On the last travelogue post, we were in Andernach, Germany...So Many Castles, So Little Time.
After spending the day in Andernach exploring we met up with a group of "new" friends for a lovely dinner. The group consisted of a Brit, a German, a Canadian, and 3 Americans. It was great fun comparing viewpoints on so may things. The one dinner companion that spoke German told us the server wanted us to be "aware" that a large party was coming in, so we might want to settle our bills....hint, hint. No parties ever came in and we staked out our real estate until near closing time.
The following morning, however, we were back on the road to head south to the city of Koblenz.
While Koblenz is only 12 miles SOUTH of Andernach, we were confused why the GPS sent us north. Huh?? That can't be right. THEN it sent us to the other side of the Rhine. As both Andernach and Koblenz are on the west bank, we considered the possibility that perhaps the GPS was trying to sabotage our day. We considered briefly, just turning around and figuring it out without GPS help but figured we'd find it eventually. The thing about Germany is that it is only about the size of New Mexico. At some point you are bound to come to a river or road that is familiar.
After a number of twists and turns, we drove back over the Rhine and we did, in fact, get to Koblenz.
If you ever take a trip along the Rhine, this city is one to make sure to see, It is a unique blend of historical and modern.
My husband had been there several times and wanted to go up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. He had been there in September and thought the tour was interesting and the tram ride was great for getting a bird's eye view of the region.
As luck would have it, and by that I mean bad luck...we maneuvered our way up the winding, twisting roads to the top of the bluff where the fortress sits, only to find out it was closed. There were still plenty of things to be seen in the area but no tours and no tram for me. In lieu of that, we made our way over to the St. Kastor Basilica and the Deutches Eck (The German Corner) where the Rhine River and the Moselle River converge. On the point of the rivers meeting is a monument to Wilhelm I (AKA William I)
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| Crabby Pants standing next to Le Pouce by Cesar next to the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art |
On the day I was there is was cold and dreary but still very fun to walk around the Basilica, the monument and the promenade. Despite the fact that the fortress was closed, there were still a number of people milling around the church and the Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art.
After spending a considerable amount of time just looking around, we made our way into Koblenz city center. There were 5 (at least that is what we could find) Christmas markets to keep us occupied for quite a while.
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| Are you someone famous? |
As I mentioned, Koblenz's city center is an interesting mix of quaint and charming (as most historic European cities are) and very modern as well. After stopping at a cafe on one of the side streets for lunch, we continued on to a modern mall to warm up and have some tea/coffee. The cafe had a lunch crowd waiting for tables or we might of just parked there.
Normally, I try to avoid malls but on the occasion of both of us being half-frozen we decided that would be a great place to hang out for a bit.
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| I didn't take a pic of the mall so this is off the Internet |
One of the things we discovered while sitting at the Starbucks, is that owners can bring dogs into business establishments. Not just service dogs, mind you. While we sat looking out the window at the children ice skating on an adjoining rink,several people came in to have coffee with their pets.
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| kids skating on the mall's ice rink |
BTW...You will notice some of the pictures are clearer as those were taken in September by my husband when he had the good fortune to be there on a sunny day.
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