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Rudesheim, a small but ancient town, is a wine and international tourism center (signage includes Japanese!). It's said that Charlemagne planted the best vineyards here, a varietal called Traminere. Famous for its Riesling, the town gets three million visitors annually.
Our cruise included a drive up steep vineyard slopes to the abbey way above the town. For medievalists among us, the remains of Hildegarde of Bingen (an 11th century Catholic nun, mystic, composer, writer), are there. She was well-regarded by church leaders of her time, though she led a solitary, contemplative life. Bingen, her birthplace, is just across the Rhine from Rudesheim.
Of course, we had a wine tasting. The cellar master joked that, as the vineyard slopes there are so steep, he and his uncle work the vines one leg shorter than the other.