Summer time and the livin is easy

 

So we have turned the corner in a few ways now. We have drifted down the Rhine to Koblenz and turned the corner heading towards France via the Moselle. In our heads we have also just turned the corner and started thinking about when we pick up the pace from Geneva onwards in a day or so. We are about the half way mark in this journey. Drifting along by foot is fine enough but wheeling the ever growing bags around trains and boats is never that much fun. Good weight training but not something you want to do all the time.

The weather is set to hold above or about 30 degrees for at least the next week as we get around eating our ice creams and drinking a little more than usual. From here we head into warmer Austria so the pace of things is likely to be similar to here.

 

We took eight days to cover the Rhine and Moselle rivers, staying in Wiesbaden, Bacharach, St Goar, Koblenz and Cochem. And the flow of the river systems helped us to slow down almost as much as the unusually warm weather. Around here, life at the moment is very relaxed.

 

The River ferries schedules do vary as we found in Braubach the other day after we hopped off a ferry to visit Marksburg castle and have lunch in this very smart village only to discover that our mid afternoon ferry was not running that particular day. So we spent an extra hour just sitting in the park near the river chatting to two different German men. One was waiting for his wife to return by ferry after a day bike riding up the Rhine; the other was simply out and about for a chat, even if with foreigners. Randall had made a short visit to the castle in 2012 but had exited before the guided tour he had joined was completed. So it was good to finish the tour this time.

 

We also had a good bike ride along the Rhine the other day together with the rest of Germany. All shapes and sizes getting around and a great place for bikes as it is nice and flat. Seats a little hard though. And unlike quite a few, we did not have power assisted bikes.

 

We also thought about taking the train up the Moselle to Cochem instead of taking the ferry upstream (5 hours plus) as planned. But the train idea went out the window due to timetable change so we went back to the original ferry plan. It was a very leisurely day on the Moselle from Koblenz to Cochem, a tourist oriented town not disimilar to Rudesheim in that regard, although Cochem is a more up market town. But we did feel that an afternoon and night in Cochem was adequate so we finished off our river tripping by catching a Monday morning train to Trier, one of the oldest towns in Germany for a short visit before taking the train back to Koblenz. Trier has a Roman heritage and a well presented old town which we gradually walked around, despite the heat.

 

Our German is improving and we are finding the people to be friendly and helpful. Sure some are carrying a bit of excess weight at this time of the year especially, but they are out and about all the same. The Moselle is a summer playground for many Germans with boating and camping heaven and there were groups of people along the whole river enjoying a rest in the shade or a dip in the river, boating or skiing. Can I have another wieswine/Rose/appfleschorle please?

 

Although Germany might be carrying Europe economically, this is a relaxed country, confident in itself. The Rhineland is an interesting place to visit and observe. But as it is with the tourist life, we must move on.