A long Weekend - Part One: We like Rivers.

River Rhine

Another long weekend lies behind us involving 1,400km of driving, a house warming party at our friends place, visiting our moms, and a mini blogger meet-up, all occasionally interrupted by watching football matches. In order to spice up "the long commute" we traveled along river Rhine, but at Koblenz, we decided on a whim to follow river Moselle upstream.

The Moselle is one of the busiest waterways in Europe. It is the largest German tributary of the Rhine, and flows through France, Luxembourg and Germany before it empties into the Rhine. A winding river bed, steep slopes, wine growing (Riesling, anyone?) and castles are typical characteristics of this river.

Vineyards with Castle Thurant on top

While on a coffee stop in Alken we climbed the old stairs up to St. Michael's chapel (11th century), where we found an old graveyard and an ossuary (learned a new word today). On top of the hill sits Castle Thurant, overlooking the vineyards, the village and the river valley.

View on Alken

We took our next cultural break in Cochem, a romantic village at the river, and popular with the tourist crowds, especially from the Netherlands. Throning on a high hill sits the imperial castle of Cochem. Unfortunately Cochem gets flooded every couple of years when the Moselle bursts its banks, but somehow the inhabitants manage to clean up everything within weeks.

Cochem on right

Cochem Castle

Cochem downtown

Flammkuchen & grape juice

The heart of Cochem

The Calmont bend from below

And from above

Then we said good-bye to the river, with the promise to return... next time on scooters.