We arrived in Cochem around 8 am today after sailing overnight. This is a small town, but it packs a lot of punch. See what I did there?
Our excursion today started with a wine tasting--at 9 am--at the Schlagkamp Weinmuseum, a local winery. I may have mentioned before that this area has a lot of local wineries. I did not expect to enjoy this due to the early timing, but I learned a lot about the process and the local culture, and the owner was a pretty engaging speaker. You could tell he cared about the business and that he was proud it was family-run.
Inside the wine museum
Didn't buy any wine, but I did buy some German mustard and peach jam that were made at the place also.
By now it had started raining, so we hurried to the bus and rode in to the center of town for the walking tour. Some pictures:
A mosaic of Cochem's Coat of Arms
The old city gate. I hate when cars park in my pictures.
Cochem city street
Fountain and Fe in the town square
After this, we took a bus to Cochem Castle. It was pretty interesting.
Courtyard entrance
Exterior View
Stained Glass Windows
Dining Room
View of Cochem from the castle hill. Those are grape vines in the foreground.
After the castle tour, we returned by bus to the ship. There was not any free time in the town since the walking tour and other things took more time than usual. We had lunch on board the ship and during that meal, it set sail for Winningen, This is a scheduled stop on the cruise for a paid excursion into town for an "Evening of Wine and Music" which we didn't sign on to. We got there in late afternoon and you can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that there was no real way to get into town on our own because you had to cross a highway and then an electrified rail line. At least it was German night at dinner.
I will say that this wasn't my favorite day of the trip. The city tour was a bit chaotic, there was no free time in town, and I was disappointed with the location of the dock on the final stop of the day. These things happen though--it's not really Viking's fault--so I need to be more flexible,
Viking joke #7: What happened to the Viking god who accidentally hit himself with a hammer? He was Thor!
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