A Cultural Day

First an excellent coffee, followed by a spot of shopping in the Old Centre of Marburg. Then the most beautiful salads for lunch accompanied by wine at Cafe Vetter (a 200 year old cafe overlooking the lower streets), followed by shopping in a Department Store.  We thought we would finish the day with an ice-cream but that let us down a bit.  Might have to for go fancy ice creams for a little while.

Bratkartoffelen

Dot loves bratkartoffelen (fried potatoes). I love the plain boiled potatoes - they really grow beautiful potatoes here, and strawberries and cherries.

So Dot made bratkartoffelen for lunch.  We had a very easy day just reading books and enjoying being back home, then a bike ride through the forest to the tower (Spiegleslust) above the city where we enjoyed  a couple of beers.  It really is a beautiful view from there, down the Lahn river valley.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Its lovely returning to Marburg!  Its big enough to be interesting but small enough to be easy to get around with not tooo many people.

EXCEPT - that #7 bus!!!!  We caught the bus back up the hill from the train station and because its Saturday it finished half way home and we ended back at the railway station and it had now become the #2 bus.    I am still getting my head around bus time tables!  So it was a taxi home!

Castles on the Rhine

While we were at Koblenz we thought it a total necessity to check out the Romatic Rhine and its UNESCO world heritage status.  With that in mind we bought a boat ticket to St Goar where we got off and cycled back to Boppard where we rejoined the return boat back to Koblenz.  Its a 6 hour journey to cruise the full middle Rhine (Koblenz - Rudesheim), not too far from where the Maine flows into the Rhine. St Goar was about half way.  Certainly some beautiful castles but not nearly as many vineyards as the Moselle and as for the famous Lorelei rocks!!!!

Moselle Memories

Gondorf  - Koblenz: 19km

Today again lots of vineyards but over the last 2 days, not as many as further up the Moselle. We bought a box of delicious cherries as we came into Koblenz and sat on the river bank in the sun to enjoy them.

Our main memories of the Moselle: acre upon acre of vineyards, many incredibly steep with stone walls, cliffs and steps. We were surprised at the number of fields being replanted in grape vines. There were many gorgeous little towns with very old timbered houses but the villages were curiouslyempty of people, apart from Trier and Koblenz.

At Last the Sun Shines

Cochem - Koburn-Gondorf: 31km

Yet another cold grey start to the day but by lunch time the sun was out and added that extra wow factor to Castle Thurant, high above the village of Alkenon. Built originally around 1200, became a ruin and was rebuilt in 1973. Now the current owners live up there in a house inside the castle walls. There is also a guest house you can rent and a lovely garden amongst the ruins. We visited the chapel, wine cellar, heraldic room, climbed up the tower and looked down into the dungeon, the beheading block and instruments of torture.

A Monastry, some Castles & More Vineyards

Bulay - Cochem: 31km

Raining, but that didn't stop a brief deviation to visit a ruined monastry before heading on down the Moselle. Exceptionally steep hillsides here - 65-70% - the steepest vineyards in Europe. Passed through 2 delightful towns with houses from the 16th-18th century beautifully restored. Beilstein in particular was lovely with its very tight square and streets and looming ruined castle.  We took a tour through Cochem castle at the end of the day with its very heavy dark beautifully carved woodwork.

Cochem Castle was first built around 1000AD, became a ruin, and was rebuilt in in the 1800's by a wealthy Burliner who used it as a summer holiday home.  Hitler took it off him but he managed to take most of his furniture with him..  The remaining furniture is on display.

28 Villages in 40km

Zettingen to Bulay.

28 villages and that doesn't include those up the side of the valleys or the ridges. Our coldest and dampest day so far so soup for lunch but very little open. We stopped for a glass of red wine later, and marvelled at the little carts with drivers seats which travelled up tiny mono rails up the steep vineyard slopes.

Mmmmm! That Moselle Wine

Piesport - Zettingen: 25km

A pre-dinner drink of local Riesling followed by a "Halb Trocken" (medium dry red) with a beautiful meal of steamed fresh vegetables covered in Hollandaise sauce overlooking the Moselle River.  Perfekt!!!!

Bernkastel, 8km from here, was a beautiful town with a very old square surrounded in half wooded shops leaning over the streets at all angles.

Vineyard after Vineyard

Mehring to Piesport - 23km

The steep sides of the mighty Moselle are covered with vineyard after vineyard and crowned on the hill tops with forestry. Every inch, no matter how steep or small is planted out. We passed through some gorgeous old villages but not much open in the way of wine tasting. At one town we waited for a replica roman ship for carting wine.  We did manage a lovely glass of Riesling while we waited to see that. Here in Piesport there is an old Roman wine press that has been reconstructed and is still used once a year.

Our top spot was biking up through an old village, through vineyards to a restored chapel high above the Moselle.  

We Begin the Moselle Bike ride

Trier - Mehring: 23km.
The 2000 year old Roman amphitheater in Trier beckoned before we set out on our bikes and intigued us with its huge subterranean area under the arena and vomitoriums where people are "spewed" forth.

Then it was off down the Moselle river which is huge with remnants of the old Roman wine road. There was even a reconstructed Roman villa plus the oldest church in Germany.

2000 years of history

Wow!  Everywhere you walk in Trier there are roman ruins dating back to 16BC. The Roman Bridge with its foundations still handling modern traffic and the Roman city gate which has also been a church on its 2 upper levels in 1035 and then removed by Napolean are just 2 examples. There are something like 7 Unesco heritage buildings in Trier.

To Trier

A tantalising glimpse of steep terraced vineyards and castles as the train travelled up the Moselle from Koblenz to Trier. So looking forward to our cycle ride back down the Moselle to Koblenz, and looking round Trier - 2000 years of history in 2000 paces.

Beer under the Castle

What could be nicer than sitting under the castle wall drinking a beer!

First though, a look round Marburg Castle which was pretty much a museum but it did have some interesting old heating systems like destructors with a huge fancy chimney that just directed the smoke into the ceiling.  There was also some lovely (but heavy, germanic) wooden door ways and inlaid panels.  Some almost 3 dimensional in effect.

A tree with 7 different walking paths indicated.