Germany
Moselle River

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    • Day 17

      Braubach

      October 6, 2019 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

      A cold and showery day as we cruised from the Main to the Rhine river. Woke at 5am and watched the lights of Frankfurt through our cabin window...no stopping here as we sailed on to Braubach.

      The top deck was finally opened after being closed for the last few days due to low bridges...amazing how everything folds down including canopys and handrails, even the wheelhouse is lowered to deck level.

      Spent half an hour up on deck, but it was bitterly cold and wet, so retreated to the lounge for the morning...beautiful towns and castles lined both sides of the middle Rhine as we sailed past.

      Had a guided tour of Marksberg Castle, perched high on a mountain behind Braubach. Amongst the better tours we have done! An 11th century castle with all the trimmings...torture chamber, blacksmiths room where they made the swords and armour, chapel, kitchen, dining rooms etc all set up as they were in medieval times.
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    • Day 47

      Fünf Fotos- Rhine Cruise Day 6

      May 30, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

      Happy Memorial Day, and I'm holding gratitude to all those in service who gave their lives for our country, our democracy, and our freedoms. May we all honor their sacrifice and strive to embrace "... and justice for all."

      It's a little disorienting being abroad for Memorial Day and the attendant traditions. We typically gather friends and family for a BBQ, and I carry my mother's tradition of baking a strawberry-rhubarb pie to welcome the informal start of summer.

      We did decide to go into the town of Koblenz for dinner. I had a steak and Jim had a pasta dish. We did go to High Noon, a western-style bar decorated with U.S. licence plates, to have a beer and play darts. We guessed that we hadn't played in a few decades. Jim C went 2 for 3 in the win column. So we did manage to salvage a bit of American culture for the holiday.

      We began the day in Rudesheim by going to Siegfried's Mechanisches Musikkabinett, a museum housing a massive collection of musical contraptions ranging from music boxes to gramophones to automated mechanical machines playing multiple instruments. The town of Rudesheim offered Siegfried the medieval Brömserhof buikding to house his collection. The building was an additional treasure housing this marvelous collection.

      After the tour, we stopped for locally made and decadent crepes and "kaffe" before returning to the boat.

      Our destination today was to the town of Koblenz, and this was a trip that was definitely more about the journey than the destination. We journeyed through the Rhine River gorge that highlighted many castles in various conditions as well as towers and beautiful riverside villages. This is also the area boasting sine of the best vineyards in Germany known for their Riesling and other fine white wines

      Our cruise director Jane provided narratives about the castles as we watched from the chilly and windy deck. Most of the stories seemed to revolve around key themes- well, at least the tongue-in-cheek ones that I internalized:

      1. Karma is a bitch.
      2. Love interests can cause more trouble than their worth.
      3. The French destroy everything.

      One of the highlighted aspects of the gorge was a rocky cliff known as Lorelei (Loreley) a siren-like character who when betrayed by her lover lures sailors to their deaths. In 1824, a German poet, Heinrich Heine, composed a poem to honor the story of Lorelei.

      I don't know what it may signify
      That I am so sad;
      There's a tale from ancient times
      That I can't get out of my mind.

      The air is cool and the twilight is falling
      and the Rhine is flowing quietly by;
      the top of the mountain is glittering
      in the evening sun.

      The loveliest maiden is sitting
      Up there, wondrous to tell.
      Her golden jewelry sparkles
      as she combs her golden hair

      She combs it with a golden comb
      and sings a song as she does,
      A song with a peculiar,
      powerful melody.

      It seizes upon the boatman in his small boat
      With unrestrained woe;
      He does not look below to the rocky shoals,
      He only looks up at the heights.

      If I'm not mistaken, the waters
      Finally swallowed up fisher and boat;
      And with her singing
      The Lorelei did this.

      In further researching the author, I learned that during the Nazi regime and World War II, Heine became discredited as author of the lyrics because he was born a Jew, in an effort to dismiss and hide Jewish contribution to German art.

      It was good to know that his recognition was restored.

      We arrived in the town of Koblenz, a city found on the banks of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers, later in the afternoon. We moored on the banks of Altstadt on the Moselle River. Before dinner, we strolled along the two rivers and noted the aerial tram to a fortress on top of a hill and a massive monument dedicated to the unification of Germany.

      Just before dinner, we noticed an unusual sculpture centered in a fountain. The artist created a tower representing the 2000 year-old history of Koblenz from the Roman Empire to present day. I was intrigued by the artist's view of history as reported on the placard: "History for him is not a progressive 'improving' development, but is always a new beginning that eminates from a demolished past on which it is based, but it is essentially something different."

      I wonder what our history tower would look like. I think it would be interesting to invite artists to create a similar concept in the U.S.

      We enjoyed our night in town, and we look forward to our final leg of the cruise to Köln tomorrow. Guten Nacht!
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    • Day 22

      We're Having a Heat Wave

      September 8, 2023 in Germany ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

      When we arrived at the Trierer Hof Hotel yesterday, I asked the owner if they had experienced a hot summer this year. "It started off pretty warm", he replied, "but the past couple of months have been cold and wet".

      In that case it must have been just bad luck that saw us arrive smack in the middle of a series of hot and very humid days. In fact the temperature has risen to over 30C for the past few days, and the sequence is set to continue for at least another four days.

      This has come as something of a shock for our team who have just arrived from the Australian winter. The combination of high temperatures, hot sun and enervating humidity really takes its toll. I am just so grateful that our hotel features functioning air conditioning. This is something of an oddity in this part of the world.

      Today the group decided to ride the cable car to the fort on the other side of the Rhine. For those who are afraid of heights, this was something of a challenge, but the views down to the city from the lofty location made the trip worthwhile.

      Maggie and I spent the rest of the day alternating between exploring the old city and retreating to the coolness of the hotel room. At this point of time it is worth making mention of the very big elephant on the room. While I adore the history, culture and scenery of Europe, there is one aspect of European living that literally gets stuck in my throat. That aspect is the cloud of smoke that follows wherever you go.

      While Australia and many other countries have made huge progress in reducing the incidence of smoking, in Europe it is a filthy accepted part of life. Whether you are walking down the street, enjoying a view or eating at an outdoor restaurant, it is impossible to escape being enveloped in a stinking cloud of noxious tobacco smoke.

      From the young to the old alike, they are all equally addicted to a lifestyle revolving around nicotine. Parents think nothing of blowing clouds of poisonous smoke right into the faces of their children. Even when they are not smoking, the stink has penetrated into their clothes, hair, curtains and carpets. You just can't escape that awful smell. At times I really feel like yelling at people to wake up to how stupid their behaviour is.

      I am not sure what the statistics are concerning smoking in the big cities, but from my own anecdotal experience, I would say that it is at least 40%. The rest of the population choose to use vapes instead.

      This afternoon an exciting event took place - our boat arrived at the docks. Although we cannot board until tomorrow, it was fun to have a close up look at the vessel that will be our home for the next seven nights. In the morning we will be checking out of the hotel, and at 3 pm we will be boarding the MS Olympia. The next leg of our adventure will start.
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    • Day 9

      Koblenz

      May 23, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Heute war es wieder etwas kühler und auch Gegenwind hatten wir. Die Bopparder Rheinschlafen Aussicht haben wir von oben genossen. Es war eine lange Etappe, Heinz und Ruedi sind mit 3km auf dem Akku übrig im Hotel angekommen. Auch haben in Spay die Hälfte der Strecke geschafft💪 Morgen gehts weiter nach KölnRead more

    • Day 6

      Rudesheim, Rhine Gorge and Koblenz

      May 14, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

      Started day in Rudesheim and went on the walking tour while the boat was being resupplied with essentials. Moored close to the town the initial issue was crossing the railway line, at this part of the Rhine there are railway lines along both banks of the river, with goods trains and the occasional passenger train going by every few minutes. Not a large town, quality wine and tourism being the commercial activities. Boasts an active night life in Drosselgasse which is almost totally pubs apparently each with a separate style of musical entertainment. The Niederwald monument at the top of the hill above the vines was not accessible as the winter work on the chair lift station was running late. Leaving late morning to sail down the Rhine Gorge, the most picturesque with strep wooded sides sometimes vines when the geography allowed and more castles with associated small villages than I could count. Arriving Koblenz, where the Moselle joins the Rhine late afternoon we took another walking tour. The “German Quarter”, the point where the 2 rivers is converge is a monument to the unification of the original states to form a united Germany and a huge equestrian statue of the first emperor. Another town along the Rhine which alternated with being French or German, one of the unusual statues is one of a young French fathered boy ( apparently they were all named John!) which randomly spits trying to soak unsuspecting tourists. One of the “robber barons” who lived in a castle along the gorge was tried and sentenced to death there. At his execution he rolled his eyes, put out his tongue and cursed the city, they have built a clock with an image of this face which repeats these actions every 15 minutes. The town was mostly destroyed in the war, the oldest remaining house started to lean so a new house has been built alongside to support it and to commemorate the history of the town another monument depicts the different stages of the town from Roman times to the post war rebuild. After dinner we were entertained by a local “folk group” with clarinet and accordions.Read more

    • Day 21

      This Apple Juice Tastes Funny

      September 7, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

      Following our enjoyable time in Maastricht, the time had come for our travelling circus to move to its next performance. When faced with the problem of getting 19 Ghostriders and a veritable mountain of luggage from Maastricht in the Netherlands to Koblenz in Germany, I examined several options.

      The obvious choice would have been to travel by train. That sounds simple, however it would have required all of us to travel to Maastricht Station (with all our luggage), then negotiate a sequence of three trains (with all our luggage) and finally to get from Koblenz Station to our respective hotels (with all our luggage). That was not an option that had any appeal at all.

      About 9 months ago, I started researching the possibility of chartering a bus for the journey. I contacted several companies for quotes and waited for their replies. While most of them were ridiculously expensive, there was one company (called A1 Service) that provided a realistic quote at about 50 Euro per person.

      I started a dialogue with the company, but they were somewhat difficult to contact at times. When they asked for a substantial deposit in advance, I started to get a little nervous. I had no idea who I was really dealing with, and could not help but fear that I was kissing goodbye to a stack of Euros.

      Of all the arrangements for this trip, the one that gave me the most concern was this bus transfer. What would I do if the promised bus did not turn up ? In the final email from A1 Service, they promised that the bus would be at the Hotel Valk at 9 am. I arranged for the group to be checked out and waiting with their luggage at 8.30 am. I started looking for the bus.

      The clock marched on to 8.45 am. No bus. 8.55 am. No bus. I tried to look confident, but I had butterflies in my stomach. The group started to look at me. I walked out into the street and looked either way. No bus. 9.00 am came and went. Still no bus. The team were starting to look mutinous.

      "What are we going to do?", some of the more cynical members asked.

      "Pass me your phone", I said to Maggie.

      I dialed the number, half expecting to get the dreaded "That number is no longer connected" message (or whatever that is in Dutch). You could imagine my relief when the driver answered, and explained that he had been delayed 45 minutes by an accident on the highway. He promised that he was only 5 minutes away. And he was.

      When he arrived he was at the wheel of a very large, and very modern bus. Everything would be OK after all. My reputation was intact, and I even started to breathe again. About 10 minutes later, we were loaded onto the bus and underway.

      The drive to Koblenz should have only taken about 2 hours, and it probably would have if there had not been a huge traffic jam on the German side of the border. At first we thought there must have been a big accident, but apparently the road was blocked while they cleaned and polished the line markings. I think that was the story anyway. Germans are sticklers for order and cleanliness after all.

      We also learned that the Germans have very strict codes for how long drivers can drive without a break. The traffic jam had delayed us so much that the driver had to stop the bus and wait for 45 minutes, before we could resume the journey.

      I think we finally arrived in Koblenz about 1.30 pm, and found Sue Rainsford standing outside the hotel, waving to us. It was a lovely welcome to see a friendly, familiar face so far away from home.

      After checking into the hotel and having a rest, Maggie and I went for walk around the city. Koblenz is an old city, situated in an idyllic location at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. Our initial impressions were very favourable.

      Not wanting to have another restaurant meal, we decided to get some provisions from the supermarket and have a picnic in our hotel room. Shopping in a foreign supermarket can be a challenging exercise, but fortunately most items have informative pictures on the outside.

      I found some bottles of apple juice and thought they would be a nice way to quench my thirst. We also added grapes, oranges and yoghurt, before heading back to our room for a little feast.

      Since the heat was still around 30C, I could not wait to enjoy the apple juice, and poured myself a large glass. It smelt and tasted awful. Perhaps it is an acquired taste, I wondered. I took another sip. It tasted even worse. I felt like I was sucking the toxic sweat from a pair of old cycling socks.

      Just what was this foul muck that I had purchased ? I searched on Google for the solution and discovered that I had just purchased two large bottles of apple cider vinegar. I had been drinking almost pure acetic acid! No wonder it did not quench my thirst. So, down the sink with that toxic swill. I suspect that my throat is still seared from the unfortunate experience.
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    • Day 7

      7. Tag Koblenz

      August 26, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

      Morgens starteten wir den Ausflug mit der Marktfrau Lisbeth. Als echte Koblenzerin konnte sie uns vieles über die Historik der Stadt erzählen. Jedoch machte sie dies nicht einfach „langweilig“ als normale Stadtführerin, sondern in der Rolle der Marktfrau.

      Dir Führung war grandios, sie sang uns alte Lieder vor und konnte uns mit ihrer Art in eine andere Zeit versetzen.

      Als Abschluss tranken wir zusammen einen Kräuterlikör und durften ein traditionelles Gebäck kosten, welches sie selbst für uns gebacken hat.

      Am Nachmittag passierten wir die Loreley Strecke. Eine Moderatorin erzählte uns, während der Fahrt viele spannende Fakten über die Gegend.

      Nun machen wir uns bereit für das Galadinner, wir sind gespannt.
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    • Day 19

      Koblenz

      August 30, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

      Koblenz räknas som Tysklands vackraste stad. Kanske det, speciellt är i alla fall att precis här rinner Mosel ut i Rhen. Udden kallas Das Deutsche Ecke. Många åker hit bara för att fotograferas längst ut på udden. Denna helg är det dock musikfestival på udden och man har ställt 50 toaletter runt hela udden så den är helt blockerad, otroligt!
      Från udden går linbanan över Rhen upp till Ehrenbreitstein, ett av Europas största fort. Överraskande fina utställningar och en fantastisk utsikt över stan.
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    • Day 7

      Koblenz - Lorelei

      April 2, 2023 in Germany ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

      Bei Regen spazierten wir durch die im 2. Weltkrieg zu 80% zerstörte Stadt Koblenz. Die Altstadt muss man etwas suchen aber für einen gemütlichen Rundgang ist es genau richtig. Wer mag fährt mit der Seilbahn über den Rhein hoch zur Festung Ehrenbreitstein, von dort hat man einen schönen Blick über die Stadt Koblenz. Am Mittag ging es weiter auf dem Rhein in Richtung Süden. Unsere Mädels wurden heute von Oma und Opa abgeholt und genießen die restlichen Ferien mit ihnen zusammen.Read more

    • Day 30

      Alstadt

      July 18, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

      Nip into the Moselle River, now we can say we were on 3 rivers today...also Rhine and Main. Monument is King Wilhelm 1st ...

      Took a walking tour around the town square - very typical old buildings in great shape.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Moselle River

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