Moselkern, Germany July 28, 2012

Waiting for the Train

Last night a thunderstorm spent some time with us. This morning, it is cloudy but not raining. We got up early as we are taking a train to Moselkern, where we will hike about 3 miles or so to Burg Eltz Castle. Hopefully, we stay dry but we pack the rain pants and jackets just in case. It is much cooler as we start out but the humidity is still there. We walk along the Mosel to the train station, 1.5 miles away. There are very few people out as it is Saturday morning. The walk takes us about 30 minutes and a short while later, we are on our way.

Busy Moselkern Street

Getting off at the bustling metropolis of Moselkern, we weave and bob among the morning traffic. This traffic consists of one cat sitting on a windowsill. We walk through a residential area for about 20 minutes and then hit the trail through the woods. It follows the Eltzal, more a stream than a river. We soon start climbing above the river through the medieval forest, knowing that thieves surely must be lurking in the dark woods. As we climb, we encounter some very tall pine trees and the canopy thins a little. We hit what may be the high point and turn to the left. The path is very well marked with signs and distances at most intersections. Trying to remember that it is not miles is hard to do, but makes you happy as a kilometer is only .62 miles so you always think at first glance that it is further than it really is. We trail to the castle has been relatively easy and our pace is good. More practice for Switzerland.

Burg Eltz

We reach the castle and of course there are about 250 steps to the entrance. Tickets bought and an English tour in 20 minutes, we look through their small treasury, while waiting. It has all kinds of things from days gone by including houseware items, religious items, and of course knight items. The Castle Burg Eltz is privately owned and has been in the same family for over 500 years. We get to see many rooms and learn the history of the family but alas there are no photos allowed inside here (only outside) so if you want to see it you will just have to come yourself (or google it, where I am sure you can find some pictures). Rick Steve’s said this was his favorite castle. I do not see it. Carol and I agree that our favorite was Rheinfels above St. Goar even though it was mostly in a ruin stage and Marksburg in Braubach (original state), both better and less costly than Burg Eltz, at least according to us.

In the German Woods

We leave and decide to see if we can catch the 12:11 train from Moselkern in just under an hour. Carol floats through the woods as if there are wings on her feet. I try to keep up and even pass her by once. Sensing the edge of town, she passes me by and never looks back. We make it to the station with 5 minutes to spare. It started to rain a few minutes before that and now is coming down quite hard. Train ride back, uneventful, and the walk back from town was very wet but we had our rain jackets on. Lunch in the apartment and Carol is playing Sleeping Beauty as I write this. It has just stopped raining and the sun is peeking through so we may walk to town. Other than that relax time and plan for our day tomorrow. This has to be said. For those who are keeping up, I said I found in Belgium where all the toilet seats that were missing in Italian public rest rooms were. The Belgium toilets we used were all free and not guarded as if they were the town treasuries. The German toilets seem to be more economically essential, small fees here and there, except in the castles where they are free and you can **** on your enemy. However, the Germans really need to discover Charmin. Their toilet paper is just paper (brown paper bag or brown restroom hand towel paper) cut down to toilet paper size. My butt is just not appreciating the semi sand blasting it gets when I wipe. It may end up baby smooth but it is just not worth the price. There, it is said and I will say no more about it. CNC

Expenses                                                                                                                                                    17.20E- RT Train to Moselkern                                                                                                                    16E-Castle Burg Eltz Tour                                                                                                                   Dinner?                                                                                                                                                           50E-Haus Von Hoegen. Apartment