This post is the continuation of a long delayed series documenting our travels in the Rhine & Moselle Valley of Germany in the summer of 2024. We were now on the second day of our atypical luxurious splurge at the Burghotel Schonburg ( A Magical stay at the Schonburg Castle – Rhine & Moselle Valley, Part 10 ). It was our last day in the Rhine valley which we had enjoyed a lot and we were determined to make the most of the day despite the weather threatening to put a dampener on our sunny disposition.
The weather had turned sour after a remarkable sunny first 7 days & it had started pouring heavily on the previous night accompanied by thunder and lightning. The sheer force of the storm had prevented us from walking around the lit up castle at night and we just enjoyed the lightning show on display from the comfort of our cosy room.
We woke up the next day and peeked out of our windows to find the skies still heavily overcast, but at least it wasn’t raining cats & dogs. Always ones to make the most of the day we freshened up and went to the breakfast room with our umbrellas in tow. The breakfast at the Burghotel Schonburg was truly a decadent affair. With no sightseeing planned for the day other than seeing the castle itself we took our time to enjoy the huge spread on offer.
Enjoying our breakfast at the Burghotel Schonburg
The elegant breakfast room at the Burghotel Schonburg
After eating much more than we should have we decided to walk around the castle and find our way upto the walls and the ramparts of the castle which had a section that could be walked on. It was drizzling lightly and that meant that I left my SLR back in my room, mobile photos would have to do for now.
After our breakfast in the courtyard on a drizzly day at Schonburg
We found our way up to the walls and ramparts section and as expected there was no one else there. None of the other guests had been crazy enough to walk on the ramparts as it drizzled. We enjoyed our time alone there without letting the perpetual drizzle wipe the smiles off our faces.
Enjoying the walls of the castle on a rainy morning
The better half doesn’t allow the drizzle to affect her posing skills
Enjoying our time alone on the castle walls
The view of the Rhine flowing below from the castle walls
View of the castle from the ramparts
The sun tries hard to peek through the dense clouds
The Castle walls with the Tower behind
The view of the fields on the hillside
The Rhine valley countryside on a overcast morning
More photos on the walls – Not letting the rain affect our mood
We then realised that the tower that was in front of us from the walls was also climbable and we should do it right away lest it start pouring later. So we got down from our beautiful perch up on the walls of the castle and made our way to the tower.
The steep stairs down from the walls
The tower had a separate entrance through a small museum section which held artefacts from the heyday of the castle. We walked through the section before starting our tower climb. Each level of the tower had information about what purpose the levels served when the castle was functioning.
A model of the original tower from 1240 AD
We reached the top of the tower to find a metal platform that gave us 360 degrees view of the Rhine valley all around. Even though the skies were starting to look ominous it had not opened up so we enjoyed the windy weather on top of the tower and took selfies in every direction.
On top of the Tower at Schonburg Castle
View of the Rhine river and the town of Oberwesel below
Oberwesel from the last stone level of the Tower
Overcast skies on the Rhine at the Schonburg Castle tower
Our Favourite part of the Schonburg Castle
Having had our fill of the views we descended down the steps again stopping at an interactive catapult display where you could virtually chuck rocks on the enemies below. After having some fun there we got down to the ground floor which had a small souvenir shop and bought a small catapult replica as a souvenir.
On the intermediate level with a interactive catapult game
An full sized Catapult at the tower & my own catapult replica that I bought as a souvenir
As we descended the tower we saw that the winds had blown much of the heavy cloud cover farther away and that gave me the guts to go and get my camera before we returned to our favourite part of the castle – the gardens. I had taken photos of the gardens with my ultra wide lens on the previous day so I put on my trusty 300mm lens and hoped to get some good photos of the flora and maybe some birds if the weather improved further.
We enjoyed a leisurely walk through the gardens that had been naturally washed by the drizzle since morning and the 300mm had fun taking photos of the flowers and the sculptures all around. I am just going to post all the photos here rather than describe the sheer variety on offer.
The 300mm has fun taking photos of the flowers and sculptures in the gardens
The birds had still stayed away due to the wet weather. We started exiting the gardens to have lunch the weather started getting even better, the sun was now peeking out from between the clouds. The first sign that I would have some fun birding soon was a perched Eurasian Kestrel we spotted on a tree at the entrance of the garden. That brought a smile to my face and I took some photos of the pint sized raptor before we left the gardens for now.
The Eurasian Kestrel makes an appearance as the weather improves
We saw that the cafe had cleaned and set up the open tables for lunch taking advantage of the break in the weather. We had been continuously moving around since our breakfast and we had more than walked off our breakfast. So we took advantage of the good weather interval and sat down for an early lunch.
Not being much of a wine conoisseur I still hadn’t had the local Riesling wine inspite of being in wine country for a week. So I decided to have a glass before our time in the Rhine valley was over. I had the veal & the better half went with her trusted spaghetti with red sauce and we enjoyed our lunch with a view of the Rhine as bonus.
Enjoying our lunch at the cafe in the Schonburg Castle
With my first glass of Riesling wine from the region
Enjoying our delicious lunch with the improving weather
After enjoying our outdoor lunch we went back to our room to rest. But as the sun started peeking out I just had to return to the gardens to try my luck with the birds. So I left the better half back in the comfort of our room and left with the 300mm to go back to the gardens.
The afternoon started well as I had fun taking photos of bees enjoying their nectar as the sun came out. I got some of the best bee photos that I have ever taken.
Enjoying taking photos of bees feeding on the nectar on offer
The most fun I had that afternoon was waiting near a patch of tall trees at the lower part of a garden and hoping that a bird called the Eurasian Treecreeper showed up. As the name suggests these birds are extremely small birds that creep along the trunks of these tall trees and feed on the insects in the cracks of the bark. My patience paid off as I got some great photos of a pair of Treecreepers as they went around their daily activity. As a added bonus I also got a chestnut bellied nuthatch – another bird with similar feeding habits.
The Chestnut bellied Nuthatch at the Schonburg Gardens
The Eurasian Treecreepers feed on the insects in the bark
As the treecreeper flew away after keeping me entertained for half an hour I moved on from that patch and saw and photographed some common garden birds like the Eurasian Blackbird, Eurasian Robin and a chirpy flock of my favourite small European bird – the Blue tit. That made an already good afternoon of low key birding even better and at the end of it I had a huge smile plastered on my face as I returned to our room to show the better half what I had managed to see.
A Eurasian Blackbird basks in the sun
A Eurasian Robin poses for the 300mm
A small flock of Blue tits gives me some memorable photos
The 300mm doubles as a Macro lens for a Garden Snail making its way across a step at the gardens
The 300 mm also stayed on the camera to take photos of the towers and churches in the town of Oberwesel & the Pfalzgrafenstein castle in the middle of the Rhine river a bit farther away.
The Churches and Towers in the town of Oberwesel from the Schonburg castle above
The Pfalzgrafenstein Castle in the middle of the Rhine river
We rested at our room for some time after that till it was time for dinner. This was the first time we had stayed at a castle and not even made an attempt to visit the town below. Oberwesel would be only seen from up above – at least on this visit. Hopefully there is always next time.
The hotel had learnt their lesson from the previous evening and set up indoor seating for dinner, even though the weather was better than the previous evening. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to the slowly served dinner but at least I knew what to expect this time – so it wasn’t that bad.
On way to the indoor restaurant section through the common sitting area
At our indoor table for the gourmet dinner
The food was decent and even though the pace was slightly better than the previous evening ( Or maybe I was just ready for the slow pace this time!) it reinforced my belief that gourmet food is just not our cup of tea.
Enjoying our 4 course meal at the Schonburg Castle restaurant
We then waited for it to get dark and had our fingers crossed the whole time hoping that the rain didn’t return. Thankfully it didn’t and we got our time walking around the lit castle – a truly magical experience! We even walked out across the wooden bridge out of the castle to take photos of the castle exterior all lit up.
Photos from the Burghotel Schonburg all lit up at night
We went to sleep satisfied that we had made the most of a far from ideal day weather-wise at the Schonburg Castle. We woke up to yet another overcast morning but it wasn’t as gloomy as the previous day. We went sans umbrellas this time to enjoy our breakfast. The breakfast that last morning was eaten at a slightly faster pace because we wanted to spend some more time up on the walls before checking out and leaving Schonburg.
Enjoying our last breakfast at the Schonburg Castle
We went up to the walls and again we were the only ones there. We were enjoying the breeze from that wonderful vantage point when I spotted that the Kestrel was sitting on the ledge on the tower. I rushed down and back to our room to get my camera and 300mm which I had packed away in preparation to check out, all the while cursing my self for that.
Returning to our favourite place at the Burghotel Schonburg – the castle walls
Luckily for me the Kestrel hadn’t deserted its high perch and I got a few photos for all my efforts. In a few minutes the Kestrel took off as if it had been waiting for me to get a few photos!
Close encounter with a Eurasian Kestrel at the Burghotel Schonburg
The Kestrel flies off after I get my photos
Just as the Kestrel flew away the weather improved rapidly and soon there were blue skies overhead
We came back down from the walls and walked back to our room for one last time before we checked out and said goodbye to Burghotel Auf Schonburg. It was all blue skies overhead as we left the castle.
Blue skies above the tower at Schonburg
I had one last surprise waiting for me as the Kestrel was waiting on one of the external walls as if to say goodbye. This time I had not kept the 300mm away and took photos of my favourite resident of the castle before it flew away. A perfect end to a perfect stay at a beautiful castle!
The Kestrel waits for us at the external walls before saying goodbye !
We waited for our taxi to the station to come and passed our time taking more photos of the castle exteriors this time with blue skies overhead!
More photos outside the Schonburg Castle before we say goodbye!
We would reach the station well in time for our train to Frankfurt. Frankfurt was the last stop of our vacation and the reason we had planned this trip in the first place -The second round Euro 24 match between Portugal and Slovenia at the Frankfurt Am Main Stadium which would be our first experience of watching a major football tournament live!
Whether it would live upto our expectations is subject for another post, hopefully soon! I have gone ultra overboard with the photos in this post as I couldn’t decide which ones to leave out. Pardon me my indulgences this one time!
Tschau!
PS – A happy new year 2025 to all readers, hope to continue our travels in the coming year with gusto and write at a better pace than I have in the year gone by!
yogictravel 
what a lovely way to spend a day
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