After getting back to Koblenz from Köln - I decided to head to one of the picture-perfect, castle-clad villages i had seen the previous day. I chose St Goar cos it wasn't too far away and i could catch the KD boat (free with Eurail pass) back to Koblenz for yet more scenic-overload.
St Goar was exactly how i had invisaged it from the train. Gorgeous few rows of 3 story half-timbered and other European-style houses (ok i'm not clued up with the architectural lingo - just look at the pics when i post them) and shops complete with pots of geraniums and grape vines. Cafes and restaurants spilling out into the sunny streets al fresco syle (you know the sort).
Beautiful - apart from the chaos of linguistic pollution from the myriad of tour groups swarming the place. There was even a group of tweeny-boppers from the UK (i mean what an awesome fieldtrip!). Must be a common occurence in St Goar cos every single shopkeeper there broke into English without a second thought when approached by anyone weilding a camera.
Tweeny-boppers and other tour groups joined me on the boat but the trip was actually very peaceful. 2 hours of lounging about on a boat eating ice-cream (this after my dinner of the rare German delicacy - doner kebab, apparently the take-away of choice in Germany), drifting past uber-cute villages and medieval castles - not bad really.
Only down-side was the lack of public transport back to the hostel once i got back - but you learn to live with that as part of the backpacking experience.
