Clockwise, from
far left: Viking
Mani sails along
the picturesque
Rhine; vineyards
and castles are a
common feature
in the hilly Middle
Rhine area
H
istory rarely repeats
itself on the Rhine.
Every town, every
castle, and just about
every rock has its own story to tell.
It's a river blessed with fairytale
castles, vineyard-strewn hills, deep
forests and picture-book towns.
One that the Romans defined as the
edge of their empire. One where
the Prussians built an innovative
pontoon bridge to stop Napoleon's
advancing army. And one where,
despite Hitler's best efforts, US
troops found a bridge still standing
at Remagen, allowing Allied forces
to enter the heart of Europe.
Old Father Rhine, as the
Germans fondly call it, is Europe's
busiest river, although there is
little sense of this on a sunny day,
drifting slowly past mile after mile
of steep vineyards guarded by
craggy castles and the occassional
sleepy town basking on its banks.
Although the Rhine is generally
associated with Germany, the river
flows through or along the border
of several other countries, including
Austria, Lichtenstein, France and
the Netherlands. e river rises
in the Swiss Alps, making its way
through the great expanse of Lake
Constance, emerging at one end to
cascade 21 metres over the foaming
Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen.
Beyond Basel, the Rhine is
navigable for river cruise vessels,
which sail all the way between here
and Amsterdam. e most famous
(and most beautiful) stretch is the
Romantic Rhine, or the Middle
Rhine, where the river forces
its way through a series of steep
gorges, crossing the hilly heart of
Germany's wine-growing country.
Beyond the city of Bonn,
the landscape flattens out into
what has become the country's
industrial heartland, the now
broad and powerful river flowing
through cities such as Cologne and
Düsseldorf before splitting into
several arms in the Netherlands
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