Rüdesheim is a quaint winemaking town on the Rhine Gorge, loved by tourists.
We toured Siegfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet, which is a museum filled with whimsical, mechanical, musical instruments, from teeny-tiny to huge. It is located in a beautiful old house, which has some of the original art work on the ceilings. It was really entertaining.
After touring the museum and taking advantage of their free restrooms (a rarity in Germany), we hopped into one of the open-air aerial gondolas which took us on a very scenic ride up the hillside, over verdant vineyards, to Niederwald Park and the Niederwald Monument. The monument was erected after the Franco-Prussian War (and unveiled in 1883), and was in memory of the unification of Germany. The statue at the top of the monument is the allegorical figure, Germania. It was really impressive to stand at its base and look up.
After dinner aboard ship, we, along with most of our fellow passengers, participated in a fun trivia game in the lounge. Our cruise director, Alex, was the host, and made it lots of fun. Our team tied for first place, but was beat out in the tie-breaker.
Around 9:00 p.m. we went to our cabin - very tired from our busy day and ready to retire early - and enjoyed a peaceful, private hour on our balcony, watching reflections of city lights and the almost-full moon shimmer on the river.
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