18/09/25 Not On A Boat

We planned to catch a ferry up the Rhine, only to discover that the ferry didn't run between Cologne and Koblenz and we had to catch a train instead.  It was a short trip made longer by a tardy train, but we were still in Koblenz by midday with plenty of time to stash our luggage and jump on a cable car across the Rhine to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.

The current fort was but a whipper-snapper, being built by the Prussians in 1817-28 after the French smashed up the previous fortifications on the site. And that was built on Roman fortifications from the 3-5th BC which in turn sat on previous fortifications and so on and so forth. Someone had occupied and defended the hill pretty much from the moment one human lobbed a rock at another human.

Trusting German engineering.

Thankfully no one was lobbing rocks today. We wandered happily around the Fort and Roger traipsed down memory lane, reminiscing about his stay in the Youth Hostel here 35 years ago. Alas, there were no vacancies in the Youth Hostel for us, hence the need to catch the cable car up from our bland and soulless business hotel on the fringes of the old town.

The fort overlooked the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine rivers with panoramic views along the valley. 

Different colours for different rivers.

A ginormous statue overlooked the meeting of the two rivers at the Deutsches Eck. The statue commemorated Wilhelm I, the first German Emperor, who was credited with the unification of Germany in the late 1860s. It wasn't the original statue: that one was damaged in WWII. A replica of the original was reinstated in 1993 necessitating a rework of the whole structure because the new cast bronze statue was much heavier than the original copper one. "I knew it!" Roger exclaimed. "He wasn't here when I visied back in the 80s! I would definitely have remembered a huge statue of a dude on a horse!"

Little dude without horse in front of big dude with horse.

I stood at the point of Deutsches Eck and watchedcthe brown waters of the Moselle mix with the blue waters of the Rhine. Barges and river cruisers chugged busily back and forth while smaller pleasure boats darted in between them and an occasional kayak hugged the shore, paddling furiously and trying to avoid the worst of the current. On the opposite bank rows of camper vans gave testament to everyone enjoying the beautiful weather.

Octoberfest was due to start in Munich on Saturday and temporary stages and marquees were under construction in Koblenz' town squares because all of Germany apparently joins in the party.  Some people were already getting into the spirit of things.

I don't think they were German, but they werechaving fun pretending.

The streets and squares were decorated with flowers and lively with people, and a busker played suitable music on his piano accordion.

Liebefrauenkirche, trimmed in red. Apparently the inside of the church is all in red and white, a style characteristic of Koblenz. The church was all locked up so I couldn't see for myself if this was so.

Back at the hotel Roger set an alarm for an early start tomorrow, because we finally had a boat to catch on the River Rhine.

Goodnight.