Day 13: Cochem to Spay: Grampies Reach the Rhine!

May 12, 2014

When you arrive in a town in the late afternoon, there is first off the slight tension as you scout the place to see what's where and to find a place to stay. Then, such people and tourists as there are are likely filling the streets, and stores and restaurants are in operation. The whole atmosphere is one of excitement and the thrill of discovery.

How different then is the early morning. The tourists are normally still snoozing. Trucks are in the street, making deliveries. Merchants are sweeping their stoops.The town has not yet put on its makeup, and you see it, perhaps, more as it really is.

So it was as we pulled our bikes from the storage room at Gasthaus Albers and prepared to head downriver. One shopkeeper was actually sweeping the entire narrow roadway, with a diligence and intensity that was surprising. We passed the display of Steiff teddybears, and in another shop the frog figures. Oh yeah, another day on display - maybe we can make a sale of these this time - I seemed to read the merchants' thoughts.

As we made our way through the north end of town, we encountered the gas station - even a fairy tale town needs a gas station. And we encountered the Mercedes dealer - Mercedes is a fairy tale car anyway. It was not just that, though. At this end of town the houses, though solid and often handsome, were not decorated in the same enchanting way. To be fair, we did turn and look back and up, and there was the castle, floating in the air. So the magic returned.

OK, looking back at Cochem we still see the fairy tale

The steep vinyards are sometimes sprayed by helicopter

There are still beautiful panoramas north of Cochem

Nice, but undecorated houses north of Cochem

I just read the above to Dodie, and remarked that I need to check the photos, to remember what happened next. She immediately contributed: "It rained (and it stopped), and it rained (and it stopped)." Yes indeed, that has been an important part of this trip. Having somehow chosen to start in Spring, we have had showers, or downright heavy rain, each and every day. One of the impacts of that has been to have us cycling right by the superior organized campsites that were one of the big attractions for us here, and into guesthouses. It happened again this evening, but we'll get to that, after I remember what else transpired today.

What happened, at least until we reached Koblenz, was more vineyards and more beautiful buildings, with a couple of castles thrown in. There were differences, though, from past days. The vineyards seemed to become steeper and steeper, until they almost gave up on slopes and began to use terraces. Whether terraces or slopes, there was a greater use of the little monorail cars for getting up there. Some of the rails did look pretty near vertical. The rails are serrated or toothed underneath, the only way one could get enough of a grip to ascend that way.

At the same time, the towns and buildings continued not as attractive. Perhaps the attractive buildings are linked to the wine industry, and despite all the vertical vineyards, the sheer volume of it seemed to be tapering off.

The GPS somehow lead us to this rather narrow passage!

Steep vineyards now also feature terraces

We passed by Burg Eltz, a castle type city up on a hill. Unlike most, this has never been a military type installation, and has been privately owned and occupied for hundreds of years. We had been encouraged to go have a look at it, but we assessed the hill and decided to give it a miss.

It seemed not long at all until we reached Koblenz, and made our way to Deutches Eck, the point at which the Mosel enters the Rhine. It was a familiar spot, where we had stopped while descending the Rhine, two years earlier. We had another couple take a photo of us, since it is significant any time someone reaches the Rhine. But then we were intrigued to see four people also getting their photos taken, while holding up a sign in Hebrew. We sidled over to ask what this was all about. The four were from Israel, and had cycled from Trier. The sign said Mosel 2014. I noticed how clean and unfolded the paper was, and found that these cyclists were totally supported. The tour company was transporting their luggage from hotel to hotel, and had supplied the bikes for them to then cycle the distances.

So that is actually the easiest of cycle tours in Europe. Trier to Koblenz stands with Passau to Vienna and Nantes to Mulhouse as the cream of the cycle itineraries. And then, if you have no luggage to carry, it's the cream of the cream. Too much cream, we hasten to add, can make you fat, but a little can be great. These folks had flown in, done this ride, and will shortly fly back to Israel. Wow, what a quick, super vacation, especially if you are on the older side.

Last time, we zoomed through Koblenz, so this time we made an effort to have a look at the old town. We headed for the rathaus, and did find it and what appeared to be the major walking street. It was nice, but honestly did not compare to Metz or Trier or Cochem or a dozen other places. Still, we could stop for a pastry and hot chocolate. I went for a raspberry schnitte. Really smitten with this type of pastry last year (though usually it is made with strawberries), I had spent a year trying to replicate it at home. The only thing, I had somewhat forgotten the fine details - what is the cake undeneath really like, the filling, the topping, the glossy gelatin? So here was my chance to refresh my memory. At least as regards one specimen. I feel I will have to check out a number more, just for research you understand, to make sure I really have a fix on this thing!

Raspberry schnitte. The white layer is sort of quark like

Despairing of finding a really zippy old town, we headed easily back to the river and began our cycle up to Mainz. So that marked the end of Book II. For a year or more we had coveted a copy of it - The Bikeline Mosel Radweg. Now in a matter of six days we had completely used it up! Actually, as always, we really have just blown through it. We are telling ourselves we can come back, and this time pay more attention. Maybe that will happen, or not. But for now it makes us feel better to think of it. And actually, I think we did pay attention, and got a lot out of this ride. It really was super. But now, I need to put in the following heading:

BOOK 3: The Rhein Radweg

In my list of primo European cycle routes above, I should have included Koblenz to Bingen. This is the stretch of the Rhine that includes two or three dozen castles up on the hills, beautiful towns, and the wide river, with boats gliding gracefully up and down. I have a artist's conception map of the stretch, and will include a bit of it just below. It's fun looking at the drawing of the castles and identifying them in reality as we cycle.

The path starts out broad and inviting, south of Deutches Eck, and soon passes large solid houses with lots of flowers. It then proceeds along the River, sometimes paved, sometimes gravel, and sometimes cobbles. However it is always easy, and beautiful.

These Iris have a unique colour. Beside them were some peach coloured ones as well.

The path up the Rhine was variable. This is a short stretch of gravel in a forest

This strange American themed bar was closed - maybe out of business.

Burg Lahneck, on a hill across the river

A painting with a romantic image of Stolzenfels

As we picked our way along, someone came up from behind on a bike and greeted me, in English! It was Melissa Holmes, from near Niagara Falls, Canada! We quickly learned that she had been travelling since March 2013, and had only about a month to go. She was heading now loosely toward Berlin, having started out in Greece. Melissa is a tattoo artist, and on her card she is the Travelling Tattoo Artist. We have not checked out her blog yet, but it is www.thetravellingtattooartist.wordpress.com Melissa did not seem at all tattered by a year on the road, and in fact said that on returning home was looking to do another six months, in the USA. Wow.

We had had a look on the map and identified many campings along the way. We decided to have a look at the one or two near Boppard. But just before, at Spay, a guesthouse caught our eye. It had been raining, though it was now stopped. However ominous clouds were overhead. It seemed in no time the campgrounds were out of mind and we were installed in yet another room, with yet another set of down duvets! What is wrong with us? We almost never stay in hotels (or almost never did stay in hotels). These comfy beds and breakfast buffets are devilish! Well, in a few short days (or weeks) the weather will stabilize and our excuse will be gone. Right now, I'm glad I got this written, because that duvet is waiting!

Marksburg, across the river near Braubach

On the Rhine, the Mosel, theElbe, the Donau, flooding is a big topic. Here are some high waer marks on the side of a buildiing here.

The guesthouse we soemhow chose for tonight

Today's ride: 70 km (43 miles)
Total: 780 km (484 miles)

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