Sunday 7th July - Sankt Goar

We woke to grey skies and rain, which was expected but maybe not quite so much!  However it promised to improve so we still planned to go up to the castle by taxi, around midday.  Although it was only a five minute ride, it was, of course, pretty steep - good reason for not walking up!
The view of the valley was fantastic - we could even see our boats in the marina.
Rheinfels Burg (castle) was originally built by the Counts of Katzenelnberg in the 14th century and variously rebuilt in the 16th and 18th centuries and is the largest castle in the Rhine valley.  The remaining part of the castle is now operating as a hotel/restaurant and the ruin adjacent easily doubles its’ size.
We had a walk around and settled on a lovely terrace for some lunch - the menu was very small and simple, but adequate.  We amused ourselves by watching the river traffic manoeuvring - the barges going upstream approaching the bend in the river, having to slow even more (being warned by three triangles) to wait for oncoming barges.  The river is not wide enough for them to turn.
On our return and after a siesta, it was time for the FIFA womens’ Football World Cup - USA v Netherlands and, of course, we have an interest in it!  Henk managed to get it on his Laptop and us on BBC.  For some reason, Henks’ German version was 2 minutes behind the British version - strange we thought!  However the result, of course, was disappointing for us all......never mind, it’s only a game!!  😬😬😬
We had to pay our dues - not to mention to pay for the two cases of wine we bought from a local supplier - as Richard, the harbourmaster, was now off duty and was not going to be around in the morning.  We have all loved the facilities and ambience of this lovely little port (called the Funboat Marina - very apt!) and are a bit sad to leave.  However, we have only one stop now before we arrive in Winningen, where we leave the boat for four weeks and return to England.
A quiet evening and some TV.