First--apologies for the delay. The internet wasn't very reliable for the past couple of days. I was not OK. Ha ha.
Koblenz was our first stop on the Rhine--or the last on the Moselle, depending on how you look at it. Another city founded by the Romans in 8 BC as a military post. I found it interesting that all the cities we visit in Germany were founded by Rome when I always thought that the Romans couldn't conquer the Germans.
Our ship docked very close to the Deutsches Eck, or German Corner, where the huge William I statue stands. Germany was unified under his reign. Our walking tour of Koblenz started here.
Rhine River View. It's been cloudy all trip.
Pieces of the Berlin Wall
The Basilica of St. Castor is the oldest church in Koblenz, built between 817 and 836. It's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
View of the Basilica
Gravestones that were moved outside to keep thousands of walking feet wearing them down.
Altar
We left the walking tour at this point and went looking around ourselves. We don't always get a full story behind what we're seeing, but these times are always my favorite. There's always Google.
Koblenz City Street
Jesuit Church entrance
Liebfrauenkirche (Our Beloved Lady) door
History Column, Josef-Görres-Platz
Water depth gauge, or pegel in German
Back to the ship for a long cruise--upstream this time--to our next destination, Mainz. Along the way there were about 30 castles perched high on both banks of the river. These were meant to control trade and impose taxes on ships passing through. Nowadays, some of these are hotels, museums, or just abandoned. I'm not going to post them all, but here are some of the more interesting ones:
Rheinstein Castle (and Chapel)
This was a long leg of the trip. I immediately saw that the Rhine is much busier than the Moselle--I see much more traffic here. Barges, small pleasure craft, other cruise ships, etc.
Viking Joke #8: What one rock song is a Viking's favorite? Bjorn to Be Wild.
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