The Berlin Wall - Twenty Years

One of the symbols of communism is the famous car of the day, the Trabant. A car that most people had to wait ten years to own and probably kept until death.

I saw one of these beauties on my trip to the former east Germany last year. A perfectly preserved "Trabi" as the nostalgic former East Germans liked to call it.

I think my cousin and his wife actually owned of these once. I think the top speed was around 60 km h. Big difference from the car he chauffeured me around in last year when we actually hit speeds of 200km on the autobahn.

For interested readers here is the history of the Berlin Wall that divided Germany for too many years.

A photo gallery of then and now can be found here.

The Father Rhine

I was born in Germany and have been back more than half a dozen times but have never gone down the Rhine on a ship, ever. We did it by car two years ago on our Mosel river trip but decided a boat trip was definitely overdue. Our goal was from Mainz to St. Goar were we would spend a few hours wandering before catching the return ship. That, by the way became another adventure, but that will be the next post.

We started early in the morning and the fog was still fairly dense. Once it cleared it was a perfect day with not a cloud in the sky. The ship, the Koeln-Düsseldorf, was not crowded and we snagged some nice upper deck chairs. That was later to change but for the moment it was very relaxing to cruise down the river through the fog in almost total silence.


The trip lasted four hours and anyone visiting the area should do this trip. If you are in the country on the third Saturday of September you can do this cruise in the evening for the special day called Rhine In Flames. I have never been fortunate enough to see it but hope to some day.

Cafe Weisses Haus - Wiesbaden, Germany

Americans will appreciate this photo. It is a replica of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Way back in the early 1900’s there was a gentleman named Friedrich Wilhelm Soehnlein, (sorry, my keyboard doesn’t have umlauts, those funny little dots that go on top of the o’s and u’s in German words, hence the oe in this guy’s name). He was a well known rich dude who produced sparkling wine (Sekt) in the region and contracted to build this villa for his wife. She was the well know Emma Pabst of the American brewery family and he wanted her to feel at home in far away Germany hence the name Weisses Haus,(White House).

There’s a bit of history as well with Americans as they liked the house so much the American military took it over in 1945 and used it until 1990. The family that owns it now started restoring in 2006 and about two weeks ago it opened as a café. I wish them well but have serious doubts about the success of this café. The setting is to die for with beautiful gardens and a wonderful view of one of Wiesbaden’s many gorgeous parks across the street. The service is another matter altogether.

It was a comedy and a tragedy and in spite of being annoyed, my friends and I couldn’t stop laughing at the comedy of it all. When you enter this café you choose your cake and are given a slip of paper with the cake number written on it. It appeared not help an iota as two of the three were the wrong. Our coffee arrived first and by the time the cake eventually arrived at our table it was actually cold. We observed two couples actually get up and leave in frustration. There were four wait staff and a supervisor type person and all appeared totally clueless. There was not one dedicated waiter per table and we personally were served by three different people. We watched as three waiters and supervisor got into a loud and heated discussion at the next table with the customers over the bill. We watched and laughed as waiters came out of the restaurant to the patio and went from table to table asking if this was their order! Kind of bizarre as each table was numbered and if the staff was dedicated to a table this would never have occurred.

We ordered some wine since it was my last day. The menu offered .1 liter and we asked for double that amount. We watched as the waitress brought the wine out and again went to four different tables before finally getting to ours. She simply could not remember an order from 5 minutes earlier. But the icing on the cake so to speak, we were not allowed to have a double glass of wine. Even though the glass was large enough and showed the .1 and .2 liter marks we were told, sorry no can do… We decided not to have a second glass and they lost about 12 euros on us. When the we asked for our bill another comedy ensued. The waiter didn’t know exactly what we had and my friend Petra quietly told him what we owed.

I don’t usually comment too much on restaurants but this time I couldn’t help myself. This is not an inexpensive place by any stretch. The simplest of breakfasts will set you back 15 euros and a piece of cake comes in around 4,70 euro. Mistakes like the ones we witnessed should have been ironed out in the first week max and this place should have been running like clockwork. Sadly it was not. Will it survive? Probably… but only because of the amazing ambience, not the service…

Bye Bye Tuesday...

Everything bad that happens to Steve usually happens on a Tuesday. He's pretty superstitious that way, me not so much. But after yesterday, he almost has me convinced.

Honey, the computer crashed. Yup, the hard drive rolled over and died and all our business documents are not salvageable. Good thing I have back-ups, somewhere!

He looks pretty miserable doesn't he?




Honey, the washing machine sounds like it's going to explode! It didn't but it didn't drain the water either.

Doesn't get better.



Ah, a little better...I found a cheap hard drive today for him and after reloading all his stuff things should be better for his mood.

And he got the washing machine repaired for me. I'm glad, I didn't relish the idea of wringing clothes out by hand. With the economy the way it is these days buying a new computer and washing machine were not on my agenda.

Ah yes, finally something to smile about, Tuesday is gone.



The pictures above seemed kind of appropriate today but really, they are from the Island of Usedom, the most north/east part of Germany. Germany shares this island with Poland and is also the location of Peenemuende. That will be a whole other post...

The End Of The Berlin Wall - November 9, 1989

On this day in 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. What I thought would never happen in my lifetime, did. This was such an amazing day for me for two reasons. My mother still had family behind that wall and this would make her very happy. The second reason was that my mother was in fact in the hospital on the road to recovery from Pancreatitis. She'd been there 8 weeks by this time and they were just getting ready to take her gallbladder out. I was able to tell her the news before she went into the operating room but I'm not sure she really understood. Later of course, after the anesthetic had worn off she understood and was incredibly happy.

That was the day she said we'd make the trip back together. That never happened and I went alone.

Remnants of the wall seen from the River Spree. Many people died trying to cross the wall and swim across the river to the west. Some made it...



The reunification has not been easy for both sides and the resentment still lingers today. West Germany accumulated billions in debt in the process. The east expected more and the west didn't think it would cost so much. I think that will take a few more years before that works itself out.

My cousin tells me that after "die wende" which is how reunification is currently referred to and loosely translated means "the turning point", the Russians took everything of value and left. Every factory was emptied down to the last screw and taken away leaving nothing for the residents for a new beginning. Those buildings and factories are a depressing sight.

A Residence For Russian Soldiers





It is still a very depressed area of Germany with no industry to speak of. Farmland lies fallow because nobody knows who owns it and with EU rules on output, well what's the point of growing stuff. The unemployment rate stands close to 20 percent in this part of Germany.

It is a beautiful part of Germany with the Baltic sea and there is some tourism but not enough. While I was there I saw no tourists other than a few Germans from the south. Things are a lot less expensive than in other parts of Germany and the Euro goes a lot further there.

The people here are very friendly and polite. They are also very resigned and cynical especially towards politicians. They have been promised much twice, once by the Russians and the second time by west German politicians and both times have been left to fend for themselves. The people I spoke with said that things were better before reunification. They all had a job, they had a place to live and food on the table. They didn't have the luxuries that we in the west have but now with so few jobs most still don't have them. They were all in the same boat.

Some things are better of course, you no longer have to worry about being spied upon by a neighbour or even a relative in some cases, and reported to the authorities. Now you can live and travel in freedom. I was told that prior to "die wende" every apartment building had a superintendent whose job it was to record all visitors in the building. So if you had a party for example, you had to register every guest. He had a book to write the names in and I suspect that he probably turned that in to the authorities for inspection from time to time. If you had a visitor that was known to speak against the state would you receive a visit from the Stasi? Can any one of us in the west imagine living like that?

The streets around the towns and villages are so clean, something the rest of the world could emulate. There is no litter on the streets, not even cigarette butts.

Even the horses aren't allowed to litter...



Not even one tiny piece of litter to be found anywhere, I think that's pretty cool, don't you?

Back To The Sun - Not Quite

I was really looking forward to coming back to Athens – for the sun and of course to see my husband who didn’t come to Germany with me. In spite of having a good time on my trip I seriously missed him. I arrived here to dark clouds, cold and rain, hear that Herbert and Addi, it doesn’t only rain in Greifswald. I guess it followed me from the Baltics.

A little picnic stop on the way from Greifswald to Berlin. There's everything in that trunk but the kitchen sink. One thing was certain, I wasn't leaving Germany hungry...

While I was gone I had hoped a few things would be taken care of here in this simple abode of ours the most important of which being hooking up the solar panels to the hot water tank. Nada, zip, zilch… still no hot water. What the heck do I have to do to get hot water, geesh… On the other hand, the entire time I was gone my sweetie was sick with a cold as was his entire family and he spent the whole 10 days at his mother’s home. Didn’t leave him much time to get anything done.

Yesterday I convinced him that we really needed to go shopping and get some basics to make life more comfortable, you know things like chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. A couple blankets were also a good idea since the weather was seriously cold and I froze the first night. I am pretty sure that sleeping on a rubber bed on a cold ceramic tile floor is the problem. There is no heat as yet since the heater needs service and finding the guy to come do it is not easy. Part of the reason it is so chilly in this building I think is because it is an unoccupied 4 storey building. No one has ever lived here so there is no warmth in it at all. Somehow I think that if there was furniture in every unit and people living here it wouldn’t be so cold.

Today (Tuesday) though, the sun is out again and it’s starting to warm up. It’s market day and it’s just up the street from us so I’ll score a frying pan and a few other odds and sods so maybe I can cook something for dinner besides a frozen pizza.

I am so trying to gather my thoughts about all the things I saw and heard in the former East Germany and put them to paper but since I am not a natural writer it doesn’t come easy. I am certain that some people had it hard while others not so much. I saw the film The Lives Of Others and maybe wrongly assumed that all were treated in that manner. If you were a member of The Party, life was certainly better than for those who weren’t and none of my family members were party members that I’m aware of. What I can’t forgive however is the fact that due to the political system of the day, I have lost a whole lot of family never to reconnect. Over 50 years without contact does that I guess. It was only due to the diligence of my parents and my cousin’s parents who faithfully wrote letters that kept us connected and gave me the opportunity to be close to this one wonderful cousin and his wife. One or two other’s showed some interest but most couldn’t be bothered to meet with me. Although it bothered me a bit in the beginning I do understand and don’t hold it against them. After all I am a virtual stranger to them.

This post is being written over a number of days because I don’t have any internet access and have to go to a café. Today though I will post it. It is downright cold here with a gray sky that I might have brought with me from Germany, who the heck knows….catch ya later…

A Final Walk

It's funny how fast 10 days can go by, it seems like just yesterday that I arrived here in my Mother's homeland. Today I took my final walk along the beach. Tellingly, it was a gray and rainy afternoon although the morning had started out sunny. The clouds hung low in the sky and my mood was similar. I shed some tears thinking back how I should have listened more to the stories my Mom was always telling me but like most people, I thought they'd always be there. Now I break my head trying to remember everything and find I can't.

I loved my Mom, more than most daughters I suspect but I think that came from being a tight and small family unit in a strange land. Since she died in May of 2007 I think of her daily but here in the town of her birth more so. I have met some cousins and and elderly aunt who is now bedridden and clearly in decline but some have shown little interest in meeting me. I suspect that a time span of over 50 years can do that. My wonderful cousin and his lovely wife whose guest I have been, have more than made up for those who have shown no interest. I have seen many things and have heard many stories about life in the former East Germany, some sad and some not so sad. I does my heart good to hear that not all suffered.

The saddest place I visted with Pennemunde and of which I will write another time. It is a very sad place and as I walked around and viewed an old submarine and saw all the abandoned buildings I felt someone walking on my grave. I have heard stories of people running over corpses to escape and somehow I could feel the ghosts. I could hardly wait to get out of that town. It was also where my father came close to loosing his life.

Today on my final day, I walked the beach, gathered some shells and stones and said goodbye...hopefully not forever.

Back to Athens tomorrow and as always, more photos on my Flickr site.

The Time Is A Passing

Soon it will be time to leave this very interesting part of Germany and head back to the warmth of Athens. I heard it was 29.5 c there this morning and here I'm shivering in 10c with lots of gray clouds and rain, brrr...

Yesterday we climbed to the tower of the Dom St Nikolai that also has the nickname of "Long Nicholas" and has a very austere whitewashed interior with a large solitary golden cross. Yes, that would be to the top of the tower in the photo below.



A Little Rest




And yes, those are socks and sandals on my feet...not very pretty but remember, I have a bad foot. Climbing up to that tower was an achievement for me with my foot and slight claustrophobia but I did make it. The view from the top though made it a very worthwhile climb.

A view of the University campus.



There are too many photos to post but they are all on my Flickr site, feel free to visit.

There are many historic buildings in and around the Markt and after the long climb up 260 or so stairs I deserved a treat.



Much to my dismay I couldn't finish that ice cream, it was just too big...

For The Offspring - It's Really 200 Kmh

I was telling my offspring that on the way from Berlin to Greifswald my cousin drove 200 clicks per hour and I'm not sure he believed me. Well yesterday he did it again, on the autobahn and this time being daylight and with camera in hand I have proof.



Another day of sightseeing, eating and of course shopping. We went to the Amber Museum in Ribnitz-Damgarten. There were some beautiful things to see as well as to purchase and of course I could not resist.



We have been walking the beaches looking for amber ourselves but have yet to find any. I have also collected a bag of sand and some seashells from the Baltic Sea which I'm bringing home to Canada with me. I will visit my Mom's grave and leave some there for her.

There have been tears along the way and also lots of laughter. My cousin and his lovely wife are making my visit memorable.

Of course there are many political discussions about life before and after the fall of the Berlin wall but these are subjects for another time.

As always, more photos in the flickr page on the sidebar.

Isle of Ruegen

Before we went off to do this...



And this...



And definately this...



I had to make a quick emergency trip to an orthopaedic doctor this morning and he was kind enough to give me four needles in my foot. I could simply not walk any longer and if you look carefully at the photo you can actually see me grimacing in pain. Such is life though and with lots of Voltaren cream it will go on. I'm not giving up on sightseeing...just wishing for better weather and a better foot. I'm tired of the raincoat and crummy shoes...

The Baltic Sea

My Mother had a love of water and absolutely adored our Nova Scotia trip. Today I saw why. There is a similarity between these two places on different continents.



The north wind was blowing and it was pretty cold but I had to get my feet wet. If I catch cold we will know why...



Tomorrow it's off to the Isle of Ruegen and I'm sure it will be a full day.

As always, there are more pictures in my flickr site and more will be added each day... oh, one other thing, spell check doesn't work here, blogger seems to think I should be writing in German so every word I write comes up misspelled, so if I miss a couple, forgive me...

Why Only In Germany?

What you may ask, well I'll tell you...seems that I always get el blotto once every time I come here and this time was no exception to the rule. Didn't see it coming either, it was just a quiet evening at home after a day of sight seeing. A beer with dinner, a couple or three glasses of wine later and then came out the bottle of 12 year old scotch that hadn't been opened yet. It went down nice and smooth, is probably my favourite drink but the second one wasn't necessary. My cousin has a bit of a heavy pouring hand and well, you guess the rest.

Today was spent mostly in bed nursing a headache and figuring out how to keep my tummy in line. Why do I do these things just once a year? Anyway, enough bellyaching for now. I did the bridge thing yesterday and that might have been the reason the little bit of alcohol affected me so.

My Grandfather among other things made ice cream for sale in the summer time and one of my Mom's jobs as a teen was to go with the ice cream wagon to the tourist spots to sell it. That would be the harbour at the River Ryck. She always crossed the bridge and talked about those times of her life fondly. Yesterday I walked across the bridge and thought of her.



More photos in my flickr page on the sidebar.

Where Am I?

I'm here, really I am. It's been a little busy recently with the offspring and family in town from out west and shopping and planning for that seven weeks away from home. It's a little tricky because I'm dealing with two different climates. Greece will be nice and hot and my 10 days in the very north east part of Germany will probably be cold.

Between all the planning and plotting I've also had to deal with some computer issues. I own a laptop but it's not particularly light or small and last year poor Steve was lugging that thing around everywhere we went. I decided to buy myself a little IBM Thinkpad just for travelling. Now because I'm not terribly rich I found a nice little refurbished one for a really good price and proceeded to load all my programs. That took me half of yesterday to finish and by the end of the day that little sucker crashed. Now it didn't do it once or twice just to be clear, it kept crashing and I was pretty much ready to chuck it all. Murphy's Law, whatever can break when I get it home, does... it's pretty much expected in my life.

Today I got a replacement and I'm back to loading programs. Luckily the shop I bought this computer from is in my neighbourhood and he has many of them. This one seems to be working well and if it quits in the next couple of weeks he'll replace it until he finds one that is good. If I loose it on my trip I won't be too upset.

My poor knitting blog has been sadly neglected of late and I'll probably have to put it on hiatus until we return from Greece. That's probably okay since I don't seem to have much time for knitting right now.

The Germany part of the trip is starting to get a little complicated for me. I have a cousin, who in true German tradition wants to plan everything ahead. Me, I just like to go with the flow and do whatever happens to strike my fancy at any given time. So when I get emails asking me where, what and when I get a little spaced out. I recognize that he really wants to please me but booking excursions too far in advance scares me...heck what if I have a migraine that day.

My friend from Wiesbaden where I would normally have gone, is going to Jordan during that time span but wants to come to Berlin for two days to meet me. Well I'm 3 hours from Berlin and do I dare tell my cousin that I'd like to go back there two days after he picks me up just to spend the weekend with my friend? I want to go to Dresden and Hamburg but they are at opposite ends. Maybe I should just get a Eurorail pass and spend 10 days on a train, that would be fun. And to top it off my aunt/godmother in Wiesbaden is pissed at me for not being there for her 80th birthday. Can't please everyone can we...

Meanwhile here in T-Dot is still rains every day and my body sure feels it. I started going to a tanning salon (I can just hear my nurse friends groaning about skin cancer) every couple of days for four minutes just so I wouldn't look so sickly white on the Greek beaches and have discovered that it actually makes me feel better. Since I started going my arthritis and fybro pains are much less severe than normal.

Meanwhile is the world going to hell in a hand basket so to speak with WWIII on the horizon? And the Russians, well a little blackmail goes a long way. Wonder who will blink first?

Luxembourg

This was an impromptu part of the trip. Not planned, just hey, were close to the border, so why not. Had I known, I would have taken a pass. Not a great city in my mind, the city not the country. I'm sure for the people who live there it's okay but for tourists it's pretty pricey. Why spend 25 Euro for lunch when you can get the same or better ten minutes away in Germany for less than half? It is a city where there is big money, where people from all over come to hide their money from the tax man and where residents don't seem to mind the high prices. The only inexpensive things are gasoline and cigarettes. If you need to use the washroom in Luxembourg be prepared to pay and pay big. I used the facilities at the main train station and it cost 1.10 Euro to do so. That's almost a buck fifty for a pee!!!





This should give Toronto Mayor David Miller some ideas on how to fix the finances of the city. Start charging at Union Station, mind you they'd need to do some work to bring the washrooms up to par. There are pay toilets thru out the city, which does make it easier for tourists walking around.

We didn't stay to long that's for sure. On the drive back towards Wiesbaden our route took us along the Saar River, smaller than the Mosel but just as pretty. This wine region is on the edge of the Hunsrueck Mountains and also produces a very nice Riesling. After getting lost again, we managed to get to Saarburg and score a room in a small out of the way but charming hotel/restaurant, within walking distance to the centre of town.



This little inn called Auberge St. Laurentius deserves mention by name because of the incredible hospitality of the host Herr Weber. It is a family run Inn, very rustic, with great beds. That alone deserves my accolades but the breakfast the next morning was one of the best of all the places we'd stayed in.

We walked through the town over foot bridges that were strategically placed and found a nice little restaurant for dinner. The following morning we left for our final destination of Idar-Oberstein before Wiesbaden.


Residents like to refer to their town as "Little Venice"



Idar-Oberstein



In Idar-Oberstein I shopped a little since this town is famous for gem cutting and jewellry manufacturing centers. Mostly quartz crystals and semi precious stones and I found a lovely rose quartz ring in a silver setting for myself.

Below is the 15th Century church called Felsenkirche (Chapel in the Rocks) built into the rock face. Legend says it was built by a local knight in atonement for the murder of his brother. 216 steps from the main market will take you up. Needless to say, I did not make that climb.




The last stop on our journey was for lunch in the village of Oberbrombach. A beautiful restaurant called Landhaus Sonne (Country house Sun) where the host took extremely good care of us. An absolutely gorgeous last meal on our journey.





One of the most striking differences between Canada, Germany and Greece was that in almost every restaurant dogs were welcome and water dishes set out for them. The health inspectors would have a fit in Canada and in Greece, not a chance.

The last push back was done on the Autobahn. We had done 420 KM over 4 days on small two lane curvy roads and it was a blast. Back to Wiesbaden for a final visit with relatives and then Auf Wiedersehen...



Tomorrow I will write a little about Greece if I can get a connection, which has been pretty good the last couple of days. I stopped taking the heart pills and I'm actually feeling pretty good. I need to shake this depression one way or another before the cruise.

The Oldest City In Germany - Trier

Trier was founded by the Romans in 15 BC as Augusta Treverorum and became the capital of the Western Roman Empire by the 3rd century AD.

The main gate, the Porta Nigra was built in the 2nd century that has turned black over time. Porta Nigra is Latin for "black gate". There are walking tours through the top of the gate but I didn't do that, I found stairs to be a problem.



The first order of business for us though was to find a hotel and we fortunately scored the last room of a clean little B&B right outside the gate. Too bad for me though, it was on the fourth floor, sigh... After settling in Petra went shopping and I went to the Internet cafe next to the hotel. I had forgotten my nightgown in Cochem so that needed to be replaced. On the other side of the Porta Nigra is a pedestrian only zone with shops and restaurants. The town square is dominated by a fountain which is named St. Peter And The Four Virtues. Quite beautiful I thought.



Das Drei Koeningenhaus



A fabulous German meal was had at the Zur Glocke where I had a fabulous Beef Broth with marrow dumplings and fresh champions. For my main course I enjoyed Kasseler with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. (kasseler is a smoked port chop, I think).

The following day we went sightseeing. We visited the Constantine Basilica, the Kaiser Saal, (the first church in Trier) and the Kaisertherme (sauna baths). I don't know how the princesses stood the cool weather, I had to wear my knit socks to keep warm.



Also visited was the Ampitheatre where the gladiators and wild animals entertained and killed each other for the enjoyment of the masses. It was called "Spiele statt Brott" (play instead of bread). If you can't feed them entertain them, maybe they will forget their hunger!





The architecture in Trier consists of Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Classicism and Jugendstiehl. In spite of the different styles, or maybe because of it, it is a gorgeous city well worth a visit.



Tomorrow, or whenever I have internet again Luxembourg and the trip back to Wiesbaden.

More of Germany

After leaving Cochem the following morning the road to Trier seemed a long way away. Probably had something to do with the hangover from the debauchery of the night before! Oh well, you only live once and it's not really a habit of mine to party so much.

The wine region of the Mosel is famous for it's Riesling wines. The soil is full of slate which apparently adds to the taste. The higher on the mountain the grapes grow the better the wine and I can definitely attest to that. The grapes are handpicked but since it was rather late in the season I didn't see it.

Before getting to Trier we hit the twin towns of Bernkastel-Kuest with it's lovely Churches and pedestrian only zones filled with shops and cafes. Time for a little sustenance before the final push to Trier. You would think we were driving hundreds of miles but really, it was only 80 or so kilometers. The Mosel valley roads are one S and one little village after another. Things just take longer that way but they are way prettier than the autobahn.



Lots of little pretty gardens are a joy to see.






Lunch, and only coffee for me...



I'm starting to feel better, my cough is abating with the help of antibiotics which are readily available at any pharmacy without prescription in Greece.

Today we are heading to the travel agent to make the final arrangements for the cruise to Istanbul and the Greek Islands. Tomorrow if I can get on line I will post the pictures from Trier. It is a wonderful city, the oldest city in Germany.

I'm Still Here - Honest

If your wondering what the heck happened to me, the truth is, I'm sick. I came back to Athens from Germany with an incredibly bad cold that had me kind of bed bound the last couple of days. I did briefly make it to a beach yesterday only to fall asleep in the sun. Lucky for me the sun at the end of September isn't terribly strong so no sunburn.

I still don't have dependable Internet access and have found a little Internet cafe down the street from where we stay. It appears to be only dial up it's so slow, although the owner does try to tell me it's DSL. Why don't I believe him? I've been waiting about ten minutes to upload 6 photo's and I'm still waiting. On the other, Internet cafes are easier to find here than in Germany, go figure...

To continue the Germany adventure, from Koblenz we followed the River Mosel to what was to be our final destination of Trier. En route we of course got lost, which by the way, happened quite frequently. I have lots of photos of my friend pouring over the map trying to figure out were we where.



Seems we got a little lost and ended up in the Eifel Mountain instead of Cochem.





At the end of the first day we scored a small hotel in the town of Cochem. It was right on the river and offered a pretty view. After a dinner out we hit the Wine Cellar of our hotel for a little nightcap. It was decorated typically German, dark with lots of beer steins all around. After a few glasses of wine and some cognac, I got right into the spirit and a good time was had. If I recall I had a little trouble getting to the fourth floor of the hotel to go to bed.

This is before the Wine Celllar





On Tuesday, we continued our journey to Trier and I'm going to write more when I can.