We were really looking forward to today as we got to go on a 20K bike ride around the village of Cochem. When we first woke up, it was quite cloudy (again!) but just as we were about to start the ride, the clouds dispersed and blue sky and sun came out; so it ended up being a very enjoyable ride with everyone taking off their jackets along the way. Our guide, Marcus, was quite good and gave us a lot of history in the area and the nearby castles. In this area of Europe, wine making seems to be the main industry and the hills and valleys are covered with wine-yards. Here are a few pictures we took today:
Rows and rows of grapes all growing on the mountains.
We stopped here in a little village that we walked around and then had a “milchekaffe” (coffee) in the café. There are so many cafes and restaurants wherever you go. I wonder how they all stay in business.
After the bike tour, we had to be back on our boat by 12:00 and then we sailed down the Moselle River back to the Rhine River. Brian and I took a walk, around and around the top deck of the boat trying to get a little more exercise to try and wear off all the food we have eaten. I tried to cut back a bit today on what I ate but it is so hard to do that once you see the food. Here are a few pictures we took along the way.
Going through one of the locks.
Our Hungarian Captain steering boat in the loft!
I thought of my dad when we saw this bridge as it was huge; a highway spanning the Moselle River. My dad would love to see the cement girders or columns holding this bridge up!
My dad worked at a pre-cast cement company where they made bridge structures. Dad, how do you think they ever got these structures up in amongst the mountains and the river? It is mind boggling to think how they would have constructed this bridge. See picture below for the other columns. Amazing!
I forgot to post this picture yesterday as I thought of my brother, Roy, as apparently this is the gondola where Elvis Presley sat in one of his movies, G.I Blue and sang Wooden Heart…something like that anyway!
I so wish we could take our dogs into stores, restaurants and cafes as they do in Europe. This little dog goes to work with his owner and just sleeps in a crate. We met another lady sitting in a café with a bichon mix who was from Scotland and she and her husband were travelling with their little dog and they take him everywhere they go; they don’t have to worry what to do with him when they are in restaurants or shopping, he just goes right along with them. As long as the dogs have their vaccinations and are well behaved, they are welcomed anywhere. We are so backward in Canada; we are just too paranoid about germs. As one woman said, her dog is cleaner than some humans and much better behaved as well. So true!
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