The first thing you notice when you hit Germany is the rolling green hills.
The first thing you notice once you are in reach of the Rhine, is the vineyards that are planted on the steepest slope along every inch of the river. We just could not figure out how these people manage to pick these grapes without falling down the hill. When you talk to them, they are all very proud of their wines and the fact that the grapes are all hand picked. There are different weinguts (wineries) selling their wines and conducting tastings of their various offerings.
Home base here was a town called Baccarach, which is a small medieval town right on the section of the Rhine that is considered by some to be the most picturesque and interesting. Some of the Rhines best wine is from this town and supposedly the Pope, Pius the II, ordered it by the cart load..
The next day we rode bicycles south, which is considered "up the Rhine" because the Rhine actually flows south to north, to a town called Bingen. From there we took a river cruise boat back down the Rhine past Baccarach to a town called St. Goar which was a smaller version of Baccarach We rode our bikes around there, picked up some supplies for a picnic, and then took the boat with our bikes back to Baccarach.
The ride along the river passes castles, vineyards and villages. The castles were used by the rich at the time to levy tolls to anyone passing on the river. Some are in disarray and some are still used today as hotels, restaurants, hostels and private homes. It was definitely a great way to experience the Rhine combining the bike ride with the boat ride and it really made for an interesting day which we thought couldn't be beat until we were blown away by the Mosel...
The Mosel is a smaller, sleepier, slower version of the Rhine with seemingly more twists, turns and bends and a number of locks built in. Like the Rhine even the most unimaginable, steepest slope was planted with vines but it seemed there were more smaller, family owned vineyards here. We checked out the town and got a German 101 wine course from a stocky German frauline and then, in the early afternoon, we booked a campsite on the riverbank in the town of Moselkern.
When we first pulled in we got yelled at in German because Tom drove past the gate without stopping at reception. We were a little nervous about staying there after that but it all worked out and the owners gave us a premium plot right on the river.
The campground itself is at a narrow twist of the river and across the river from our site was a medieval castle perched above us on the slopes. While pitching our tent, we took our bottle of Spatleese Riesling and threw it in the Mosel to chill (still NO ICE). Later we caught a few hours of sun and managed to get some laundry done while we enjoyed our wine and cheese sitting at the river.
By the time we got home from dinner that night, the sun had set and the castle was all in lights. Sitting there, watching the river cruise boats slide by, was awesome. Oh yea, did we mention the large cross that was lit high on the hill behind us......Having the tent and staying in places like this has provided some really special moments for us.
In the morning, after we dried off the tent as best we could from the massive thunderstorms all night (should we mention those special moments again.....it's all good), we rented bikes and pedaled to Bielstein up the river, had a picnic lunch and rode our bikes back to Cochran.
Once again, just like on the Rhine, there are beautiful bike paths all along the river between the towns. On the Mosel there were also small plots of family gardens with garden sheds and with meticulous plantings of vegetables and plants which were all in bloom.
When we got back to Cocharan we turned in the bikes and drove down a long stretch of the Mosel and then across Germany on our way out to the Czech Republic. This was a long haul and, as typical, we pushed it to far that day but we lucked out pulling off the highway and found the town of Insingen, not even on the maps. We hooked up a room in a gusthoff where the owners and the other guests all wanted to know how we ended up there. Back on the road, we were originally planning on going to Prague with our Ranger gear on but now that the Rangers were blown out of the playoffs, we blew off Prague and headed for the south of the country to a small Bohemian Czech town called Cesky Krumlov.
A medieval town built around the Vltava River, Krumlov has its typical share of moats, walls and bridges but you definitely feel like you're on a movie set when you are here. Little has been changed either by the rulers or the conquerors over the centuries or by modern times.
We stayed at Hostel 99 which was a 14th century castle like place built into the old wall of the city and we had dinner at an original prison turned restaurant whose rooms looked like a series of caves. Dinner was cooked over a wood burning spit in the middle of the restaurant. Awesome, awesome meal in an unbelievable setting (mustard, horseradish and chambert potatoes with lamb, who knew).
Next morning, Austria and the Danube. Auf Wiedersehen and Danke Germany
Best of Germany:
Gusthoffs
The Mosel
Weinguts
River bike rides
Camping on the river
Splatleese Riesling
Crusing the Rhine
Best of Czech Republic:
Horseradish,mustard,chambert and grilled lamb
Fast Internet
Eggenberg beer
Added the pictures to the Belguim SS also.....
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