May 24 - Cochem, Koblenz & St. Goar

We woke up that morning to the sound of a wet broom going back and forth on the steps of the little guesthouse. I would know that sound anywhere... my grandmothers used to wash their front and back steps with a wet broom every morning. It made me smile, to think that the elderly German woman who owned this guesthouse in Valwig was washing the steps as the sun was coming up.


Our breakfast that morning, in the dining room of the guesthouse, was bread and cheese, with homemade jam and smoked bacon. Delicious tea for me, strong, undrinkable coffee for my husband. I gave my serving of bacon to my husband but he couldn't eat either his or my serving--- just like the coffee, the smoked bacon was very strong. I hoped we wouldn't hurt the woman's feelings, when she saw the barely touched meat slices on our plates. As we ate breakfast, we were kept company by all the trophies around every wall of the dining room. The woman's father was a hunter, and he mounted every deer and goat that he killed, I think, because the dining room was just filled with all the heads and horns. I tried not to look up too much as I ate.


We said goodbye to the owner, thanked her for her hospitality, and we crossed the little bridge to get to Cochem, on the opposite side of the Mosel River. Beautiful little village, with lots of shops and outdoor cafes (always, always, lots of cafes in the small towns). We walked around the town for just a little while, then drove up the mountain to the Eltz Castle. The Burg Eltz has been owned by the same family for 33 generations. As we toured the interior of the castle, we saw a photo of the present owner and his family. We had lunch that day at the cafe tucked into the side of the Burg Eltz... wonderful views of the mountains from that high up. As we were leaving the Burg Eltz, two little boys and their parents were on their way into the castle. Both of the young boys were wearing silver plastic knight-masks, and holding plastic swords. They made us smile, and we wondered how many castles these miniature knights had seen.


Driving on now towards the Rhine and the city of Koblenz, which wasn't as big as Munich, but larger than Leipzig, and much bigger than all the small towns we've seen. We parked the car in Koblenz and walked along the Rhine, to the spot where the Rhine meets the Mosel. There is a huge military statue there at the junction of the two rivers, and everyone congregates there to take pictures, meet friends, and enjoy the view of the rivers. We found a cute little outdoor cafe and had tea and apple cake, and we agreed that Koblenz was too busy for us, and we decided to drive on. Before we got in the car, we noticed a church there near the river, and we walked in to have a look. Once again, an outstanding, breath-taking cathedral-like church.


We drove along the Rhine, with our GPS Greta giving us directions, reminding us when we were over the speed limit, telling us to "please return to the planned route" if we stopped or made a turn to look at something interesting along the way. We drove towards Frankfurt, looking for an interesting hotel or guesthouse along the way. In a little town called Saint Goar, we found "Das Boot," German for "The Boat" -- a very small family-owned hotel that was built to look like a ship. It was right on the Rhine, completely nautical inside, outside, wherever you looked. We loved it, and we got a room there for the night. Our room looked like a ship's cabin, of course.


Dinner in "Das Boot" was delicious.... salmon for me, once again... our waiter spoke some English, which was helpful. The dining room was nautical from the floors to the ceiling, and every nook and cranny inbetween. A lot of thought went into the planning of this hotel-- all designed by its owner. We watched the river as we ate... ships and barges going back and forth constantly. We decided that we had to splurge on dessert in Das Boot-- their specialty was a large cream puff shaped like a swan, filled with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream, and topped with red cherries. Inserted into the body of the swan was a white paper head and neck of a swan, with the logo of the restaurant on it. So pretty on the plate... we asked for two spoons and two forks and we shared that delicious cream puff. After dinner, we walked along the river for about an hour.

There was a very small castle on the other side of the Rhine... we can see it from here. It's called The Mouse Castle because it's so small. It's so small, compared to all the other castles that we have seen (and there are dozens and dozens to be seen as you drive along the Rhine)... the Mouse Castle looks like a child's playhouse, rather than a "real" castle.

We have a bittersweet stay at Das Boot.... we know we are getting closer to Frankfurt, where we will be giving back the rental car and Greta, and where we will catch a plane leaving the Frankfurt airport and heading towards home. This has been an outstanding, amazing, overwhelming trip, and we are both sad that it's coming to an end.