Hotel Hohenstaufen Koblenz

... of course) and the Castle is on top of a huge hill (of course). Did I mention the cab was a brand new Mercedes?
At any rate, we got to our wonderful Castle and were hoping for no rain the next day so we could take a boat trip... no such luck. The rain has returned on our trip. Instead, we took the train up to Koblenz. The entire river is littered with castles. Most have them have been converted into hotels it seems. And the towns along the ...

"Featured Excursion: Koblenz walking tour

Optional Tour: Enjoy a visit to Marksburg Castle, the best-preserved castle on
the Rhine, with winetasting.

Arrive in Koblenz, situated on the beautiful corner at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle. Your ...

... 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 ...

... I made it back to Cochem it was lunchtime and I was kind of mad that I’d spent so much time to go to Burg Katz. I kind of didn’t feel like doing anything else for the rest of the day, but I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t at least go see Cochem.

So I walked to the main square, which was very pretty with half-timbered buildings. But the city itself felt too big. There were a bunch of retail stores and lots of ...

... to Koblenz, and change trains to go up the Mosel River to Cochem. But there were a bunch more castles on the Rhine and I felt like the train was too fast to really see them. So I changed my mind and decided to take the slower boat, even though the train station in Koblenz was a 20 minute walk from the boat dock.

I was very glad I decided to take the boat, at least at first. My boat trip the day before had been too short and there ...

... Derek's, but it ended up being late. So Derek had to go over and get on his train, which was waiting on the track. His train must have been waiting on mine to leave, because his train was still sitting there when my train finally showed up and left 10 minutes late. We managed to catch a glimpse of each other and wave goodbye as the trains passed.

And then I was on my own again. And I almost immediately made the biggest boo-boo of my trip. I was actually ...

... Rhine river, which usually has a width of 300 - 400 meters, narrows down to 145 meters. In addition, strong currents and dangerous rocks below the surface increase the risk to shipping ever since the Rhine river has been used for shipping. At St. Goars, the Rhine broadens to 250 meters. Still, the valley remains very narrow with high verticle rock faces leaving very little room for ...

... other type of machine where you punch in a code on the keypad for where you want to go. It cost €4.50 each back to Koblenz and we had 30 minutes before the train so we popped into the café just outside the station to have yet another drink. I’m sure you can see why my notes are practically illegible!

I should mention that my worries about the language were unfounded. I think we only ...

... just as cold. The temperatures are between 5 and 17 degrees C. Having said that, today is beautiful and warm and closer to 20 C. The sun is out and the sky is cloudless. We had to freeze through fog till about 12:30pm, but once that cleared it was very warm. While I have been here I have taken a trip on a boat up the Rhein to Boppard. It took us two hours to get there and and hour to come back. The currents are strong on the Rhein. At one point the captain couldn't dock the boat to pick ...