Geo: 49.7229, 6.62114Following the Mossel River was quite interesting. It curves a great deal and unlike the Rhine it has locks to account for the changes in elevation of the river.Cochem was interesting but very touristy. There were some interesting buildings of historical significance.We continued to Trier which is considered by some to be the oldest city in Germany. The Porta Nigra is one of the remaining structures.The other impressive structure was the Cathedral. It is a very large structure and it was possible to visit the crypt as well as the gardens. We are staying at the edge of town and took a bus into town and back.The hotel has a large outdoor eating area specializing in wood smoked foods. We ordered ribs and one order would have been adequate for both of us.... read more

Geo: 49.9689, 7.88394Rhens is well situated due to rail and boat connections. The KDL Line runs boats up and down the Rhine. We were able to get the boat about 10 minutes from the hotel. It will be a 5 hour trip Bingen. There are many stops. It seems that these stops are often pickup and drop off points for bus tours. Generally it seems that most of the bus tours get about a 2 hour ride.The boats are quite luxurious with multiple dining rooms with white table cloths, etc - mostly for the tour bus crowd. The rest of us ordered from a simple menu. However, we got to sit outside and enjoy the scenery and the great weather.This particular stretch of the Rhine is considered to be particularly pretty. Lots of interesting villages and ... read more

Geo: 50.9184, 6.84083It was about a 20 minute walk to catch the tram into Cologne. We explored the city on foot visiting the Cathedral as well as several other places of interesting. During the Second World War much of the city was destroyed but the Cathedral suffered minimal damage.The Waterfront area is very pleasant and we visited the Chocolate Museum.Because today is Sunday most of the shops are closed and lots of people were out enjoying the weather.We met a lady from Calgary. Her husband is involved with the world hockey championship being held here tonight. Canada is playing Sweden. She mentioned her tickets last night were $400 so we will watch on TV.We saw the Swedish Team in town so we let them know we were Canadian Fans.... read more

Geo: 50.8381, 4.42108We The transit system here is excellent. The local station was about 11 walking minutes from where we are staying. The subway was about 7 stations from Central Station. First stop was what is known as the Grand Place which is a large square surrounded by some quite impressive buildings. From there we wandered around an adjacent neighbourhood which is located in what is referred to as the lower town. Our next destination was the European Parliament buildings. The EU government is located here and also in Luxembourg and Strasbourg. The complex in Brussels is very large with multiple buildings and connecting skywalks.We were not able to go inside the EU buildings but the Parliamentarium which we could enter was very interesting. The history, functions and goals for the EU were examined.Across the street ... read more

Geo: 51.2074, 3.218Today was quite a bit of driving. We visited the Passchendaele Museum, the town of Zonnebeke, the Tyne Cot cemetery and finally the Vimy Memorial.It is hard to imagine this peaceful landscape in the midst of a terrible bloody war.The Vimy Memorial completed in 1936 looks like it is new and sits at the top of the ridge captured by the Canadian soldiers.Those of you who have been following our blog I received some disappointing news. The blog site is closing on June 19 forever. I have liked using it because it exports to Facebook, allows me to email the page to others and finally create a print/photo book.I have always backed up photos to Dropbox so it means I don't lose those.I will have to rethink. They are offering a backup service but ... read more