The Real Estate is a bit... Extravagant.

...Today was a weird day.

So, sleeping in a foreign country is never super easy, you have to adjust to the time blah blah blah jet lag.  The way to get around this is to do a lot of activity stuff so you're nice and tired in time for bed, sort of the same principle as letting an energetic child run around like crazy before bed.  The incorrect way to deal with jet lag is to just not sleep. 

I get it.  I'm weird and like to go to bed early.  I fully expect to stay up later than I'm comfortable with on a trip like this.  But what I do not appreciate is a bunch of people stumbling into the room at three in the morning drunk as skunks, screaming, giggling and all around acting... um... silly. 

So, with that out of the way....  I didn't get much sleep, and 99% of the group (excepting me, I don't drink, and the ex-military guy) were groggy with hangovers this morning, and also sleep deprived.  Huzzah!  Great start to the day, dontcha think? Hope this isn't going to be a daily thing.

Well.  We woke up, very early, and got on the bus.  I don't know much about being hungover or anything, but apparently a stick-shift bus on the autobahn is not the best remedy for it.  We had a person puke, almost everyone was complaining of how nauseous they were... geez.  Poor Bjorn was not impressed.

Admire the vineyard on the hill behind the town!

We came to this tiny little town (can't remember the name) to catch a boat, and we had a few minutes to kill.  So, these genius college students darted into the nearest supermarket, grabbed a bottle of the local wine, and... I don't even know what happened to that.  I was too busy looking for the kinder surprise eggs... and failing.  They only had the neutered kind that doesn't have the toy in the chocolate.  No choking hazard?  Pssh.  No fun.

Don't know what this is but it's pretty.

We got on the boat, and spread out.  I and the person I'm most friendly with seized a spot on the prow next to the most posh British couple I've ever seen.  It was windy and cold, but mostly sunny so while my hair became a mess quickly, it wasn't bad.  The military dude came out to join us after a while, and we discussed the complexities of the english language, followed by the complexities of the german language.

Goats!  Those white splotches under
the rock are mountain goats.

We were on the boat for about two hours, during which we saw vineyards, villages, castles, cargo boats, and a ski-lift thingy.  We also saw- more heard really- a german fighter jet zooming very low overhead.  I'm accustomed to the wilmington fighters, which are much higher and much slower, and also much quieter.  Wow that thing was loud.

We landed in another tiny town of an unpronounceable name after a while, where we followed our trusty guide Bjorn to the place of eating.  It was a light pasta buffet- where the only option was marinara.  Wasn't bad at all, actually.  I refilled my favorite water bottle- the same one I got duped with on day one in Spain- and we were good to go after some eating, water glass music, and sarcastic jokes form the austrian guy.

 Then we went for a walk.

I am a good hiker.  I don't hike as much as I used to, mostly because I live like eight hours from a mountain, but I do consider myself a good hiker.  I am also a very fast hiker.  I know I am.  I practically jog.  Regardless, the nomenclature surrounding this walk was amusing.  The castle we were visiting, like most of the castles in the area, was at the top of a hill.  I wouldn't even call it a mountain.  It's a hill if you can walk up it in twenty minutes.  Fact.

So Bjorn said to us, we're walking up to the castle.  Cool!  Nice stroll through the greenery on a 45 degree incline.  Good for your thighs and glutes. It isn't a hike.  I wouldn't call it a hike, and Bjorn got very puzzled by anyone calling it a hike.  But, the argument went, anything in the woods up a hill is a hike... right?  Silly americans.

 The view was very worth our time though.  As was the castle.  The Marksburg Castle is the only medieval castle remaining on the middle Rhine, as it was oddly never attacked or conquered or anything.  We didn't really discuss why.  Anywho, we joined our tourguide and wandered through the castle. 

Most of it is actually still lived in, by the staff and the head of the group that owns the castle, so most of the rooms are closed off.  The wine cellar, kitchen, one bedroom, dining room and armoury were still in tact though, with mostly original furniture. 

So we finished up and came home, getting held up by 5 trains.  Huzzah.