Cochem

During our stay here in Germany we've been having some pretty intense history lessons....I should have paid more attention in my history classes at high school. Castles feature strongly in this area so naturally we are visiting a few. 

Yesterday it was the Castle Reichsburg in the town of Cochem. The castle sits 100 metres above the river and is owned by the people of the town.

At one point in history it was used as a monastery......here's something interesting.....the priests used to drink 5 litres of wine a day each and the nuns 3 litres each!! This photo shows the wine containers......the large one for the priests and the smaller one for the nuns.

That's a lot of wine!!

There was a boar on the wall in this room staring down at us......he weighed over 200kgs.....didn't look particularly friendly I thought!

There was one particularly stunning piece of furniture that was made in the 16th century using 8 types of wood.....just beautiful.

The dining room

I thought I found my knight in shining armour in that castle......hmmm....maybe not!

From the balcony of the castle you can survey the town and the river below.

We descended down into the town for a look see......did you know that a rooster on a church means its a Catholic Church?

We stood and gazed at this house for awhile, one of the oldest there, it was built in 1704!

Our guide asked us today what was the difference between people from 'down under' (Kiwis and Aussies) and Europeans? Answer - the 'down unders' think 200 years is a long time and the Europeans think 200 kilometres is a long way!

Wine tasting was also on the agenda yesterday. Here's another fact you need to know - Germany is the biggest produce of Riesling in the world.....and we got to taste a few.....very enjoyable :-)

Wine tasting in the stone basements of this old winery

Oh and a bit of trivia for the Aussies reading this.....I saw an Aldi shop today.....but didn't go in....ha!

When I think of Holland I think of bicycles.....now when I think of Germany I think of motorbikes (and nice cars!) They are everywhere usually with leather clad people attached to them.

Cochem is a delightful typical town in this area of Germany, with a river, bridges, town squares and beautiful old buildings.

The Cochem town hall in the square.

Till next time...........

The adventure continues......

The widespread flooding across Europe now is the worst seen for 500 years!! My goodness...what on earth is going on? Home seems a very long way away now......but God is still on the throne:-)

There are 378 river boats like the one I am on stuck in various ports throughout the water ways.

So we remain docked at Coblenz and have been here since early Sunday morning. We are on a side river off the Rhine and it is perfectly fine....in fact it's hard to imagine there is so much damage in other places. We have been enjoying sunny days with no rain. This is the view from my cabin as I write this..

but I have just gone on deck and on the other side the water has risen over the sidewalk now.......

The water level was expected to peak last night.....so we will see!

We actually enjoyed a day here yesterday......we were able to do our own thing all day......and 

the sun was shining. What does a girl do when stuck in a place......that's right.....go shopping! We hadn't had much time to do that until now so it was fabulous to mooch around.  There are some beautiful women's clothes....so stylish....but I was pretty restrained :-)

Yesterday most of us ate lunch in town.....I chose typical food from here.....schnitzel and beer!

Some of us also went up the gondola which is close by and got a birds eye view of the swollen rivers.

Last evening they served us NZ lamb - which was a treat. Beautifully cooked.....but some of us were dreaming about kumara and mint sauce.....ha!

 

The view from our restaurant last evening........

So the shipping company has organised for us now a week of free wifi......yippee!! Some people have been getting messages from concerned relatives wondering if we are OK. One woman even got a message from her 9 year old grand daughter wondering if we were going to be like the Titanic!!

So rest assured.....we are fine :-)

Today and tomorrow we are off on coach trips during the day and returning to our floating hotel in the evenings! Today is a medieval town about an hours drive from here and the onto a vineyard for some wine tasting.......can't complain really!

Till next time.......

Coblenz and Rudesheim

First thing this morning we did a 2 hour walking tour of the charming little town Coblenz. Unfortunately it was unseasonably cold so we had to rug up big time....I was very grateful for the gloves I had tucked into my jacket pocket. But apart from that - most interesting! So much history from past wars, particularly the Second World War. Most of the town was destroyed during that time and had to be rebuilt, but many of the buildings remain true to the heritage and culture of the area.

We spent quite a bit of in the old German quarter where there are places of significant interest, in particular one of the largest statues in Europe of the Emporer William the Great. This was also destroyed in the Second World War and was rebuilt thereafter. It is now considered a memorial to the unification of Germany.

A much newer memorial is three parts of the Berlin Wall that were given to Coblenz and are now standing in the park by the River.

The town is made up of several squares, with many outdoor restaurants spilling outside, beautiful old churches, museums, historic monuments and ancient cobbled streets. One of the town squares with an ancient fountain in the centre is now a world heritage site.

As we wandered around it was so lovely to hear the bells ringing. It was Sunday morning and there were services being held in the churches. I heard some organ music coming from one so I snuck into the foyer to have a peek....a Catholic Church.....but of course it was in German! There is only one Protestant church in the town.

Our charming tour guide talking about her favourite church in Coblenz

Enjoying wandering the streets of Coblenz

We were expecting to leave Coblenz mid morning and continue south to Rudesheim but we were given the bad news that the river is too high - and rising - so the boat hasn't got clearance to leave. This was rather upsetting! There are several boats here in the same situation and there's nothing you can do but sit tight!  So we are praying the water level starts to come down!

So plan B!! This afternoon we went by coach to Rudesheim in the Rhine Valley - just over an hours drive away. What a fascinating place! A town of 10,500 residents that gets 3 million visitors a year!!

It's one of the most popular tourist areas in Germany known for its vineyards. 80% of the wine produced is Riesling.....one of my favourites.....and I was so disappointed we didn't get to try any :-(

We were pre booked to do a 2 hour walking tour after which the bus was leaving so it was 'get on the bus or get left behind'.......never mind......it'll keep!

Wine restaurant

Most interesting here was our visit to Seigfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet.....a music museum.....where we saw and heard some ancient instruments.....I really enjoyed this visit.

Music Museum

We wandered ancient cobbled streets - one street was only 144 metres long and 3 metres wide - stood outside a restaurant that was established in 1727 - that's old be anyone's standards!!

People sitting around drinking Riesling :-)

One thing that was fascinating and fun was a hotel where you could sleep in wine barrels! It costs 74 Euros for 2 people for the night. When you make a booking you get asked how tall you are...ha! You have to be shorter than 1.9 metres which obviously is the majority of people....but still a funny thing to be asked!

Fancy sleeping on a wine barrel?  Well you can in Rudesheim!

Oh I saw my car today.......those who know me well know I have a soft spot for Audi :-)

Yeah!!!

So now we are back on board for the night and don't know how long we will have to stay in Coblenz.....this is turning into more of an adventure than I thought!

Tomorrow is June 3rd, and 18 months since Tony died. What a challengjng and emotional ride it has been. I'm having bitter/sweet thoughts....who would have thought I'd be in Germany?? But I know my Heavenly Father knows where I am and tonight I rest in that fact.

Till next time.........

Into Germany

One thing you are faced with on a holiday like this is......food! There just seems to be too much on offer all the time. Some of you are probably thinking 'so where's the problem?'  The problem is - you can start to feel like a big blob!!

You don't want to miss out on anything, you want to taste everything......so some discipline is needed!

Yesterday I made the brave decision to try and help myself so I visited the gym on board and actually did use some of the machines....ha! And this morning I surprised myself by waking up in time to go to a stretching class - which may not sound that exciting - but was surprisingly good, and then followed that with a walk/jog round the top deck a few times. So I think I was a little more disciplined today but only a little! I am on holiday after all. Best thing I ate today - a chilled pear soup. I KNOW! It sounds weird and geeky.....but honestly, it was delicious!

We have been on the move most of today. This morning we passed through Dusseldorf with its impressive bridges over the river. The Rhine is a huge river and at the moment the water levels are very high so there is a massive amount of water beneath us. 

   Dusseldorf

Sometimes a cruise will get cancelled if the water level is too high and the boat cannot fit under some of the low bridges......if that happens you get put on a coach tour! How disappointing that would be......the whole point of doing this is to be on a boat!!

There are always interesting things to see on the river, it is a very busy water way. Check out this boat that passed by full of John Deere tractors - that'd be a sight for sore eyes for some guys!

One thing that is fascinating is there are many people who live and make their living on the river. They operate these huge long boats that haul all sorts of cargo and at the rear of the boat they have living quarters, usually with a car and small boat on the deck as well for when they dock. 

This afternoon we docked at Cologne for a few hours and did a walking tour of the city. For a Saturday afternoon it seemed to be packed with people, but maybe that's normal. We wandered round the cobbled streets and took in the atmosphere of the place with its old buildings and people everywhere enjoying their Saturday afternoon - sitting at pubs and outdoor restaurants drinking beer and singing - yes, some of them were singing! Sounded quite good actually even if it was fuelled by the brown liquid!

The main attraction was to visit the famous ancient cathedral in the city centre. This church started in 1248 as a place to house relics of the three Magi. It continued its construction and development until about 1880 and has 2 towering spires that are 157 metres high.

During the war 90% of the city was bombed and flattened but the cathedral stayed standing with only minimal damage......amazing to see this ancient building, which is still functioning as a church.

As we were having dinner this evening we quietly pulled away from the dock and continued our journey.  If it wasn't for the huge floor length windows everywhere you'd probably not even realise you were on the move.

I discovered a very cool thing this evening. There is a channel on the tv in your cabin that links to a camera on the bow of the boat so you can see what's ahead. We are continually passing points of interest so there's no need to miss out on anything.

Till next time..............

Cruising at last!

This morning we spent our final few hours in Amsterdam. It was another early start and by 8AM we were on a bus and into a city tour, a canal boat ride and a walking tour.

It really is fascinating - Amsterdam is made up of 70 islands connected by 1000 bridges. Now when I think of this place I will think of water!  So many canals, bridges and boats.......and bicycles!

There are 600,000 bicycles in Amsterdam - the population is 800,000. Every year 50,000 bikes are stolen - that's got to be a headache for the police right there!

Prostitution is a legal profession with several 'red light' districts. The girls sit in the window of their little stores waiting for their next customer. They have to do the paper work and pay tax just like any other business. I know this has been going on for generations, but to see it displayed this way, well it's just incredibly sad.

Something else that made me sad today was the number of beautiful old churches that are no longer used for services. Instead they are used for community and social activities. While I'm sure some of these programmes are good, God is being left out, as is the case in many places in the world.

My knowledge of history is not great, but after only a couple of days into this tour I am struck by how much Jewish history is everywhere, and as we go on I know there will be so much more.

There are many streets and canals here with houses that are tall and narrow - maybe 4 to 5 stories high. They do not contain lifts and many have very narrow staircases where getting furniture up and down would be impossible. To get around this problem the houses have large hooks on the outside up high near the roof line. These are used, along with ropes, to hoist furniture and large items up and through the windows. You can see in the photos below......

So a day and a half here, while not long, has been so interesting and intriguing, I would love to come back sometime.

At 12 noon our boat the Amadeus Princess pulled away from the dock and we were off on our river cruise through the heart of Holland, Germany and beyond.

I was so excited and went up on the top deck with many others to watch as we pulled away. I was actually excited! You know when it feels like you have little bubbles inside? That's how I felt.....like a big kid! I wanted to jump and and down and shout 'woohoo' but I was restrained and just commented to a couple of people how great it was that we were finally cruising. Lame!

The boat can take about 150 passengers, so with the crew, there are less than 200 people on board. Nothing like a big cruise ship......more like an intimate floating boutique hotel!

Our tour group is made up of 23 people, including our tour leaders, John and Robyn Cooney. I am the youngest one in our group! There are a some others a just few years older than me but the fact remains I am the youngest. It's been awhile since I've been in that situation!! 

Our tour group is called Midlife Madness Tours.....and as I get to know more people....I think it's an apt name :-) Having said that, there are some real sweeties and some real characters amongst us.

John was talking to another group on board yesterday, Australians, and had a bit of a bet on who had the youngest person in their group. Turns out they have someone who is 54....so he lost out on that but not by much!  Aussies eh?

So we have now been cruising all afternoon and will continue right through the night until about 2:30 tomorrow afternoon by which time we will be in Germany and will dock at Cologne.

It was incredibly interesting this afternoon to go through our first two locks but unfortunately photos don't really do it justice.

This is such a relaxing way to have a holiday.....I highly recommend it people! Put it on your bucket list. Here's a couple of photos of my cabin......

Time for me to sign out and sleep, or maybe I'll just lie in bed and watch the world glide by....hmmm

Till next time............