Contel Koblenz

... So viel ist schon passiert, so wenig habe ich bisher erlebt. Neue Freunde, eine 2te Familie und ein ganz anderes Leben erwarten mich hier. New York, meine neue Liebe! <br><br>Jetzt, mit mehr Zeit und Muse widme ich mich dem langersehnten Lebenszeichen. :) <br><br>Viel Spaß beim lesen!<br><br>

Seriously. A real medieval CASTLE. The Rhine Valley is freakin´ adorable. But it wasn´t easy to get to...<br>Instead of shelling out 100 Euro for a train from Munich, we were lucky that our new friend Matias was heading back north, so we got to experience the Autobahn. I think we only got up to about 180 km/hr. So we got to see some of the countryside, and then they dropped us off at a random train station pretty much in the middle of nowhere. From ...

This is not a great adventure, more a welcome back.<br><br>It is great to be back in Villiprott to visit our old friends since the 70ies. Now I have been staying with them for two weeks and we have done a lot of different things. This part of Germany have many interesting places to visit, both nature and culture.<br>

... The waiter was actually the owner and he spoke English so we chatted a little and I watched soccer on the TV and also some spiked hair punks cause a scene and the police came and that was about it. So it was nice few drink layover in Koblentz. Back on the train to Bremen and on to Finland!!

So on the way to Trier, the train traveled right besides the Rhine River. It was AMAZING! The trip between Mantz and Koblenz was the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. There were boats just traveling up and down the river and plenty of vineyards on the rolling hills along with river. Also every 4 minutes there was another town and a larger church in ...

... the trip. I&#8217;ll be staying in hostels for the rest of the trip. And my feet really needed a rest. Not only did I walk for two hours getting to/from Burg Katz, but I spent a lot of time walking around Cochem too. And I think my feet are starting to chronically hurt because of all the walking I&#8217;ve been doing. They feel okay during the day, but after I rested in my room for awhile I could barely walk.<br><br>Oh well&#8230;only one week ...

... fireworks. The most amazing fireworks design this year was a perfect "Smiley Face" :-) , and I was very lucky to have managed the perfect shot of this fireworks display. <br><br>The echoes from each firing that echoed back several times throughout the valley were amazing. Equally amazing the light shows along each of the castles, and the waterfall cascade fireworks cascading down ...

... and Amsterdam in Netherlands. Philip and Lawrence both took their cars over for the tour, with highlight of the Nürbergring racetrack. As they say, what happens on tour stays on tour, but we had a brilliant time. Here's a few pictures and video's from the Germany part of the trip, courtesy of Elias, who had the commonsense to bring a camera.

... big day ahead. <br><br>By 10:30 we were headed on a scenic drive along the Mosel towards Burg Eltz. The Mosel was lovely and picturesque but it became an even nicer drive once we left the river and headed into the hills towards the castle. <br> <br>Burg Eltz is unique in that it has remained intact for 700 years. Being in a valley helped protect it from attack and it is an incredible sight to see. Arriving by car you pay &#8364;1.50 to park ...

... Tuesday we came back to Germany (it's a four hour drive through the Netherlands, Belgum and the Netherlands again to get to the campsite). Manfred and Mieke had some friends turn up who were on their way home from canoe marathon races in Chechz Republic. They stayed a night and were an interesting couple. After they left we walked through Koblenz but it started raining on us so we had to cut the trip short. It took us three days to finally see and do all we wanted to in Koblenz. One day ...