Wiesbaden; Sunday, 25 September, 2022

I had another lie in and a late start, and after checking out headed over to the Hauptbahnhof to put my bag into the luggage lockers there. I then picked up the train South West out of the city and down to the Rhine town of Eltville.

The town was, at one time, home to the Archbishops of Mainz and consequently has a small but pretty castle located down on the river front. The castle had a number of famous visitors, but perhaps the one that the castle likes to play up the most is local boy Johannes Guttenberg who set up a printing press in the town (alongside the presses he set up in Mainz). The castle has a whole floor of the tower given over to printing and all things Johannes.

From the top floor of the castle there were some pretty impressive views of this stretch of the Rhine, as well as of the pretty town centre. In what would originally have been the moat of the castle is the Rose Garden, which is open separately from the castle and can be wandered round free of charge. I had a little wander round that and then headed back to the station to catch the train back into Wiesbaden.

I headed back into the centre and over to the Markt where I visited the Stadtmuseum, which is located underneath the market itself and tells the history of the city from it’s earliest founding through to the modern day. Almost next door to the museum is the impressive Market Church which is visible from much of the city, so I had a quick look inside there as well.

I had a bit of a wander around the city centre and found myself back by the Casino and behind it the Kurpark which is a pleasant set of gardens that lead back from the Casino up a gentle hill with a large lake offering some picturesque views of the imposing Casino building. I had a wander round the park and then headed back through the Casino itself, sticking to the public lobbies and the area under the great dome rather than risking venturing onto the playing floor.

I had a bit more of a wander around the city centre for a little while before it was time to make my way back to the station to pick up my luggage and head back towards the airport.

As I had the time I wasn’t going to bother with a taxi this time and instead took the train into the centre of Frankfurt and then intended on picking up the S-Bahn to the Airport which should have been running from there, except they’d cancelled the next handful of departures for unknown reasons. There was one train running, but when that pulled in already jammed packed and the crowds on the platform being at least four people deep I decided that the train wasn’t going to be a viable option, instead I headed back up to the surface and grabbed a taxi to take me back out to the airport.

In the end I was only at the airport about 2 ¾ hours before my flight so I had a relaxed journey through the airport and onto my way home.