Cochem

Our first full day in Germany was spent on a day trip to Cochem. We had based ourselves for our first 5 nights in Koblenz where the Rhine and Moselle rivers converge with plans to do day trips to various places along these rivers.

Cochem, our first day trip, was an hour from Koblenz by train and the route followed the Moselle river. It was dramatic, but would have been breathtaking had it not been raining steadily.

In Cochem I went into the tourist information office 3 times to ask questions (in German each time). The third request was for a town map. I was so happy that the clerk asked (in German) if I wanted it in Dutch or German! She didn't guess that I was American.

Cochem is famous for winemaking and our "train" tour ticket entitled us to a free sample. We chose to sample the Traubensaft (grape juice) instead and it was the best ever so the wine is probably fabulous too.

We decided to try to be German and have our main meal in the middle of the day and by wandering outside of the main tourist zone, we found a wonderful restaurant where I had Schnitzel with onion gravy. It was so delicious and Graham was also impressed with his salmon in herb sauce.

The most dramatic feature in Cochem is the castle. We didn't pay to take a tour, but we did walk up the hill to the castle and were rewarded with wonderful views of the vineyards planted on the steep hills on each side of the river and of the river itself.

Rüdesheim

Our second day trip was to the beautiful town of Rüdesheim located an hour from Koblenz on the Rhine. Again the train snaked between the towns hugging the river bank. I had really wanted to take the train one direction and return on the river with a cruise, but the weather was still bad and the trip by ship was 4 hours long. Graham did not want to do it and it did seem to be a waste of money with the views ruined by drizzle and low clouds.

It was actually dry when we arrived and after a short walk from the station we came to the Drosselgasse - a famous, quaint shopping street. My guide book said there would be live music daily, but we didn't hear any.

After exploring the Drosselgasse and thinking about, but not, buying a Bavarian cuckoo clock we continued on the main cobbled street until we found the cable car station. We couldn't decide weather to buy a round trip ticket or one-way. We wanted to walk back down, but the weather looked iffy. We decided in the end that it was cheap enough that we could buy a round trip ticket and not use it if we decided to walk back.

The trip up to the Niederwald Monument was really nice. We didn't see any other riders and the ride was almost completely silent. It was very picturesque and peaceful as we floated slowly up over acres and acres of pristine vineyards.

After viewing the monument at the top, we followed signs for a nordic walking trail and walked through the woods and alongside vineyards heavy with thousands of plump black and green grapes. Eventually we found one of the white, concrete lanes that criss cross through the vineyards and followed signs to walk back to Rüdesheim.

After exploring the rest of the town and reading every menu at every resaurant, we finally decided on a place to eat our main meal. It was an old "stube" with wooden walls and ceilings and the food was delicious. Graham had river trout (came with the head still on!) and proclaimed it was the best he's ever had.

Eventually we'd seen all we could see in this weather, so we wandered back to the station to wait for the next train back to Koblenz. It was odd. They kept the door to the platform locked until 5 minutes before the train arrived.

I was starting to have problems with my feet. I had arrived in Germany with a small blister on each foot (never try out new shoes before you leave on vacation) and even though I was trying to protect them with bandaids, the bandaids wouldn't stay put. Back in Koblenz we decided to walk to Jesuit Platz to get a light lunch at a restaurant I knew about. We had to go back to get umbrellas and more bandaids, but eventually we did reach the restauant and had a very nice meal. I had toat with honey and goat cheese. Graham had tomato soup and salad. Despite my sore feet, we walked back along the Rhine which with hindsight was not a good idea. My feet just kept getting worse.

In the room, at night I entertained myself writing postcards and watching one of my favorite shows (Monk)with German voices. It was fun. I also watched a show like our "House Hunters" which helps people find new houses. It was very interesting.

Boppard

Our destination the next day was Boppard, also on the Rhine, but only 17 minutes away by train.

We arrived to yet more rain and we immediately saw a sign pointing downhill to the Sesselbahn (chairlift) so we followed the sign. It took us down to the Rhine where we found a second sign pointing into the River for the Sesselbahn! It was obviously wrong. We wandered along the river and eventually found tourist information. Here we found a map that showed us we had to walk the other direction along the river to find the sesselbahn.

Because it was raining harder now, we instead walked down a narrow shopping street and spent a lot of time in the Christmas store. Eventually I bought a wooden smoker for my collection.

As the rain had now let up, we followed the river to the sesselbahn which we could now see in the distance. It appeared to be running. At the ticket office, I asked in German if it was open and if the seats would be dry. The lady assured me they would so we bought tickets.

They used sponges to dry the seats and we hopped on. Although the weather kept the views from being as wonderful as expected, it was fun. We were the only two people on the 20 minute ride. Halfway up, the drizzle started again, so we put up an umbrella! Must have been a sight.

At the top we followed signs to a cafe with an outdoor patio overlooking the Rhine. Because of the weather, we went inside. We were the only two customers and the family dog, Gina, decided she wanted to join us. She sat between our feet the whole time we were there. Graham had a pot of hot chocolate and I had Milch Kaffee. It was kind of funny when I ordered. I said that Graham wanted "Heiße Schokolade" which he heard as "Ice chocolate" and protested that he wanted hot not cold chocolate.

Next we walked a long a wooded path to a second cafe called the Vierseenblick. From here the view of the river looks like 4 lakes rather than one river because of the angle and the landscape. It was pretty but agian we felt like we were getting the second class view because of the low clouds and lack of blue skies.

On the way back down the rain ended and we actually saw a few more brave souls riding up.

We had decided we would take the ship back to Koblenz, so we had a really quick lunch in a cafe of baguettes (mine was salami, Graham's cheese) and we raced back to the river. But when we went to buy our ticket we learned we would have a 3 hour wait for the next boat that would stop in Koblenz. We had read the schedule wrong. We didn't have anything else to see or do, so we explored a few more streets and took the train back.

We were back in Koblenz by 2pm. We spend a couple of hours in the hotel writing postcards, doctoring my poor feet and reading before venturing out to the altstadt again to eat at a vegetarian restaurant we had seen the night before. We were the only customers and the lady running the place spoke absolutely no English. Thankfully I was able to understand her instructions for the salad bar.

Afterwards I limped back to the hotel by the shortest route. My friend Nella, who had called earlier in the week, called again and warned me of an impending rail strike and we had a nice chat.

Come back soon to see the rest as I add them.

• Left to add are:
• Koblenz
• Düsseldorf
• Bremen
• and England