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| Gate to Burg Klopp |
We are fast running out of warm weekends to go and explore
the towns around us. I had remember
Bingen as a town that I passed on my way to Mainz from Koblenz and decided I
wanted to know a little more about it.
The first thing I relearned is that traveling with 2 kids and only 1
adult, not really advisable. Although Clark and MJ are older now, they still
will get into mischief and make a lot of noise.
Noise in the US is not nearly as much of a problem as it is here in
Europe. It is not that children should
be seen and not heard, it is more of everyone should be seen and not
heard. There is something about everyone
living in small, close towns (I mean the houses are really close together here)
that inculcates whispering. Something
that really requires 2 parents reminding 2 kids to keep their voices down.
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| Burg Klopp |
Any rate, the trip, we decided to take the train even though
it was 2 hours on the slow moving train, it was beautiful. I love looking at the towns along the way and
seeing the modern houses mixed with the old sometimes in the same
building. Our arrival in Bingen was a
little more confusing than I had expected … forgot the paper that gave me our itinerary
(tour) and came into the wrong train station – on the opposite side of
town. So, the restaurant I had picked
out was no longer 2 blocks away.
Needless to say we found a different spot to eat and did a more spotty
tour.
Missed - Drususbrücke
– one of oldest stone bridges in Germany ( wooden in Roman times, stone 11th
C. (middle ages) rebuilt 1955) in the right bridge pile there is the bridge
chapel, in which travelers for centuries prayed for a safe journey. Der Alte Kran, the old crane which was
used for loading boats in the 15th century. We also didn’t make it to the museums with
exhibitions on instruments of a Roman physician and Hildegard von Bingen. She was one of the most important women
in the Middle Ages.
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| Basilica St. Martin's |
The
items we missed were actually more historical than those we saw, with the exception
of the Basilica. It was first
mentioned in 793 as an abbey. In 883 the Roman
construction was destroyed and newly dedicated in 1220. When fire broke out on
14 August 1403, the church was almost completely destroyed. Three decades later
a new Gothic-style St Martin’s church was finished. It was expanded in 1505. After the bombing in 1944 the vaulted roof
of the main nave and a part of the high altar collapsed. Today you can see some of the art and
treasure from over the years and the original crypt. It is really amazing to witness these
things. From everything I can figure
out it is not possible to tour the Mäuseturm, or ruins of Ehrenfels
castle. Fortunately, it was a wonderful
day to play in the park and tour the town.
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| ruins of Ehrenfels castle |
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| Mäuseturm |
I have to give kudos to Clark for picking the best meal on the
menu today. We are always trying new
dishes. While many of the restaurants
have the same or similar menus, today we came upon a restaurant that had a very
creative and diverse menu. In other
words, we had NO idea what we were ordering. I did figure out that MJ had order a sandwich
with smoked salmon (lach); she took the salmon off the bread and ate it on her
salad – the dressing on the bread was not a 7 year olds favorite flavors. I had an amazing fresh baby spinach salad
that had a smoked ham on it (most likely from the Black Forest). But Clark, he had this awesome pork dish with
fall vegetables in au jus with a side of, to die for, roasted potatoes. Oh, I was so glad when he couldn’t finish
that meal and passed it my way!!! Thank
you Clark!
We wrapped up our day spending the evening with Dad in
Ramstein village at their Oktober fest. Festivals
are outdoor shopping and eating. We
bought MJ a hat that has built in earmuffs and then we got some organic soap
that smelled wonderful (MJ went for the lily of the valley). Instead of fudge it was almond nugget and I
think we might go back tomorrow to buy a sheepskin.
