Bacharach

Thanks to Rick Steves, who we affectionately referred to on the trip as "The Rick", we learned about Bacharach, Germany. A quiet, tiny town along the Rhine. In this region they make some of the best wine, where we started to enjoy true wine in the land where it is cheaper than a coke. For the rest of our trip, we would pay what amounted to $2/glass for the smoothest, most delicious wine I have ever had. And, I generally don't like wine. But, I will rephrase that from now on - I don't like American wine, European wine, mmmmm.
Here's the town. The Castle you see in the upper right hand corner on the hill is the hostel where we stayed.

We climbed up the hill for 15 min. in the rain to reach our hostel. Before we left David Wallace gave us pack covers, and they came in handy! Our bags were completely dry upon arrival, while our pants and feet were dripping wet!
We were rewarded with this view from a stopping point on our hike up. You can see the rainbow God provided over the Rhine. Throughout our trip we would constantly be sent little gifts from God like this.Our room, which I shared with 7 guys (including Phil). They were the nicest guys, VERY considerate, and not one snorer! That's me on the top bunk, crashing after the hike up. The view of our castle at night. We enjoyed quintessential German food during our stay - red cabbage, Bacharach wine, spaetzle, and cream of asparagus soup. Loved, loved, loved this place. A definite stop for anyone backpacking. The trip from Amsterdam to Munich would have been way too long on a straight shot, so we stopped here to break up our trip for the night. We plan on returning one day....