We set off early that morning for Koblenz to explore and sight-see the city where Jo had spent time training with the Germany military, but also with the intent to see the plethora of castles (as we drove by) along the Rhine River. Being our last full day in the Rhine Valley, the Herths wanted to give us a tour-de-force tour of their beloved countryside. As it was rather gray out, my drive-by pictures through a car window are even worse than they already should be.
The first stop we made was at St. Goar, a little village nestled between the mountains of the Rhine Gorge. It was a good place to stop and walk back down the Rhine to see the famous Lorelei rocks of lore.
Mike and Jo contemplate the river.
Benjamin and Mike had a good time scrambling about the shores of the Rhine River.
Benjamin's mother wouldn't let him walk in the water, but Mike took full advantage of the opportunity.
Nevertheless, we all had fun as the sun came out from behind the clouds and began to warm the valley.
One of the biggest castles overlooking the Rhine River, Burg Rheinfels, stands above St. Goar. Like most of the castles in the valley, Burg Rheinfels's historic grounds, once five times its current size, has been converted to attract tourists. It now houses a luxury hotel, wellness center, and restaurant.
In the picture below you can see it on the cliffs along with another common sight in the area -- very large international and cruise ships.
Here is the famous corner of the Rhine River with the Lorelei rock.
The word "Lorelei" can be translated to mean "murmuring rock" or "lurking rock". This part is the narrowest point of the Rhine River between Switzerland and the North Sea, making it once very dangerous for passing ships. There were so many accidents that a legend developed around the rock that is 120 meters high. The story goes that a beautiful maiden threw herself off the rock in despair over her lover. Afterward, her spirit was seen there combing her hair and singing. Her song and beauty distracted sailors and led to inevitable shipwreck.
Nowadays it is not so treacherous to round the corner.
From here we continued northwards for another hour to Koblenz, considered "the most beautiful corner" of Germany. The city lies where the Rhine River converges with the Mosel River and the very spot is marked by the "Deustches Eck" (German corner) and a giant statue of Emperor William I.
Said statue.
To see a bird's-eye-view of the "corner", click here. The views from the ground are just as nice.
This is a view of the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress across the River from the Deutsches Eck. It was built by the Prussians in the 1800's to defend the Rhine area from French invasions.
Here we are sitting at the very tip of the corner.
This next picture is taken from statue. You can see some of the German state flags waving in the wind.
The Deutsches Eck was turned into a monument of German unity by the German president Theodor Heuss in 1949 when East and West Germany were created. The flags of all the German states and former territories were installed as a reminder of that unity.
After the Berlin wall came down in 1989, plaques of the new federal states' emblems were installed onto the statue. Here is the crest for Neidersachsen (Lower Saxony), our German home state.
Three panels from the actual Berlin wall were also installed next to the monument. They are dedicated to the "victims of separation".
And since it was the city where Jo did some of his military service, we felt it appropriate to get a picture of the German army meeting underneath one of the flags.
There was plenty of beautiful views to see around the Deutsches Eck in Koblenz, but unfortunately it turned out that most of the city was under construction and renovation for the 2011 German National Garden Show. (Note: From here on out, construction on major monuments will be a continuing theme in our trips). In the end, Jo decided he'd rather spend his afternoon elsewhere -- that and he couldn't think of a single place he wanted to have lunch in Koblenz.
After Benjamin and Mike had a chance to be monkeys on the playground equipment (and on the statue), we headed an hour north to our new destination: Bonn, Germany.
Bonn, the capitol of the former West Germany, is one of Jo's favorite cities in Germany. He spent many years going to school and working in the bustling metropolitan town.
We were all starving when we arrived, but Annette knew exactly where she wanted to go for lunch -- a nice Italian place in the square of Bonn's old city hall. Unfortunately, the entire front side of the historical Rathaus was under construction, but we still had ourselves a nice, albeit windy, meal.
From there, we went to take a look at the Bonn Minster church nearby.
It's cloister is one of Annette and Jo's favorites.
In the square of the church stood a statue of Ludwig von Beethoven. Bonn is Beethoven's birthplace, but sadly we didn't have time to visit any of his historic sites.
We grabbed some coffee and dessert, perused through a bookstore (of course), and soon started the 150 kilometers back to Biebelsheim for Annette's big family dinner at yet another winery in the village.
The Emrich Winery was a great place to have dinner and drink wine. Their food menu was very simple, but delicious (Annette's girls claim they have the best bratkartoffeln in all of Germany -- and they were quite good). The wine was also good and very plentiful. Since Annette's family has known the Emrich family for a long time, all of the glasses were quite generous. It turned into a long but delightful night with good company, good food and wine, and also helpings of some very strong brandy for the men and a delectable candy-like Dornfelder liqueur for the women. We walked back down to the apartment that night exhausted, but very cheerful. It was the perfect way to end our stay in the Rhine Valley.
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