Today the Alemannia continued its journey south and turned off the Rhine to motor up the Mosel Rriver. Along the way the scenery changed dramatically from Holland – we were now surrounded by rocky hills and grape vines growing on impossibly steep slopes, sometimes in very small pockets between the rocky slopes. In the afternoon we arrived at the wine town of Cochem in the centre of the Mosel (Moselle) region. During the trip we traveled through a number of locks which was quite interesting. In some, be boat only just fits, with less than 1m each side. There are controls at either side of the bridge so that the captain can watch how close it is to the side.
After lunch a large group headed off in buses (not everyone is doing the included or optional yours) to visit the castle of Eltz. On the way we passed through some small villages which, to me, were reminiscent of villages in France.After about 45 mins we arrived at a carpark and proceeded to walk down a very steep road and saw the castle, perched on a rocky hill in the middle of a valley – effectively it was built on an ‘island’, almost impregnable except for a single narrow road. It would have been more impressive if it hadn’t been almost completely covered by scaffolding for restoration work being done as part of a ‘stimulus package’. The castle itself was commenced in the 12th centrury and ‘finished in the 18th century - built and added to by a single wealthy family over 7oo years. They originally made their money by taxing travelers & merchants who had to travel through the only pass through the region. The castle contained original (and added) features and artifacts dating to the 1100s, including weapons and gold treasures that were just amazing, even more so because they weren’t collected and exhibited in a museum, but have remained there since their original purchases hundreds of yours ago. The trip back was uneventful but hot as the temperature had reached the high 20s and the air conditioning in the bus was not working or turned on!
We arrived back in Cochem with about an hour to spare before dinner, and quickly explored the town. It’s a lovely little town, and we wandered into a fantastic bottle shop where was sampled some delicious dry Moselles and Rieslings, and a stunning sparkling Riesling. As opposed to Australia, they are much more generous with their tasting quantities, and more realistic in their pricing. We bought a still and sparkling Riesling, but then couldn’t drink them with dinner on the boat without paying and exorbitant corkage.
Dinner was good as usual – the food, with some exceptions has been excellent, and in reasonable portions so that you don’t overeat, however we both felt that we’ve put on weight. We’ve also found some company in an English couple, Chris & Roger, who live in France and their friends Elisabeth and Burkhart (Germans) who live in Germany. We are among the approximately dozen English speakers on a boat of 170 passengers. That night the crew put on a cabaret act which was interesting and mildly entertaining, however I would recommend that NONE of them give up their day jobs! There was also a ticket draw with a number of small prizes. Just as Frances and I were discussing the fact that we never win anything, they announced the major prize for the night, a coffee maker and a bottle of German sparkling wine which would have been useless for us, and WE WON. We couldn’t believe it as we’ve resisted buying almost anything because of the weight of our existing baggage and now we had these two additional items!
During the night the Allemania traveled back down the Moselle to the city of Koblenz.
