Relaxing along the Mosel & Rhine River

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  Cochem, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Monday, August 2, 2010

Well today was to be a leisure day and we decided to take a drive around the area before leaving Cochem on Tuesday. We had another great German breakfast and hoped in our car and headed out for the day with swim suits in hand. We thought we should head towards Koblenz and see where the the waters of the Mosel and the Rhine meet so off we went. Koblenz is not that far and thought there shouldn't be any problem in getting to the confluences of these two great rivers but upon arriving into Koblenz we came across a lot of road construction that GPS devices don't know anything about and can lead to some serious issues as to where to point the car and get to our destination. Well, after about 20 minutes of frustration and a few curses we said the heck with this and headed out of town as that was enough.  Plan B went into effect and we drove down the Rhine and started to make our way to St.Goar and Boppard, etc as it was almost six years ago that Pat & I took our first Rhine cruise in that area and thought it would be fun to see where we had gone. This time though, we were on the opposite side of the river and got a bit of a different view and also saw a few more castles than we did the first time we where here.
We stopped along the way for some lunch and grabbed a wurst and a drink and sat and watched the barges and ships plying their way up and down the river. We spotted the steam ship paddle wheeler that we had taken six years ago and brought back a lot of memories especially when it blew it's steam whistle and it echoed in the valley.
After our lunch we decided that we need to be on the other side of the river so once we got past Boppard we grabbed a ferry for a whopping 4.50 euros which included the car, and two passengers. BC Ferry's should talk to these guys about their rates, hahaha.
Once crossing over we made our way to Bad Bertrich to the Vulkaneifel Therme where they have a nice thermal bath and we can soak and relax for awhile. They are not the same as the baths we were hat in Badenweiler but it did the trick, as there were not a lot of people and made it a soothing afternoon and we both had some fun. As it was getting late in the day it was time to make our way back to Cochem so we took a final drive along the river and view a few places we had not seen in the past four days and return to our hotel and sit and have our last meal before we pack up and leave for Metz, France in the morning. Today was our last full day in Germany so we had a couple of bottles of nice Mosel wine over the course of the evening and a great supper as usual at our Hotel am Hafen which I would highly recommend to anyone traveling in the area. They have great service, good food and great hospitality and certainly makes for a great stay. The staff was always friendly and helpful with anything we needed or asked about, so saying that we will probably stop back in a couple of years again. Tomorrow as I said earlier we are off to Metz for one night and to stop and see and old friend who has a restaurant there and renew our time together for part of the afternoon. Well, it's getting late, so till tomorrow goodnight.

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