Wed 6 Aug- castles along the Rhine,Rudesheim

Wed 6 Aug- we got up early to see the castles along the Rhine after a nice buffet breakfast. We sat on the sun deck with a view of both sides and saw many of the castles, up on a high hill overlooking the Rhine, from which they extorted tolls from all the ships that wanted to pass, until they were razed by the French, who apparently tired of the extortion. Many of the castles are restored as restaurants and tourist destinations, but many remain in ruins. The little towns along the Rhine are cute, and about two or three streets deep, with vineyards extending up the hill behind them. We saw a lot of river traffic, coal and other cargo, plus many cruise ships of different companies and nationalities. We had a traditional 'Rhenish Fruhschoppen' (beer drinking and pretzel eating snack before lunch), served with roast suckling pig and accompanied by live music by the keyboard artist while we cruised.
There was a nice buffet lunch, with fried squid rings, green salad, and eclairs with cheese for dessert.
After lunch we arrived in Rudesheim, a fairly big town made famous by the statue of Germania high up on a hill overlooking the Rhine. We took a cable car up, over vinyards and a beautiful view of the Rhine and the town. Then we came down and since it was hot, 29-30 C, and this is Germany, we had a draft beer, which really hit the spot. We walked around town a bit, but it's mostly hotels, beer gardens, wine cellers, hotels and souvenir shops (apparently a common theme of towns along the Rhine and other rivers).
Walking back to the ship, we admired some of the new, state-of-the-art cruise ships, like the 'Avalon Poetry' and 'Avalon Tapestry', and wondered how we'd be able to take a cruise on them, since they are probably conducted in a language other than English. The ship departed at 6 pm for its next port Miltenberg.
For dinner we had another feast, an International dinner, with hors d'ouvres 'baba ghanoush' (Egypt) & spring rolls (China); Borscht soup (Russia); appetizer, fried filet of sea bass (France) & breaded gouda cheese with beans (Holland); dessert semolina pudding (Germany) & balaton ice cream (Hungary), plus wine. Stan tried borscht, and liked it; and tried the vegetarian dish of breaded gouda cheese and quite enjoyed it.
The entertainment was a preview of other Viking cruises and ships. The Russian and Chinese cruise ships are much larger than the Fontane, and newer. The cabins are also larger, with huge windows that open like sliding glass doors.