Day on the Rhine

Despite dreadful weather the past few days (rain, sleet, snow, wind), we went on a trip on the Rhine today. We took a boat trip part of the way, then continued by train. We also stopped to tour two castles. The first, Die Pfalz, is in the middle of the Rhine. It was a toll booth, basically, with a dreadful dungeon for those who failed to pay the tolls. It dates from the 14th century.

After a very cold and blustery tour, we stopped for a well-deserved treat.
Then it was on to Marksburg, a castle above the town of Braubach. Marksburg is the only castle along this stretch of the Rhine that has never been sacked, so there's lots to see and the tour is fun. By this time of the day, the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful day, though still quite cold.
This is one of the rooms in the castle.
After that, we had to stop AGAIN for hot drinks and cake.

We are in the Easter holidays in Germany. Most public schools are closed for the next two weeks. All of the stores (including grocery stores) closed for Good Friday as well as for Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. It is nice knowing you don't even have to think about running any errands!