Germany: Back Down to the Rhine, August 6-7

On Monday, with the week of soccer camp over for Thomas, the three of us left Simmern and drove with the rental car back down to Boppard, the little town on the Rhine that Kerstin and Cliff had biked to while Thomas was at camp. We stayed at the same place as before -- the "Shinderhannes and Julchen" B&B. In fact, we got the same room -- with the view of the river.

Our BB was right behind these buildings.


On the afternoon of our arrival we rented bikes and biked along the river. We found this rowing club. (So next time Benjamin can come along and and row on the river.) Not exactly sure how anyone can actually row on this part of the Rhine, though. The current on the river is VERY strong. Rowing upstream must be like on a treadmill. Downstream -- well, you'd soon end up in Rotterdam....

Here's an innovative use of an old single scull:

Our bike tour took us on the "Sesselbahn" (chair lift), which takes you up the mountain right outside Boppard. The view is spectaular when you get up.

At the top, we walked to the Vier Seen Blick -- a restaurant with a view that because of the twists and turns makes the Rhine look like four lakes.



I think Thomas saw a fly in his coke....... or his mother killing a wasp....



The next day the weather was awful. Biking or hiking just was not possible. So we decided to take the car on a ferry over to the other side of the Rhine and go to Marksburg, one of the most impressive castles on the Rhine.

The river was quite rough -- looks like being on the high seas. But high water on the Rhine is no joke. The river has flooded down here on many occasions over the centuries, pushing up to the second story of buildings a couple of streets away from the embankment.

Marksburg is one of the oldest castles on the Rhine and it is impressive mostly because it has never been conquered or destroyed.

Here we are waiting in the rain to go on a guided tour.



The rain just continued, so a tour with the car down the Rhine to Koblenz seemed to be the right thing to do. Koblenz is where the Rhine and the Mosel rivers flow together. At their intersection there is a monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I and the unity of Germany in the 1800s. This is a view from the monument towards the river intersection -- the Deutsches Eck [the German Corner].



Always time for a good German Bratwurst....

Germany: Soccer Camp Ends, August 5

Saturday, August 4, was Heinz's birthday. Heinz and Hella had worked all day to make some home made gnocchi, which was served with roast and vegetables. Excellent. Here we are drinking sekt (German champagne) before dinner. Joachim, Mathias, Lena, Hella, Susanne, Kerstin, Cliff and Heinz.





Heinz and Hella were the perfect hosts, not only letting us stay in their apartment for many days, but also serving us meal after meal. But occasionally we actually did help out. Here's proof:





This, by the way, is the setting for our stay with Heinz and Hella -- the pretty little town of Simmern.




Up on Sunday morning after the birthday party, Kerstin and Heinz decided to relive their youth and take a motorcycle ride to a rock music festival in the countryside nearby. "Nature One" it was called -- a weekend gathering of 50,000 German "techno-freaks."


Just kidding.


But they did take the bike to drive to the airport where Kerstin was going to pick up the rental car we were going to use for the rest of our trip around this part of Europe.

With the rental Cliff and Kerstin drove back to the town of Lütz where Thomas had his soccer camp. Time to pick him up at the end of the week. Mom's worries proved totally uncalled for: Thomas had had a wonderful time.

He had made friends immediately. He had played a lot of soccer, of course -- very tough training. And the entire camp had gone to see a top-level professional soccer game in Mainz featuring the defending Bundesliga champions.

Thomas said that the level of play of the boys at this camp was higher than for boys the same age that he has played with in the US or Sweden. If your German is good and you want to have a day-by-day description of his camp, visit http://www.fv-rheinland.de/html/aktuelles_hunsruck-mosel.php?cs=4745

Here are our pictures. Look at this incredible setting, at the foot of the mountains.

Thomas himself did really well. There were a total of 56 boys in the camp. In the campwide skills contest -- passing, dribbling, shooting, etc. -- he came in number 2. That ensured that he was selected to the all-star team that played against the camp counsellors on the last day of camp.

The All-Stars waiting for the game to start.

Thomas almost scored.....

and was very happy after the game.

Sunday evening, after we returned to Simmern from the camp, was our last with Heinz and Hella. We went to a romantic little village on the Rhine river, Ober-Wesel, where we had some traditional German food and wine from the region, of course.









On the hill above Ober-Wesel this old castle could be seen in the sun set. We decided to drive up and insepct the castle and the view from the top.

Germany: Jazz Concert at Palace on the Rhine, August 3

Schloß Engers! In the meantime Heinz and Hella decided to take us to their summer palace, the Engers castle on the Rhine. There we really got the VIP treatment.

First we were greeted with a glass (or two or three or four) of champagne.

Then a full buffet dinner with a fantastic selection of German foods and wines.

And the evening was complete with an outdoor concert on the palace courtyard with the famous Norwegian saxophone player Jan Garbarek. Here he's playing on his soprano sax. He switched between the soprano and tenor.

Germany: Bike Tour to the Rhine, August 1-3

After Thomas went to camp, we (Cliff and Kerstin) rented bicycles and set out on a three-day trip from Simmern to Boppard, which is an idyllic little town on the Rhine. On the first day, we biked 38 km (25 miles) from Simmern to Emmelshausen. The trail we went used to be an old railroad track that has now been converted into a great hiker-biker trail which goes through small villages, fields, and forests. And... this being Germany, there is a Biergarten about every 10 km or so. We stopped off at this one every chance we got - they've converted some old train cars into hostel-like accomodations for the bikers. We just took the beer.

Once we arrived in Emmelshausen, we took the real train straight down the mountain to Boppard. Here we are waiting for the train at the Emmelshausen station. The first and last cars on the train were reserved for bicycles.

Before we left Simmern, Kerstin had reserved a room for us at a hotel in Boppard. It was called "Shinderhannes and Julchen." Schinderhannes is a character from early in the 1800s, apparently a dashing brigand a la Billy the Kid or Jesse James, who went around robbing people (and apparently killing a few). Julchen was his wife. Don't know exactly why he's supposed to be a romantic figure - maybe because this part of the country was under French occupation at the time and his bad deeds were their worry - but he's good for the tourist industry. In fact, the rail-to-trail route we took from Simmern to Emmelshausen is named for this guy, too. But it was a very nice hotel. Our room even had a view of the Rhine.

Here are some views of the city (town) of Boppard from the city museum's tower.

Nice just to sit at one of the riverside cafes and have a glass of beer or wine.

In a more energetic mood, we went on an afternoon bike ride on the wine slopes. It was really great biking there with beautiful views of the river and the valley.

This bench has a truly nice view, but if you have a tendency of acrophobia (höjdskräck), don't bother.