Rollin' on the river! 

Have you ever heard the expression when you're early you're on time, when you're on time you're late , and when you are late well, you're late?  That is the case when you are on a tour group.  We had to have breakfast, have our luggage out because we are checking into another hotel later that evening, and be ready to leave by 8. So that meant we had to be ready to board the tour bus by 7:45 am.  Our first trip was  a cruise on the Rhine river. We got to see hilltop castles, terraced vineyards and villages of timber-framed houses along the course of the river. We also got to pass by the Lorelei rock rising vertically from the waters named for the siren "Lorelei" who bewitched sailors passing by. After the ride on the river, we headed to home to the oldest university in Germany, view the imposing red sandstone ruins of Heidelberg Castle originally built in the 12th century.  Since Germany is home to 25,000 castles I was happy just to see a few  while I was there.