Cities of Light: Day 6
Day 6: Monday, October 23, 2023 - Cochem, Germany, and Winningen, Germany
The day's statistics:
- Weather: upper 50s, overcast
- Steps: 12,709 Linda; 15,719 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 76
We followed our normal wake-up routine.
Breakfast was egg benedict and buffet for Linda and I, respectively.
While waiting for our 9:00 Cochem Walking Tour & Reichsburg Castle excursion to begin, I got a couple pictures out our veranda window.
We were told at the very first port talk that the "quiet ship" experiment was going to continue. In the past, there would
be an announcement, usually from the Program Director, about "buses are waiting blah blah blah." It took getting a little
used to not having the announcement, but not having the announcement didn't cause us any problems.
It was about 8:45 and time to head out for our walking tour. We grabbed our tickets, QuietVoice® device, camera,
jackets, and headed out.
After walking a little bit, in sight of the castle, we grabbed a selfie.
We passed under the bridge (visible in the first image above), climbed the stairs, then crossed the bridge and entered the town.
At the beginning of the town was a hotel - the oldest building in the town. It is also adorned with some high-water markers.
Some sights as we walked through the town.
We passed a wine vending machine. A wine vending machine...
We finally arrived at the town square.
We then boarded shuttle buses and headed up the hill to Reichsburg Castle.
Some quick history of the castle ownership.
We were dropped just inside the castle wall. After a quick stop at the restroom, we headed up the rather steep incline and
entered the castle gate.
I grabbed a series of panoramic shots first.
We started our tour outside.
We essentially went around most of the outside, then entered the castle.
We were first in the dining room. The ceiling, the furniture including a floor-to-ceiling chest, and a view out a window.
We moved on to more of the living quarters.
We were entering a larger family / ball room.
The door into this room had a lock - but the opening to get the key into the hole was fashioned so
that if it were dark, or the key holder were drunk, the key would be chanelled into the keyhole.
In the corner of one of the rooms was a secret door with a passageway.
The story is that when someone closes their eyes and makes a wish under this chandelier, it will come true.
We were then told a story: a tourist was with a group, heard the wish story, and stood under this chandelier, closed his eyes, and
made a wish. He opened his eyes, turned around, looked at his wife and said "nope, it doesn't work." No, it wasn't me...
These figures high on a fireplace mantle, are actually not frogs. They are lions in armor - and just happen to look like frogs.
Continuing on.
We stepped out onto a balcony...
And enjoyed the views of the town, valley, and river below.
We stepped back into the house and continued on.
It wasn't long before we were outside again.
A really deep well.
And finishing up our visit to the castle.
We left the castle, boarded the shuttles, and headed down the hill. We arrived near a cemetary that was next to an original
entrance to the wall and an old passageway. The castle was visible in the distance.
We continued our walk to the town [center] square.
Some of the timbers on the first house resemble grape vines - an indicator that the owner is a vintner.
We passed a small hotel that had this interesting "welcome mat".
A local manhole cover, and a street.
This white building housed Raths-apotheke (pharmancy). After the war, the government was offering money to help rebuild
the town. But the money was being offered to the wealthy. So in an act of defiance toward the government, the pharmacy
owner rebuilt his building but on the ends of the timbers, he had faces put on: the firsst shows a face with no glasses meaning
that the government can't see what's going on; the second with the mouth wide open meaning that all they do is talk and talk
and talk; and the third with a kooky face and pointing to the side of the head meaning a lack of intelligence.
We continued toward the "entrance to the town" by the bridge, essentially where we started.
A bakery, another building with high-water marks, and a history mosaic (the bridge we crossed is directly behind the mosaic).
We were let loose on the town for some free time. We decided to head to the old mustard factory (they make the
mustard there, but the front of the location is just like a store) a couple blocks up the main road.
There were a number of different flavors - both mustard and mustard-flavored jams - available,
and tastes were offered of anything anyone wanted to try.
For some reason we have no pictures of that part of town, outside or inside the mustard factory, or on our walk.
After the mustard factory, we headed back into town and entered St. Martin church.
A basic altar and the pipe organ; an apse; a 3D cross; and some stained glass windows.
I am not versed in Saints. Linda is. And even she was not familiar with Saint Sebastian (the Patron Saint of soldiers and the disabled),
only knowing the name.
After the church visit, we headed back to the town square.
We were a little early, so we sat in the seats behind the fountain and not visiible in the first image from this angle.
We ran into Margie and Eric. While the ladies went off to do a little shopping, I remained in the square.
At noon, the bells played a song.
Our visit to Cochem was over, and we headed back toward the ship. At the town end of the bridge was a painted staircase.
Looking up- and down-river from the middle of the bridge.
And a couple sights from the other side of the river.
We returned to the ship, and not before long it was 12:30 and time for lunch.
We sat with Kara and Denise (Chicago), and Eric and Margie.
Linda had mixed green salad, grilled salmon filet, and flan parisien.
I had Caesar chicken wrap (from the marketfare), pulled pork sandwich, and flan parisien.
After lunch, we had some scenic sailing, including passing some ducks and through another lock.
4:00 brought us some tea.
Kalin presented a "Germany Today" talk at 4:30.
A little before 7:00, we docked in Winningen.
We had some free time and decided to venture into town for a spell - about 45-50 minutes worth.
It was a cute little town - with grape vines all over the place (though there was no fruit at this time of year).
The story goes: A vintner noticed that the wine levels in his barrels was reducing unexpectedly. He apparently hid in the
ageing room to catch the thief. Low and behold, one night a thief arrived to steal some wine and he attacked the thief,
beating them relentlessly. He eventually realized he was beating his wife. Whether or not he stopped is a mystery...
During our stroll, we came across [what appeared to be] two EMT workers tending to an older gentleman that was bleeding rather
profusiously. As we passed, an ambulance from Koblenz arrived (Koblenz is only 11 km away [sorry, 6 miles]).
And moving on.
We arrived at the walkway near the ship and grabbed a selfie.
We embarked.
After stopping by our stateroom to shed our outerwear, and camera, we headed to the dining room for dinner.
We say with Margie, Eric, and Sheila.
Linda had the Caesar salad; risotto con zucchine, burrata e tartufo al limone; and the sorbet of the day: mango.
I had the minestrone alla Genovese, wiener schnitzel, and apple tarte tatin.
After dinner there was some more on-board entertainment. Tonight it was a father-son duo that came aboard for
a performance. But the first son wasn't feeling well, so the second son came aboard instead.
Even though the TV had a lounge cam, it wasn't working on this ship. So I headed to the lounge to hear a couple songs.
I was sitting in a small group next to a window. The performers were on the other side of the ship - which really wasn't
that far away. There was a group sitting between us and the performers. Someone I was sitting next to politely asked
that group to keep it down a little. A couple minutes later, the male of the group decided it would be a good idea to stand
up, turn his back toward us, and just stand there for the duration of the second song - as evident toward the end of the recording.
Admittedly, he apologized the next morning to our fellow passenger for having had too much to drink the previous night.
There was no "program", but here is the two songs I heard and recorded.
The day was over, and we went to bed.