It has been an idyllic summer’s day on the River Lahn. We are tied up in the middle of nowhere in a wooded valley by a sharp turn of the River. Everywhere we look we see wooded slopes. A few swans sidle by to have a look. Bees are buzzing and there is a general feeling of indolence in the air. Its not too hot (like last week) but hot enough to search out a bit of shade in the middle of the day. It is quiet with only an occasional canoe passing by.
The Lahn is a quiet slow moving river, a tributary of the mighty Rhine that is navigable for 65 km from the Rhine to the gorgeous town of Limburg. But first we had to get to the Rhine from Frankfurt.
We left Frankfurt on Monday morning and by lunchtime we had joined the Rhine at Mainz. The current was very feeble, just 2 km/h and we made steady progress down river for a couple of hours until we arrived at Rudesheim. Within the space of 400m the current surged from 2 km/h to 9 km/h and we were hurled into the start of the Rhine Gorge. There were castles to the left of us, castles to the right of us, and a boiling, swirling torrent beneath us. We couldn’t take on the vista to start with us as there were many boats to steer past, some on the right of us and some on the left. Some going up and some going down.
We passed by vineyards perched on the steep slopes and always castles and more castles and lots of trip boats weaving their way along the river. The gorge got steeper and steeper and soon we rushed past the famous Pfalz, a castle on an island in the middle of the River.
Then suddenly ahead loomed a huge rock – the Loreley rock. Here the river carves an S bend around this huge rock and the river became a maelstrom with whirlpools, overfalls and a very narrow channel to steer to. The depth plummeted to 15m.
There are signal stations along this part of the river to tell upstream traffic what huge barges are swinging down stream.
The suddenly it seemed to quiet down and the town of St Goar came into view. We swung across the river and headed very slowly back upstream and through the narrow entrance of the harbour and found a place at boat harbour there. Above us was the huge fortress of Rhinefels and the town was a mere 300m away.
The next day we climbed up to the fortress and admired the great view from the top.
Then we wandered down through the woods to the lovely old town and caught a ferry across to St Goarhausen on the other side. 
But things went downhill from then as the harbour master and some of the visiting boats held an all night party right next to our boat and none of us could sleep. We were not impressed!
So we left rather tired the next day on our way to the River Lahn which enters the Rhine just above Koblenz, where the Mosel River also enters.
What a contrast the River Lahn was, as there is no commercial traffic and the locks are only 4om long. It is very popular with canoeists who travel downstream all day an are then picked up and taken back to their cars upstream. There are a few rather unusual hire boats as well.
We stopped for the night at a lovely old walled town called Dasenau and had a drink at the Old Wirthaus or inn that was hundreds of years old. Next day we headed upstream and arrived at Limburg. This incredible ancient town was where Tracy had to leave us. It has a most beautiful cathedral which was right next to our moorings. These are two views of the cathedral in the evening and the next morning.
We walked Tracy to the railway station the next morning and then started our trip back downstream and stopped at the most beautiful halt on the whole river at Hollerich. We had planned to stay for just one night but we have extended that to two nights.
Tomorrow we carry on down the Lahn before entering the Rhine again and then continue for another 300km on the Rhine until we reach Holland later this week.
