten, just behind the stage and overlooking the Rhine Gorge.  We don’t remember now if we were the first to gather, or if we joined others of our friends sitting there. We don’t remember who was the first to say “I feel like I saw the music I came to see.  This is nice just sitting here with you all.” But it was a sentiment we all found that we shared.  Eventually there were 10 or 12 of us sharing a shady table  next to a small stone wall overlooking the Rhine.  “Lunchtime” turned into an entire day and evening sitting there drinking beer, eating rotisserie chicken and chips, and admiring what has to be one of the most beautiful views we have ever seen.

That table became our “Antelope south” and our Mead Hall on the Rhine (see https://wordpress.com/post/joyfulsurprise.com/2310).  The beer flowed freely as we got reacquainted with our friends from The Antelope and got to know our new friends.  Rikard Sjöblom stopped by to chat for a few minutes.  We had no expectations of recreating the comradery of Sunday night at The Antelope, but it happened.  We talked about music, politics, travel and farts, followed Tobbe and Marie’s journey home via Facebook and WhatsApp and started making plans for the next gathering, during BBT’s 2019 UK tour.

“Set a Course for the Stars.” Photo by Michael Heller

‘Mead Hall on the Rhine” Photo by Mark Stanton

The view from the Biergarten

We could hear the music from where we sat and occasionally folks would pop out to see a band they were interested in, and then come back to our shady spot when the heat became too much.  The remaining bands were Wobble (Norway), Long Distance Calling (Germany), Mystery (Canada), the Sea Within (various countries) and Saturday’s headliner, Camel (England).

We watched the sun set over the river and the fields beyond and then somewhat reluctantly left the Biergarten to see the Saturday night headliner, Camel, the only “old school” band playing the festival.  They released their first album in 1973.  Considering guitarist/flautist Andy Latimer’s age and various health issues, there may be few opportunities to see Camel live again.   Mike had known of Camel but never really got into them. But they ended up being his second favorite performance of the weekend.  One of the highlights of the current configuration of Camel is the immensely talented multi-instrumentalist Peter Jones, who we saw perform in London last year the afternoon before BBT’s Saturday concert.

At the close of this performance, we again headed to the shuttle buses and, again, had to say a sad farewell to departing friends, this time Spike and Mark.

Camel playing the last set of the night.

The festival was three days, and we had tickets for the entire weekend.  But given the heat, our lack of sleep and too much festival food (we never need to eat curry wurst again) we decided to forego the festival on Sunday to relax and do our own thing.  We met up, as usual for breakfast and coffee at our favorite sidewalk establishment and discussed options for the day.  Glenn, Maureen, Michael and Graham, having hear us rave about our riverboat trip, decided on a paddlewheel boat trip up the Rhine.  We meandered back towards the dock, stopping along the way for a beer in the village center where they were holding their annual Schützenfest (target shooting festival).  Men and women in uniforms and traditional dress milled about while we were all entertained by a brass and woodwind band playing Beatles songs.

Schützenfest

Michael, Graham, Glenn & Maureen boarding their boat.

Paddleboat taking our friends up the Rhine.

While our friends took to the river, we spent our last day in Sankt Goar relaxing and exploring more of the village. We found ourselves in the early afternoon seated at the Bistro Café Sankt Goar (being waited on by our favorite server, Susan), watching the Rhine flow by and reflecting on our experiences over the past several days.  Between the beauty of the countryside, the amazing music and the fellowship of our companions, we agreed that this trip was certainly one of our most memorable.

Sunday night found us once more gathered for a meal with those of us who were still in town.  Glenn & Maureen (Scotland), Barrie & Irene (Canada), Graham (UK) and Michael (US) joined us at Restaurant Zür Loreley for what turned out to be one of the better meals we had in Germany.  Over bottles of Rhine valley red wine and outstanding food, we laughed, reminisced, told jokes, toasted missing friends and continued making plans for next year.   Big Big Train is planning a UK tour in late October of 2019.  Of course we want to hear the band again, but as much as anything, the lure for us is to connect again with our merry band of wayward Passengers.

Final dinner together.

“Beauty and Music and Friendship and Love….You will find us….The best of what we are”

From “A Mead Hall in Winter” by Big Big Train

Note:  All photos by Carol Rogers or Mike Martin unless otherwise noted.  If we’ve given a wrong credit, please do forgive our poor memory.  And let us know so we can correct it.  

The Rhine begins its 1200 kilometer (900 mile) journey high in the Swiss Alps, flowing through six countries before emptying into the North Sea at Rotterdam in the Netherlands.  Discharging an average of 2300 cubic meters of water per second (or 90 million gallons per day) the Rhine has served for thousands of years as a major transportation route, moving people and goods across the continent.  Strategic control of the river dominated the history of the Rhine valley.  Today the medieval castles erected to extract tolls and control the flow of goods still adorn the landscape.  This is particularly true in the Rhine Gorge, a 360 kilometer stretch of the Upper Rhine region that winds through Germany.  Formed by the river as it carved its way through ancient sedimentary rock during a geologic uplift, the gorge contains the river between high walls averaging 120 meters (390 feet) high. Terraced vineyards grace the steep slopes and are a testament to viticulture that has been going on in this since Roman times.

Mid way along the Gorge, about 160 Kilometers south of Cologne, is the Lorelei Rock, a 130-meter-tall mass of granite that extends out into the Rhine forming a sharp bend in the river’s course.  Eddies and reefs at this narrow stretch have long made this a treacherous area which, in the days before modern navigation,  saw frequent shipwrecks.  The legend of the Lorelei, the beautiful siren luring men to their deaths, grew up around the rock and gave it the name it carries today.   Our own journey sailing past the rock was calm and peaceful and the only siren call we heard was that of the friends and music that had drawn us here in the first place.

Our travels had started late Wednesday morning at the Cologne train station, with a final destination of Sankt Goar, just downstream from Lorelei.  Although Sankt Goar is just an hour south from Cologne by train, our plan was to pass through the village and continue  another 54 Kilometers to Bingen where we could catch a boat and travel back to Sankt Goar by river.  Anxious to be on our way, we arrived at Cologne central station earlier than necessary, and waited on the platform, watching travelers as they boarded trains headed in all directions across Europe.  Eventually our train pulled in and we settled in for the hour and half ride south to Bingen.

Cologne Central Station

Cologne Central Station

The train followed the general path of the Rhine, passing through cities, towns and villages with names we knew and names we didn’t.  Bonn, Koblenz, Oeberwesel, Bacharach……  We sped through Sankt Goar and arrived at Bingen by early afternoon. The station was located just outside of town.  After a few minutes of figuring out which way to go, we pulled our roller bags along the streets and sidewalks until we found the embarkment point for the local river boats.  The Köln-Dusseldorfer company runs a small cruise boat along the Upper Middle Rhine allowing passengers to get on and off at towns along the way.  We bought our tickets at a kiosk by the landing dock just as one of the boats was preparing to leave.  The boatmen frantically hurried us on and we settled in for our hour-long journey down the river.  The boat was filled with tourists from all over the world, including a large tour group from China. Everyone was relaxed and enjoying themselves.  A bar provided drinks and snacks for the trip. We found a table with an excellent view, ordered a bottle of beer and small carafe of local wine, and sat back to enjoy the ride.  The overcast skies began to clear and we sat entranced while vineyards, castles and story-book towns passed us by like one big scene from a fairy tale.

Koln-Dusseldorf boat

Along the Rhine

Castles along the Rhine

Vineyards

Vineyard and castle

Town along the Rhine

Town along the Rhine

Town and castle

We rounded the Lorelei rock, catching a glimpse of the music amphitheater situated on top, and then arrived just around the next bend into the village of Sankt Goar.   A quaint, picture-perfect village, St. Goar is nestled between the river and the high cliffs on the left bank of the Rhine.  With a population of just under 3,000 the main industry today is wine and tourism.  Three castles, all originally constructed as a means of local control over river traffic, can be viewed from the town – two on the opposite bank, Burg Katz and Burg Maus (aka the “Cat and the Mouse”) and Burg Rheinfels on the Sankt Goar side just north of the village.  The village is named for St. Goar of Aquitaine, a monk and hermit of noble birth who came to the Rhine valley in the 6th century and lived as a missionary in the settlement where Sankt Goar now stands.

Street in Sankt Goar

Church

Arriving in Sankt Goar

Sankt Goar

Sankt Goar

Street in Sankt Goar

Sankt Goar

Having arrived a day ahead of the group gathering for the music festival, we immediately set to exploring the town and environs.  (One task was to find a meeting place for dinner as everyone convened on Thursday).  The village consists of two main streets with cafés, restaurants, bars and shops.  Our hotel,  the delightful Hotel an der Fahre, was situated conveniently next to the river, right by the ferry landing (an important consideration as the music venue was on the other side of the river.)  We had a lovely room looking right out onto the Rhine and across to Sankt Goarshausen, St. Goar’s sister village on the other side.  After a short stroll from our hotel we found the Bistro-Café Goar, a pleasant sidewalk café where we had a tasty lunch and which we quickly determined was the best bet for a large group gathering.  Our server was a slightly edgy but charming young German woman named Susan who would come to take very good care of us and our crowd over the next 4 to 5 days.

After lunch we explored the town and found the touristy but fun Stefan’s Wine and Christmas shop.  We stepped inside and found ourselves surrounded by wine on one side of the shop and traditional German cuckoo clocks on the other. Stefan himself appeared after a few minutes and offered us a sample of his peach brandy.  A full wine tasting followed, with some very good dry Rieslings and several of his flavored brandies.  We did buy some wine, but passed on getting a cuckoo clock.

Our Room at the Hotel An Der Fahre

Happy man

Mike at the Bistro

Ferry

Stefan from Stefan’s Wine and Christmas shop

Thursday morning (after dropping off a weeks’ worth of laundry) we hiked up the hill on the north side of town to Burg (Castle) Rheinfels.   Built in 1245 originally to control river traffic and ensure payment of tolls, it was expanded over the centuries until it became the largest fortress along the middle Rhine.  It was eventually destroyed by the French Revolutionary Army in 1797.  Now in private hands, part of the structure has been restored and converted into a high end hotel.  The rest of the castle ruins are open to the public to explore, which, of course, we did.   The views were spectacular and the ruins themselves impressive.  High towering walls and winding tunnels surviving today reflect only about half of what was once there.  They’ve done an excellent job of maintaining the ruins with good signage and interpretation.  They have even restored the interior of the chapel to show how it would have looked in its day, and it now houses the castle museum.

After taking in the stunning views from the castle tower, Mike was pleased to locate the medieval brewery, although, of course, no beer has been brewed there in centuries.  To compensate, we found the hotel restaurant and enjoyed some more of the local wine on the terrace overlooking the magnificent  Rhine.

Medieval brewery

Mike in the brewery

As we sat, we reflected on the wonderful travels we had experienced already on our trip, and on how the best was yet to come.  In a few hours, friends from all over the world —  Canada, England, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, Holland — would begin to converge in this little valley to attend the Night of the Prog music festival at the Lorelei Amphitheatre.  For most of us the highlight would be seeing Big Big Train make their mainland Europe debut in front of thousands of new fans.   We looked forward to seeing some of our friends that we’d met in London last year, and those we’d only connected with on Facebook as well as others we had yet to know of at all! And we lamented friends we knew couldn’t make it,  but whom we knew would be there in spirit.

On that note, we finished our drinks, took a last look at the river and the town, and started back down the hill.

Lorelei