This year's vacation was supposed to be a week in Germany together followed by a week of me travelling around Germany visiting friends while Graham visited family in Devon, England, followed by a week back together on the Isle of Wight in England visiting my husband's parents. The plans were well thought out and meticulous, but events beyond our control caused us to detour from the plan. The weather was rainy for most of our time together in Germany and then a medical issue (a serious foot infection) caused me to cut short my solo tour of Germany and rejoin Graham in England earlier than planned.

Despite the disappointments of missing meeting two very nice German friends and not seeing Siegen, Köln, the Zons and Münster, I had a wonderful time testing my German skills, seeing beautiful places and meeting some really nice friends. The rainy German weather and the chilly, damp English weather have impacted the quality of my photographs which is also disappointing, but is also a good reason to return to Germany again!

Below is a brief summary of the major parts of my trip with some of my many (402!!!) photos. These smaller versions have lost some of their clarity. I will soon add a link so anyone who wants to see better copies will be able to see them.

Cochem Tourist information

Free Grape Juice

The train ride through Cochem

A view from the Cochem castle

The Cochem Castle entrance

A view from the castle

The Rhine in Boppard

Drosselgasse, Rüdesheim

Walking in Rüdesheim

Exploring Rüdesheim

A dog in Boppard keeping us company as we drank our hot drinks.

Flower arrangement in Boppard that included Rubbarb.

Boppard

The view from the Boppard chairlift

More of the Boppard chairlift view

Michele in Boppard

A famous house in Rüdesheim

A cemetary in Cochem

Riding the gondola over the vineyards in

Rüdesheim

Rüdesheim Grapes