Up at 07:30 for breakfast feeling a bit better than yesterday morning. The ship departed Rudesheim at six o’clock this morning but I didn’t hear a thing.
Today we are sailing with the flow of the Rhine and travelling much faster than the last two days. We make our way back up to Koblenz and then join the Moselle towards Cochem, our home for the night.
There are three locks we have to navigate which will slow the journey down and we expect to arrive in Cochem at three o’clock. The locks are incredible and we must drop 30 feet each time we enter one.
The Moselle is not as wide as the Rhine and the scenery although similar to that of the Rhine seems much softer and gentler. You are much closer to the vineyards that cling to the hills and it is a wonder that they can grow with all of the rock. I wouldn’t want to be picking the grapes on some of these vineyards as they are so high and steep.
Dave makes lunch today!
This afternoon we are taking most of the passengers to the castle situated high above Cochem and spend the lunch hour taking numbers on who will walk and who will go by taxi.
Stephen is going with the people in the taxi as he needs to be at the castle first to organise the tickets and tours. Phil and myself will walk up with the others.
The boat is late and seems to take an age to dock but we are in no rush and soon the two groups have sorted themselves out and we are on our way.
The ship has docked on the opposite side of the river to the town so we have to walk across the road bridge, along the promenade and then up the steep road to the castle. And it is steep. My poor little legs! I asked the lady driving one of the taxi’s for the best way to walk to the castle and she showed me saying it will take half an hour.
We manage it in about twenty minutes and arrive at the same time as the first taxi! It made me sweat a bit but I enjoyed the chance to really stretch my legs and have a decent walk. It is worth coming up for the views alone, they are fantastic.
We are split into two groups and Stephen takes his on the first tour while we wait for the second guide.
Our guide appears and introduces himself as Comi but as one of the passengers remarks he looks a whole lot like Lenny Henry! He is very jovial and obviously proud to be showing us around the castle. In one of the rooms he cracks a joke about opening a door which is bricked up behind, warning beforehand for people to have their cameras ready. It is funny but Comi can’t stop giggling at his joke.
I wasn’t too impressed with the castle as it is not that old and all of the furnishings, paintings and fittings are additions that make it feel more like a museum than a castle. The outside is very impressive though and as I said earlier the views are magnificent. The tour last just under an hour and Comi provides a very interesting and light hearted tour.
The walk down to the town is a lot quicker than the walk up and I had forgotten how attractive Cochem is.
Dave makes and eats dinner tonight!
After dinner the four of us walk into town for a beer and hopefully to see some football as Chelsea are playing in the Champions League against a Cypriot team tonight.
We find a bar with the football on but not the Chelsea game. It is a Sky Sports channel in German showing Bayern Munich versus Juventus. All of a sudden the game switches for a few minutes to another game and then to another so I manage to catch a few minutes of Chelsea’s game amongst all of the other matches. Chelsea win 1-0 so I’m happy.
There are a couple of English lads in the bar who are a right couple of chancers. They spend a while boring us with their tales of earning 150-200 Euros a day laying tarmac and driving a lorry and of being put in prison for five days while being completely innocent! Luckily they move on, charm and all, to two unfortunate German girls!
Back at the boat we have a couple of drinks at the bar before being told the bar is now shut as it is past midnight. We have a Swiss boat moored alongside and I wander in there to ask if there abr is open but am told it is both closed and only open to the ship’s passengers. I don’t think they were to impressed.
Then Atilla, one of the waiters, came back in from an evening out and found a couple of bottles of Leffe beer which we took up to the sun deck to enjoy. Mind you I don’t know if enjoy is the correct word as they are a very strong 6.6 per cent!
Today we are sailing with the flow of the Rhine and travelling much faster than the last two days. We make our way back up to Koblenz and then join the Moselle towards Cochem, our home for the night.
There are three locks we have to navigate which will slow the journey down and we expect to arrive in Cochem at three o’clock. The locks are incredible and we must drop 30 feet each time we enter one.
The Moselle is not as wide as the Rhine and the scenery although similar to that of the Rhine seems much softer and gentler. You are much closer to the vineyards that cling to the hills and it is a wonder that they can grow with all of the rock. I wouldn’t want to be picking the grapes on some of these vineyards as they are so high and steep.
Dave makes lunch today!
This afternoon we are taking most of the passengers to the castle situated high above Cochem and spend the lunch hour taking numbers on who will walk and who will go by taxi.
Stephen is going with the people in the taxi as he needs to be at the castle first to organise the tickets and tours. Phil and myself will walk up with the others.
The boat is late and seems to take an age to dock but we are in no rush and soon the two groups have sorted themselves out and we are on our way.
The ship has docked on the opposite side of the river to the town so we have to walk across the road bridge, along the promenade and then up the steep road to the castle. And it is steep. My poor little legs! I asked the lady driving one of the taxi’s for the best way to walk to the castle and she showed me saying it will take half an hour.
We manage it in about twenty minutes and arrive at the same time as the first taxi! It made me sweat a bit but I enjoyed the chance to really stretch my legs and have a decent walk. It is worth coming up for the views alone, they are fantastic.
We are split into two groups and Stephen takes his on the first tour while we wait for the second guide.
Our guide appears and introduces himself as Comi but as one of the passengers remarks he looks a whole lot like Lenny Henry! He is very jovial and obviously proud to be showing us around the castle. In one of the rooms he cracks a joke about opening a door which is bricked up behind, warning beforehand for people to have their cameras ready. It is funny but Comi can’t stop giggling at his joke.
I wasn’t too impressed with the castle as it is not that old and all of the furnishings, paintings and fittings are additions that make it feel more like a museum than a castle. The outside is very impressive though and as I said earlier the views are magnificent. The tour last just under an hour and Comi provides a very interesting and light hearted tour.
The walk down to the town is a lot quicker than the walk up and I had forgotten how attractive Cochem is.
Dave makes and eats dinner tonight!
After dinner the four of us walk into town for a beer and hopefully to see some football as Chelsea are playing in the Champions League against a Cypriot team tonight.
We find a bar with the football on but not the Chelsea game. It is a Sky Sports channel in German showing Bayern Munich versus Juventus. All of a sudden the game switches for a few minutes to another game and then to another so I manage to catch a few minutes of Chelsea’s game amongst all of the other matches. Chelsea win 1-0 so I’m happy.
There are a couple of English lads in the bar who are a right couple of chancers. They spend a while boring us with their tales of earning 150-200 Euros a day laying tarmac and driving a lorry and of being put in prison for five days while being completely innocent! Luckily they move on, charm and all, to two unfortunate German girls!
Back at the boat we have a couple of drinks at the bar before being told the bar is now shut as it is past midnight. We have a Swiss boat moored alongside and I wander in there to ask if there abr is open but am told it is both closed and only open to the ship’s passengers. I don’t think they were to impressed.
Then Atilla, one of the waiters, came back in from an evening out and found a couple of bottles of Leffe beer which we took up to the sun deck to enjoy. Mind you I don’t know if enjoy is the correct word as they are a very strong 6.6 per cent!
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