An evening in Rüdesheim, featuring windows, and a castle on the hill.

Last night our cruise ship docked in Rüdesheim, a pretty wine-making town in the Rhine Gorge. After dinner on board, we decided to go ashore and seek out the night life. We had to wait quite a few minutes for four trains to come past, before we were allowed to cross the line, and I decided that this quaint little tower was really worth a photo.

Once safely across, we wandered the narrow lanes lined with bars and restaurants.

The windows really caught my attention, so I thought I’d capture a few for Dawn’s Thursday windows challenge. On our trip, I’ve noticed so many colourful window boxes everywhere in England, France and Germany

There were some very cute ornaments in this Christmas shop.

The brightly lit restaurants looked really inviting, and most had live music playing.

We’d already eaten a fabulous dinner, so could only look.

We found a lively bar, and sat for a while enjoying a glass of German wine and listening to a group playing really old songs from the 50’s to the 70’s. People were really enjoying themselves on the tiny dance floor in the corner.

On our way back to the ship, I noticed these stained glass windows, not in a church, but on the side of a pub/restaurant.

It was a lovely evening, and a pretty castle was outlined against the night sky.

We had to wait again before crossing the railway line back to the ship.

Then it wasn’t far along the tow path back to our home on the water, under the moon-lit sky.

We are now docked in Koblensk, and I’m going to do some exploring this afternoon.

Scene from my window

I see that there is a “Thursday’s Lingering Look at Windows” challenge going on, so today I thought I would post the view from my bedroom window. It’s such a lovely day here. The sea and sky are a beautiful blue, and those ships look rather grand.

I was thinking about what I see through my windows, and was reminded of a couple of years ago when at dinner time, looking out of the window, my attention was often drawn to a cute courting couple on our neighbours’ TV aerial. Every evening they were there, sometimes they were standing close together, and occasionally, they would sit one each end, as though they’d had a fall out. One evening, I noticed that there was only one bird, and that she seemed to be looking all around in a state of extreme agitation.

After quite a while she flew away, but a couple of minutes later she returned, closely followed by her boyfriend, who fluttered around her, trying to make up. She was however having none of it. She was obviously upset at being stood up, and wanted her boyfriend to suffer a bit,

He was banished to the other end of the aerial. Doesn’t he look remorseful? That sure taught him not to be late for a date.

They didn’t turn up for a few days, and then one grey evening, they returned, and I was so relieved to see that they were at least back on speaking terms.  I’m not a matchmaker, but I do take an interest. 🙂

Windows are such interesting things to look out of, aren’t they? We take our clear glass windows for granted, but there was a time when only the very wealthy could afford to have such a luxury. I was reading about how window glass was developed and how dark people’s homes were before it became an affordable commodity.  http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/quick-history-windowsretrospect-165008

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