Cruising the Rhine to Koblenz

 

Pfalz Castle

This morning we cruised the Castle section of the Rhine, a World Heritage site. We began at the Germania Monument and headed down river, occasionally seeing people harvesting grapes. Highlights included Reichenstein Castle, Pfalz Castle right in the middle of the river, and the Cathedral on the river.

Spitting Fountain

In the afternoon, we walked Koblenz built by the Romans. The fun part was seeing the image of Johann Juter, who was tried for six years, but never convicted. He sticks his tongue out in defiance. The church in town was destroyed several times, so it has Roman and Gothic elements and is finished with onion towers. As we walked the town, bras were strung above the streets – it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We ended at the Schängel Fountain.

Wehy Winery

In the afternoon, we visited Weyh winery. This year they have completed 80% of the harvest, almost a month earlier than usual. Their highest quality grapes come from the steepest slopes and the oldest vines (70-100 years). It typically takes 3 to 5 vines for a bottle of wine. They primarily make Reisling wines. We sampled four of them. As usual my preferred wine was a mid-priced wine. Unfortunately, many family vineyards are being sold, the kids don’t want to farm them. Many of our party took the cable car across the river.

Our jester and minstrel

That evening we went to Marksburg Castle for a medieval dinner. Our entertainment was a man who was a jester using volunteers for his jokes, and playing a minstrel, and a woman who juggled and some acrobatics. The meal was delicious, but the service was slow. We were surprised to learn that we ate goose with stuffing.