Opinion: Attractions of the Rhineland (Day 2/5)

Day Two

I awoke at 6 am. The sun was lovely, shing through the windows, as the bells in the local church rang as they had on the hour all night. I got dressed in clean clothes, finally managed to shake my roommate awake and then took my camera and walked down to explore the hotel, looking in other people's rooms and also inside the quad, which had a lovely set of gardens.

Breakfast consisted mainly of terrible German cereals or a round of toast. We assembled our "packed lunches", which consisted of a sandwhich, a German apple-juice carton and a little biscuit. Then we set off, to a large castle on a steep hill, whose name I really cannot remember. (ed: Marksburg Castle). It had a lot of interesting architecture from many different periods, with all sorts of brickwork and cobbling as well as room designs lasting over two thousand years, when it was a safeguard against the Roman advance into Germania. The guide was a woman in leather, that couldn't quite pronounce her vs. (Those over there are the winyards!)

After that we went to the chairlift in the local town in Boppard, which was a bit like a ski-lift except that you certainly would not want to be falling from it. On the way up the views I met another boy, who was sharing a room with some of my other friends. Wishing to avoid another night of snoring, I offered a swap, and there the deed was done. At the top of this cliff there was a lovely natural park and the edge had remarkable views of the Rhine valley. There we ate our lunch and met a stray dog.

At the bottom of the mountain we went into the town on one of those train thingymajigs, and we were immersed in the culture. What my budgeting self found particularly enjoyable was a shop I've mentioned before, called Pennymarkt, which was like Lidl, but so much more inviting due to our low budgets. I didn't find any souvenoirs here though.

Heading back to the coach, we drove to a bowling alley. The bowling was, well, exactly the same as bowling here in Britain. As a great man once said, "Bowling is Bowling." When we got back, the evening meal was chickpea soup, a wonderful spaghetti bolognaise and some sort of strawberry mousse. At the bequest of some of the more footbally footballers, we walked to a football field where they played football and I played on the Gameboy Advance. (I know, right?)

Then, I realised the horror of my earlier choice to swap. This parter was perhaps one of the most increasingly annoying people I had ever met. While I was trying to sleep, he was watching football and speaking to his friends on loudspeaker. It was enough to disturb my sleep accidentally - but when it was conscious, something had to be done. But not tonight. Tonight I had to sleep.

Thanks.