7th August - near Koblenz

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Today we got really lost - again. So instead of spending the night in Heidelberg we are staying in a camping ground near Koblenz, near the castle Burg-Pflez.
We started the day pretty well and managed to find our way across Koln to the Dom, with crossing the river only three times. The Dom is a massive cathedral and covers 12,470 square metres. The two spires are 157m high - and yes, we climbed it - all 509 steps. I know, by now some of you will have fallen off your chairs in shock to think that I, Monique, actually climbed that many stairs - but I have photographic evidence that I did it! Anyway, part way up the stairs you can have a breather (since the stair case is so narrow and stuffy) and see the 24 tonne Peter Bell - it’s huge! Once you get to the top you are 98.25 metres high and have great views over the city.
The Dom is massive inside - photos don’t do it justice. The ground stone was laid in 1248 but it wasn’t fully constructed until 1880. It managed to stay intact during WWII as the Allied forces used it for navigation purposes. The Dom has heaps of Shrines - even one which reportedly holds some of the bones of the three wise men. Most of the shrines look similar - one casket looking box with a carving of someone lying on the top. The cathedral is full of stained glass windows and people!
After that we decided to head out to Heidelberg via Koblenz as Daniel’s Uncle suggested we go through because it is a beautiful town. Well, this proved to be rather difficult as the road signs here are foreign and the places are unknown and the map only includes some towns and we wanted to get off the autobahns for a more scenic route etc etc. So we kinda took a South West route instead of a South East route and it took as quite a while to figure it all out, although we did get our scenic route. So we managed to arrive in Koblenz around 4pm and decided that was enough. We now have a nice campsite near the river and a castle, which we will explore tomorrow. We just had an announcement over the loud speaker in 3 different languages with a rich German accent that it is now 10pm and we have to all be quiet and the children will now be sleeping. So we will now sign off and stop all this noisy typing. Shhhhh...kviet now pleaz!
Ps - I did manage to do some grocery shopping on the way this time, so we didn’t need to take another 1.5 hour shopping trip. Daniel managed to find a mini keg of beer - 5L, so that will keep him happy!
Pps - just after typing this we went outside to take some night photos when I saw some flashes - Daniel didn’t see them at all, so we carried on, then after a really big sheet of lightning he saw it too. Soon there was lightning everywhere and the thunder got closer. Daniel, of course went to take some photos while I got everything under cover. Once the rain started we went to bed - but the storm didn’t last for too much longer.

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Photos

The Dom
In Koln

A view inside the Dom
It's to impressive to capture in a photo - this just shows the size of it.

For Dion
Railway mess in Koln

Daniel in heaven
See, he found the biggest beer possible!

A small German town
...isn't it cute!

For my sisters
Look what I found...yummy!