Blogs from Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Europe - page 10

Today was our day to train-it to Koblenz and Boppard for some sightseeing. After another good breakfast, we walked up to the train station in Sankt Goar and caught the train to Koblenz, after a slight delay due to a mixup reading the schedule. Arriving in Koblenz, we walked the 2 kilometers to the main attraction in Koblenz, Deutches Eck. Deutches Eck, also known as German Corner, sits at the confluence of the Mossel and Rhine Rivers. It is a combination of the German States and a pair of walls constructed after the original statue of Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm was damaged by an American artillery shell in WWII. In 1993, a copy of the original Kaiser was added. Another attraction in Koblenz is the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress on the opposite bank. We thought about taking the cable ... read more

This morning we had our first breakfast at the hotel. It consisted of boiled egg, assorted meats and cheeses, cereal, toast and jams, and of course coffee. The hotel is a small place with about 10 rooms and not bad at all for 45 Euros per night, except we can't seem to get them to turn on the heating in our room. The front door is locked most of the time, but our room key opens the back door so it not really inconvenient. There is also a small fridge on the ground floor where you can purchase water, sodas, beer, and even wine and just add it to your tab. I use it to store my soda for the next day. Today is our KD Rhine River cruise day. I bought all day tickets figuring ... read more

Our drive from Herleshausen to Cochem was very picturesque. As we got closer to our destination, we found ourselves travelling down steep switchbacks heading into the valley where the Moselle River flows. All along the river are several campgrounds filled with trailers. We passed through small town after small town sitting along the river with beautiful bike/walking paths joining each of these postcard perfect places. As we drove along we were amazed at the vineyards that lined the steep hills. Row after row of grapevines sat in terraces along the sides of the hills. The Moselle Valley is famous for its wines, white ones especially. We finally came to Cochem, a small town of just under 5000 people. As we drove in we could see numerous river cruise boats lining the banks, cyclists everywhere and a ... read more

Today is our last day in Edinburgh, and Scotland. This evening we fly to Germany to spend a few days on the Rhine River, with a one-night layover in Buchenbeuren or something like that. First, we packed all our stuff up and put in the hostel's storage room, since we had to check out by 10:30am and our flight didn't leave until 6:10pm. After storing our gear, we headed out to see what we could see our last day. We wandered around a bit before we found a museum called "The People's Story". Very interesting, and free. It shows what life was like for the average person in Edinburgh, going back hundreds of years. It was amazing to see how the average folk lived back even a late as the early 1900s. By the time we ... read more

We had our last breakfast at the Hotel Seeburg, had a last walk, took a few pictures with the sun shining, and checked out. We got to the station for our regular train but, for once, it was late! Sure, it was less then 10 minutes but it made us miss the train to Interlaken West since all the schedules are so tight. We decided to just walk between stations. This time, because we knew where we were going, it was easier and seemed much shorter. We did some last minute shopping, got our tickets, and headed back to Mannheim Station in Germany. As we were leaving Switzerland, we got a few questions from what we guessed were Customs Agents. We showed him the souvenirs we bought and he kind of rolled his eyes and went ... read more