Castles, abbeys, and churches galore

So with Ben visiting, we toured through all of the cities I've seen since I got here. Which means I have way too many pictures. It's 5 cities all together and all of them are very photogenic. It seems like you can't go a block without seeing a church, cathedral, or castle. Since I have so many great pictures, I'll break this into 2 posts. So first off, my own Johannisberg!

Just down the road from where I live there is a castle called Schloss Johannisberg. They're known for the Riesling (a white wine) they make from their own vineyard right in front of their castle:

From there, we headed to Geisenheim to take the train somewhere..bigger. Geisenheim has its own small-town charm, though. Here's their Rathouse (city hall):

I already posted pictures from Geisenheim in a previous post, including the church in the center of town, but I finally went in during this trip. So, here's the inside of the Rheingauer Dom:


On the right is the old style pulpit; the sort of thing you usually see preachers using in movies. I doubt it's used anymore. Finally, here's a look at the ceiling:









We spent Thursday in Ruedesheim laughing at the tourist shops filled with shockingly unfunny t-shirts. After doing that, we headed out in search of the Hildegard von Bingen Abtei, an abbey. Before we made it to the abbey, we happened upon a church which actually had her remains displayed on the altar. Notice the wine cask place prominently before that, though:

Here's a close up of the box with her remains. Remind you of anything?



I wonder......










Eventually we made our way to the abbey itself. Here's the front:


Well that's probably enough pictures for now. More later.