A brass band pounded its way through Rüdesheim. The town only has a few streets, and the sound of oom-pah-pah filled every one of them as the band made its way down the Drosselgasse (a narrow alley about 10 feet wide, which by this time was elbow to elbow of people enjoying the shops and bars).
Up in the hills, however, I found nothing but peace. Wine has been grown here since Roman times, and I looked over rows of vineyards which stretched down to the Rhine. On the other side of the river is Bingen, where St. Hildegard was born in the 12th C.
