July 3, 2022
St Goar to Koblenz
Koblenz looks special
Today is a short ride to Koblenz, where we stay one night before taking a train to Metz, France to bike down the Mosel River - back to Koblenz. This part of the Rhine is much more sinuous, as the grade lessens.
We started out not too early due to the short ride, even though we knew another hot day awaits. I always take a minute at the start getting the route ready on Komoot - I preplan them, and store them to retrieve when we are ready to go.
The pathways were good, and closely followed the river. There was very little shade though - which was fine early, but it warmed up quickly.
We saw about a dozen castles in this short ride, and these two looked the most intriguing. Built by von Sterrenberg and von Liebenstein, two brothers of a count who did not get along. You can see the remains of a wall built to keep projectiles from hitting the lower of the two. Lots of legends and stories abound about these two castles built in the 1300's.
We had heard about Boppard (I'm looking at you, Tricia!) being a great place to stop, and it was a very cute town for certain. So much that Marjory was looking to see if we could stay here and not Koblenz, but the logistics were insurmountable.
To add to the ambience, as we rode through there was an open air concert being given by local residents. We stopped to hear a few songs, a large part of the community was out either listening or playing in the orchestra.
One of the most dramatic castles is the Marksburg castle, which evaded the bombing during WW2. It certainly looks a story book castle.
This fellow came along, dodging barges, ferries, and ducks. He had on a life jacket, so I am sure this was safe.
One downside of "cuteness" is that the towns seems to like having brick pathways along the water. This makes for a very bumpy ride, and when it reverts to paved, we almost give out a little cheer!
We have started finding a place to eat along the river instead of heading directly to our goal and then foraging for food. First off, its much cooler this way, and second, Marjory is in a much better mood when she has a full stomach. I tried a beer at lunch - dangerous I know - and have to say I am not that impressed with the beer they typically serve. Compared to a good Canadian IPA....well, they don't, really.
At this place we were happy to see English menus, somewhat of a rarity. It is so much easier to figure out what to eat. I took a pick so you can see the sort of items that are offered. I had the potato pancakes, although that sausage salad sure sounded tempting!
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2 years ago
As we came within 5 km of Koblenz, we entered a forest, which became a park along the river. Lots of bikers and strollers in the park, and enormous trees. This actually lasted to within 500m of the Old Town, where we are staying.
Across from the Old Town lies this fortress. You can take a cable car across to visit the grounds, so after checking into our hotel, we headed out again.
This is the "confluence" of the Mosel and Rhine rivers, which is what Koblenz actually means. It has been an important city since the Romans established a fortress here, due to its strategic location. Interesting that it is still important due to the two rivers coming together, but now that gives it an economic, competitive advantage in shipping and trade.
In our "dead guy on a horse" series, we feature Wilhem I, who, with Otto von Bismark, realized the unification of Germany. This statue is at the confluence and is 14 m high. When the rivers are high, the statue is completely surrounded by water.
Tomorrow we train to Metz for our journey down the Mosel. We end up back here for a couple of days, then continue in the direction of this photo down the Rhine, in the direction of Cologne.
Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 1,053 km (654 miles)
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