Traveled to Trier, the oldest city in Germany, but just for lunch and to see the Roman Porta Nigra (Black Gate), which is the only surviving gate (thanks Napolean for not destroying everything) from the Roman days - 2nd century AD.
-Then came in to the wonderful, beautiful, cozy, hilly Cochem.
After we got the cute and inexpensive little zimmer (or room) with the small, chatty German lady (Andreas), we looked around town - not only an amazing castle, but hills, Deutsch-esque shops and the river right there. 
We found the chairlift to the top of one of the hills, Pinnekreuz, to overlook the river and valley! We had less than 10 minutes to run out there, look and get back to the chairlifts, but we made it.
Ate at the Cafe Restaurant Hotel Vonderbeck. Had Goulash soup (Hungarian), onion Schnitzel (with fries, of course), apfelstrudel with vanilla sauce and some local wine. Walked around town to walk some of that off. Watched some crazy German game show that's kind of like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, but in German and something to do with places and distance. We didn't understand it, but Stephanie and I were hooked! We all are hooked on the German language. It's just fun.
Day Two
Castle Day! First a full breakfast (okay, we all love soft-boiled eggs now, but do you think we actually knew how to eat them?), bread, eggs, fruit, tea, a bit of OJ, cheese, meat, jam, butter...
We climbed the rest of the hill to Reichsburg Castle.
Day Two
Castle Day! First a full breakfast (okay, we all love soft-boiled eggs now, but do you think we actually knew how to eat them?), bread, eggs, fruit, tea, a bit of OJ, cheese, meat, jam, butter...
We climbed the rest of the hill to Reichsburg Castle. No English tour, but a sheet and a fun guide. It was all redone a couple of centuries ago, but still has that medieval look. It literally is at the peak of a hill overlooking the town.
Then we caught a train to Moselkern and took a road, then a path for about an hour to Burg Eltz. Literally all you can see is a bit of road, hills and the river...it's in the middle of nowhere. 
Again, no English guide, but amazing castle. It's been in the same family for over 800 years so a lot of stuff was original to the castle. Ate bratwurst, fries and dessert (I had Donanwelle, a cake with fruit, a bit of chocolate and some kind of cream).
Came back to roam around Cochem again. Stephanie and I went around to some shops.
We got some snacks and Stephanie bought what was apparently apple juice. All I know is I smelled vinegar and looked up and she was coughing. She took a big swig of this strange vinegar drink (it was not cider vinegar). We laughed, tried to pull it over on Trace, but ended up dumping the rest. Even then it stunk up the whole room.Ate at Zom Stueffje, supposedly where the locals eat. I got a meatloaf type dish, with wine. We really tried not to get fried potatoes, but they didn't understand and we ended up with fried potato balls in the end.
The towns were dressed up for Easter (Frohe Ostern!), which was neat to see. I can imagine this place getting pretty crowded with tourists in the summer. Must be a madhouse!
Day Three
More castles on the Rhine. Travelled to Bacharach by train (Rick Steves Rhine Tour! Obsession has now caught up with Stephanie about Rick Steves, I think)and caught a boat to St. Goar, where the best sites are, I guess.
The Rhine was pretty rapid and the boat was amazing to watch turning around. Katz, Maus, Loreley, Marksburg...stopped at St. Goar to go through the Rheinfels Castle, the best ruin of a castle. It is pretty amazing. 
Only a fifth of it remains and that's pretty big - especially when you consider they are ruins. 
Buildings were six stories tall, there's tunnels underneath and, during conflicts, the castle could hold about 4,500 people.
We pressed on again, this time to Koln (or Colonge), just up the Rhine.
We got our hotel, which when I did get up early in the morning remind me of The Shining, since it was older, had old-fashioned staircase (and we went up two stories, four staircases) and just had that type of feeling. By that time German medicine had worked wonders and I got some relief for all my congestion (lovely being ill), however, I did realize later that is was the drowsy formula. Whether that caused my wonderful night's sleep or not, who knows.
Koln's cathedral is awesome - in the biggest sense of the word.
Bruce said it was the most impressive cathedral he'd ever seen. I would say this and St. Peter's are the top two on my list. It's just huge. And impressive. 
And to see pictures in 1945 of everything around it destroyed and it still standing. We gawked, we looked inside, we were too late to go to the top of the spire (oh, well, next time I'm here). 
We tried to get the whole thing in a picture, but it's humungous! I got close.
Late we went to Brauhaus Sion - a bit like Hofbrahaus, but not quite.
I got potato soup and a gigantic apfelstrudel (I definately didn't get even close to finishing that!) and had a couple of very small beers. We toured around the city at night and then went back to pack things up (or repack - I took a couple of things home for Stephanie and Trace).
Then we caught a train to Moselkern and took a road, then a path for about an hour to Burg Eltz. Literally all you can see is a bit of road, hills and the river...it's in the middle of nowhere. 
Again, no English guide, but amazing castle. It's been in the same family for over 800 years so a lot of stuff was original to the castle. Ate bratwurst, fries and dessert (I had Donanwelle, a cake with fruit, a bit of chocolate and some kind of cream).
Came back to roam around Cochem again. Stephanie and I went around to some shops.
We got some snacks and Stephanie bought what was apparently apple juice. All I know is I smelled vinegar and looked up and she was coughing. She took a big swig of this strange vinegar drink (it was not cider vinegar). We laughed, tried to pull it over on Trace, but ended up dumping the rest. Even then it stunk up the whole room.Ate at Zom Stueffje, supposedly where the locals eat. I got a meatloaf type dish, with wine. We really tried not to get fried potatoes, but they didn't understand and we ended up with fried potato balls in the end.
The towns were dressed up for Easter (Frohe Ostern!), which was neat to see. I can imagine this place getting pretty crowded with tourists in the summer. Must be a madhouse!Day Three
More castles on the Rhine. Travelled to Bacharach by train (Rick Steves Rhine Tour! Obsession has now caught up with Stephanie about Rick Steves, I think)and caught a boat to St. Goar, where the best sites are, I guess.
The Rhine was pretty rapid and the boat was amazing to watch turning around. Katz, Maus, Loreley, Marksburg...stopped at St. Goar to go through the Rheinfels Castle, the best ruin of a castle. It is pretty amazing. 
Only a fifth of it remains and that's pretty big - especially when you consider they are ruins. 
Buildings were six stories tall, there's tunnels underneath and, during conflicts, the castle could hold about 4,500 people.We pressed on again, this time to Koln (or Colonge), just up the Rhine.
We got our hotel, which when I did get up early in the morning remind me of The Shining, since it was older, had old-fashioned staircase (and we went up two stories, four staircases) and just had that type of feeling. By that time German medicine had worked wonders and I got some relief for all my congestion (lovely being ill), however, I did realize later that is was the drowsy formula. Whether that caused my wonderful night's sleep or not, who knows.Koln's cathedral is awesome - in the biggest sense of the word.
Bruce said it was the most impressive cathedral he'd ever seen. I would say this and St. Peter's are the top two on my list. It's just huge. And impressive. 
And to see pictures in 1945 of everything around it destroyed and it still standing. We gawked, we looked inside, we were too late to go to the top of the spire (oh, well, next time I'm here). 
We tried to get the whole thing in a picture, but it's humungous! I got close.Late we went to Brauhaus Sion - a bit like Hofbrahaus, but not quite.
I got potato soup and a gigantic apfelstrudel (I definately didn't get even close to finishing that!) and had a couple of very small beers. We toured around the city at night and then went back to pack things up (or repack - I took a couple of things home for Stephanie and Trace).
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