Cochem

My friend had to go back to her hometown to work and I would go down the Mosel. (Yes, this is the region that gives its name to the wine.) I had decided to go straight to Cochem and perhaps take some river cruises from there.

After a leisurely breakfast we left for the station at 1030. My train was at 1130 so there was a lot of time. I bade my friend and her parents goodbye and I was off. It was drizzling all this time. About 1½ hours later I arrived at Cochem via Trier. The hostel was very easy to find and I left my backpack there while I went to explore the town.

The town lies the banks of the Mosel and the land rises steeply behind it. When I saw the pictures and maps of the region I was sure it would be picturesque and I was not disappointed. There was a cruise leaving for Belstein at 1330 but I wasn't sure if I wanted to take it, so I took lunch first. There were many tourist restaurants to choose from. And the usual coffee houses and souvenir shops. My friend's father had said that this was a popular town with the Dutch. Heh heh, maybe they like the novelty of seeing hills.

After lunch I decided to walk up the Reichsburg, the castle in the picture overlooking the town. From there I had a good vantage over the valley. The youth hostel is on the other bank of the river, near the further bridge.

And this is looking upriver. You can see some vineyards.

I declined to do the castle tour, though it seemed popular with tourists; this was the queue for the next session.

And this is the view from just outside the entrance.

I descended from the castle via another path (I dislike retracing my steps) and found myself back in the middle of the town.

It was time for a coffee break. I didn't finish pronouncing Schwartzwälder Kirschtorte before the waitress completed the name for me. Sure is a touristy town. But what I got wasn't that distinguished, despite the yummy cherries of the area; I'd had better Black Forest Cake in my home city.

Wandering down to the river bank I noticed a marker well above a person's height on a wall indicating the highest level of the December 1993 floods. Wow, that was some flood, these buildings would have been several metres under water.

As usual, a river attracts waterfowl.

By this time I was sure that I didn't want to take any cruises as the weather was off and on, the views would be about the same up and down the river, but maybe the towns might look a bit different.

I walked back across the bridge to the hostel and checked in. The dorm was very tidy and the ensuite bathroom was spacious. I was the first in the dorm, but a couple of German backpackers arrived later. Later they invited me to join them in drinks in town or similar. I was somewhat tired because of the gloomy weather and declined their kind offer. Maybe I should have been more sociable.

I decided to take dinner in the hostel to avoid having to walk into town again. So I found myself allocated a place in the dining room with a lot of noisy youngsters. They were well-mannered though. There seemed to be two groups in the hostel, a Berlitz English camp and an excursion group. The food was bland but nourishing enough. And that was my day in Cochem.