Another early start - eased by the cheery thought of a tour together with our Marburg friends. Bus departure 7:00 am - German time.
No worries, most of us proceeded to catch up on some sleep on the bus headed south bathed in liquid sunshine. Too easy, decided our ever vigilant tour guide, Michele, who had other ideas: a compulsory game that saw pencils, locks, socks and questionably defined "musical items" finding their way up the bus and back to the front in a fiercely contested relay between the ‘winners’ (who lost) and the ‘goodies’. The Mintie prizes (+ consolation prizes) then led to a tear-the-wrapper competition. Unfortunately the length of the tied winning efforts (Jill & Toni) were not recorded for posterity. This wake-up buzz was on Herbie’s bus - not sure if the other bus had games.
Thoroughly awake now we tumbled out ready for - surprise - you guessed it - steps. But the climb seemed easy after Ulm Cathedral - and worth every second. Magnificent view back over the Rhine, and Marksburg castle itself is intact - it’s never been invaded - especially interesting was the kitchen - complete with stone icebox (stocked from the ice cellar where winter ice was kept with layers of hay for summer use), salt box and the fire big enough to smoke a whole ox and with the only chimney that I’ve ever seen that could credibly admit Santa. The long table also had a liftable top: the ‘board’, that was removed in place of clearing. Gave sense to the term ‘bed & board’ etc.
Of course, the armour room and the torture chamber gave great photo opportunities, thanks to Alex with his shield & sword and Anthony who weathered all jokes to try out the neck & hands collar. Our guide was particular in explaining that torture was not a big part of medieval justice - as human life was too valuable, with so many lost to plaque & pestilence.
Even the souvenir shop at this castle had a distinctive range of goods at (mostly) reasonable prices. Definitely our best castle & even spots of sun to prove it. Drove on - castle spotting the order of the day & Michele read us the story of the Lorelei, a legend explaining the loss of life in the treacherous waters in the vicinity of the Lorelei rock. She, and our hosts who explained some other stories associated with features along the river, brought that sense of history and tradition to life.
Onto the boat. To our delight we all sat around tables sharing delicious picnic feasts with our hosts as we joined the river’s very strong current, container-laden barges and a string of picturesque vineyards, castles, monuments, old lawns etc.. Today’s picture was ‘just people’ because it was the friendship that we shared that made this, our last full day in Germany, so special. After the bus trip we had time in the town of Rudesheim - shopping, for most browsing, at this stage is a truer description. Finally, we all met at the Drosselhof for a winetasting with singing and some dancing thrown in.
Beneath our gratitude for the friendships and experience of a day like today, there is still the consciousness that Andrew is not with us and the desperate wish that we could change the way it is. He remains on life support - ‘stable’. It is hard to be leaving him here.
For many of us a wonderful day ended with a barbecue and a really relaxed chance to chat with our Marburg friends as we prepared our outlook for the end of our tour tomorrow.
