Rüdesheim to Koblenz

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Docked at a relatively big city, so the Internet connection should be good.

We both slept in an hour later than usual. Roger until almost 6:00am and me a little before 7:00. It was overcast and brisk out on deck.

At 8:30am we were again underway. The morning included a river tour and stories about the many castles along our way.

The city of Koblenz is at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers. As you approach from the south the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress is above you and on the right. When we rounded the peninsula, to turn the boat around for docking, the very impressive statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I comes into view. It was built as a tribute to his unifying Germany in the late 1800s, destroyed by the Allies in 1945 and rebuilt in 1993.

Shortly after docking we walked to meet our bus that took us to Marksburg Castle. The bus drivers are amazing, being able to safely navigate the narrow, winding roads. Our group of 15 was the first to start the castle tour. A reenactment of some kind was taking place, so there were many people in 1700's era clothing, cooking, spinning yarn, weaving cloth, etc. This is more a "working" castle, rather than "showy." At the specified time, that coincided with the end of our tour, a canon was fired. It was fired several more time before we left the site.

As we made our way down the path from the castle to the parking lot a group of young women - one pushing a baby carriage - approached us. The bride-to-be called over her English speaking friend to explain that there is a custom for a German bride to collect money (it started as pennies) to buy her wedding shoes. In the carriage were variety of small snacks and bottles of schnapps that we could purchase for her cause. The group was having a very good time. We "donated" 1.5 Euros.

Back to the city, we wandered around the park and then the statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, before returning to the boat. The rest of the evening was again pleasant. We turned in about 10:00pm.

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