Mulheim-Karlich
Trip Start
Aug 23, 2008
1
5
7
Trip End
Oct 22, 2008
Koblenz,
Germany
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Verena and Marc you will be pleased to know that the first thing I did when I arrived here was go and buy a pair of jeans and a warm jacket. I so needed it. Seemingly overnight the temperatures dropped. Saturday night in Munich was cold and Sunday during the day was just as cold. Koblenz was also 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 up a couple of passengers because the current was so strong.
The next day we drove up the Mosel river to a town called Cochem. The Rhein and Mosel rivers both meet at Koblenz. We visited a castle up there and saw a lady with a falcon doing a dispaly for children. It was interesting to watch. Oh, and we stopped for coffee when we arrived and before we left. Manfred needs his coffee breaks!
Thursday we packed up and headed to the Netherlands. Manfred and Mieke have a caravan up there. Meike is originally from Amsterdam. Funnily enough the area we were going to was Zeeland. We were there for four day and had beautiful weather. It was cold when we left Germany but as soon as we arrived at the camp site, I was running round in a singlet it was that warm. Ok maybe just a little cold for that, but I was stubborn and foolish enough to do it. Each day while were were there we headed to a new town/village. I covered a lot of ground in those four days. I even visited the North Sea three times, stuck my feet in the water once and saw motorcross races on the beach. One day Meike and I rode bikes to a nearby viallge. Everyone travels on bikes in the Netherlands and quite commonly in the towns in Germany too. One thing I had to do while in the Netherlands was eat a Herring Dutch style, which is raw with onions on it. It took me a while to eat it, trust me. Between being raw and having bones getting stuck in your teeth, it was an experience and not one I am in a hurry to repeat.
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 Manfred left Mieke and I in town as he wasn't feeling well. We caught a very full bus home later. Saturday was a special trip in just for Italian Eis (Ice). Apparently it's a must.
Sunday, I sat through a German church service. It was much like home except all in German. There were a couple of English songs sung not that I knew them. After lunch we headed to Bad-Ems, which is a famous bath town on the river Ems. The Russian Zar and the Dutch Royal family used to come down here. There is a beautiful palace on the river too. Can some rich friend buy it for me please!
And that has been my journey for the last two weeks. Tomorrow I am catching a train to Säarbruken then jumping on another train to Paris. I am spending two weeks in France, not all in one place, Paris, Tours, Nice and the French Riverea and Marseille. I will update you with the details of my adventures as they come to hand. Hope all is well at home. And for those of you missing me, I'll be home soon (3 weeks left).
Comments
Jealous!
Hi Lynley!
Sounds like you've had some fantastic adventures in Deutschland. Jealous indeed of all the fun you're having..thanks for the postcard you sent to Hayley and I which arrived last week. Hope you enjoy France. Looking forward to seeing you home soon. Just in time for election mayhem and summer!
xx Trace