These are pictures we took in Bacharach, the heart of Germany's
gorgeous Rhine Valley ("Rhein" in German) and an important wine-producing
region.  We spent two nights there enjoying the site of the river (fast moving,
and really churning at the banks), hiking up the hillside to the old castle
(now a youth hostel and full of camped-out teenagers), and enjoying good
schnitzel and sauerkraut.

But Bacharach had some surprises too:

Halfway between the castle and the riverside town stood the stone walls of a
small cathedral, the Gothic Wernerkapelle, partially constructed 700 years ago
but never finished.  The windows sills were ready for glass, the walls were
solid, but it was open to the sky, and the floor was nothing more than packed
earth.  Imagine the quality of the workmanship that a project left unfinished,
can remain standing since 1287 without damage or degradation [1].  

Bacharach was built up on the silt flats along a bend of the river, a testament
to a world in which rivers were the principal highways for transport and
commerce.  Judging by the number of barges we saw navigating the river, to some
degree, they still are.   

Postscript: 2013 Turns out, we weren't the only ones who found Bacharach
mesmerizing.  Imagine our surprise when we were shopping for a jigsaw puzzle,
and found this one sold by Ravensburger.  Of course, we had to choose it! (It
was a darned hard puzzle, too: all that foliage was a nightmare to put
together).


[1]  Turns out, the fact that it's still standing is culturally important.  The
death of Werner, ostensibly by Jews, led to a violent pogrom against
Bacharach's Jews.  The church remains as a testament to the importance of
living peacefully together.