Cities of Light: Day 7
Day 7: Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - Koblenz, Germany
The day's statistics:
- Weather: upper 50s
- Steps: 6,723 Linda; 9,330 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 16
We followed our normal wake-up routine.
Breakfast was egg benedict and buffet for Linda and I, respectively.
While I did not get any picture of my buffet breakfast plate, I did get one of Linda's egg benedict.
After a couple days, Linda started adding tomato provançal (a grilled tomato half) and fried mushrooms
to the dish (not pictured) - though I guess it would be accurate to say I was adding them because I'd
pick them up on a separate plate when I visited the buffet.
Breakfast was frequently alone due to not having a set time for the meal - like lunch [usually] at 1:00
and dinner [usually] at 7:00 - but this day we ate with Ken and Vicky, and Carol and Penny.
Today's excursion was to the Marksburg Castle. Our guide was our very own Program Director Kalin.
There was fog this morning. A lot. Of. Fog.
We were on the path, part of the castle surround, heading toward the entryway. There are portals in the tower on the path to allow
archers to help protect against an invasion. Hot oil or water could also be dumped on any invaders - the castle never fell.
The top of the tower can barely be seen - not because of the angle, but the fog.
We arrived at the first gate. Inside this gate, Kalin handed us off to Max, our local guide at the castle.
Defense solders would have used this chamber for living, protection, and or storage.
Coats of arms from the various owners of the castle, dating back to 1263.
The beginning of this section was more of uneven stones than steps. Then there were steps. At the top of the steps is another gate.
Some original cannons.
Views from the castle would typically show the valley and river. But nope, not today.
This was an original medival garden that wrapped around a good portion of the castle. The castle was pretty self-sufficient -
as needed in case of an attack. There are now some flowers in addition to produce and herbs (though there isn't much in season
at this time of year).
We finally made it inside.
We started in the wine cellar. Between the staff and nobility, a lot of wine was needed. It was stored
in this room under the kitchen. Plus, it was a supply that was needed in case of an attack.
Servants slept on the floor in the kitchen to stay warm - the table was for servants and food prep,
not for nobility eating. Sometimes one would die overnight due to carbon monoxide poinsoning.
We stepped out of the kitchen, turned right and then right again, and went upstairs to see a bedroom and the dining room.
The upper dining room - for the nobility - still has the original wall paper. There were alcoves off the dining room too.
Apparently having an "indoor" bathroom is something to brag about...
There was even a chapel in the castle.
We traversed another flight of stairs to view more living quarters, and found our way to a room with weapons.
The next room housed a historical collection of suits of armor from oldest to newest. The invention of the firearm essentially
made armor obsolete. (I did try to stitch these but it didn't really work.)
Our last room was at the lowest level: the torture chamber.
There were original structure beams visible too.
After a brief stop in the gift shop, we walked back down the hill to the buses. Even after a tad more
than two hours, the castle was still shrouded in fog as we drove away.
We headed to Koblenz, traveling on the same highway that we were on when we traveled to Koblenz
two years ago.
That route included some small-town sights, as well as another castle - and it was still foggy.
Eventually we got off the bus in almost the exact same spot we did two years ago.
We took a selfie while walking to the ship, with the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress across the Moselle river.
This sort of docking doesn't happen often, and is cerntainly something that likely would never happen on an ocean-size
cruise ship. The river ships have gangway passages on the second and third decks, on both sides of the ship, which make
this possible.
We embarked, made our way to our stateroom, and dropped off our outerware, QuietVoice® devices, and camera.
Time for lunch.
During today's lunch we sat with Margie, Eric, and Sheila.
Linda had mixed green salad, rigatoni alle melanzane , and melon ice cream.
I had teriyaki chicken from the marketfare, red lentil & coconut milk soup, rigatoni alle melanzane, and chocolate brownie.
This afternoon was some scenic sailing. The fog did eventually lift too - but it still remained mostly overcast.
We made a brief stop only two kilometers (a mile and a quarter) down river - or up river - in order to off load some
garbage or laundry or something, and possible onload supplies too.
We were passing through the section of the Rhine where there were 21 castle, just as we did
two years ago - but I only captured 14.
This time, I beleive I got all 21 (though as I finished putting them together, I discovered I missed one - so I only have 20).
Toward the end of the castles, the sun started going down (yes, technically after noon it is going down...) and the last couple
of castles were really hard to capture clearly.
1) Ehrenbreitstein Fortress - which is already above.
2) Stolzenfels.
3) Lahneck.
4) Marksburg - the same one we visited earlier, though now at least the fog has lifted.
5) Sterrenberg.
6) Liebsenstein.
7) Maus.
8) Rheinsfels.
9) katz.
10) Schönburg.
11) Gutenfels.
12) Pfalzgrafenstein.
*** One of the next six castles, based on the time stamps and images, is missing, though I don't know exactly which one -
but it is most likely Stahleck. So the castle name may be off by one. ***
13) Stahleck.
The missing castle?
14) Nollig.
15) Heimburg.
16) Soonwxk.
17) Reichenstein - it's getting darker.
18) Rheinsein - it's getting even darker.
19) Mouse Tower - it's getting really dark...
20) Ehrenfels - it was dark and the ship was moving.
21) Klopp - this could / should be it, that or its a church. Hey, it's dark and we're on a moving ship...
These sights were captured in between the castles - I just didn't want to separate the castle pictures.
There was a statue on a peninsula.
This isn't another castle. These are actually tunnel entryways.
And continuing on.
At 4:30, Linda recorded this clip.
The sun eventually set. Like it does every day.
At 4:00, passengers were welcomed to visit wheelhouse - which was between the castles.
I headed to the sun deck. All the railings and canopy can be lowered to be nearly level with the deck. The wheelhouse has the
capabilty of recessing into the ship. Between the two, the top deck can be eight or so feet lower, allowing the ship to travel
under lower bridges when there is high water.
We looked in at the controls, and were able to ask the acting captain questions.
On the side of the wheelhouse were the ship statistics. (135 meters is about 443 feet.)
Dinner time was approaching.
We were served - as we usually were - peanuts. The orange ones are too addictive.
At 6:30 was the port talk.
At 7:00, we headed downstairs to the dining room for dinner. But tonight was "a taste of Germany" night and it was a full buffet.
We sat with Ken and Vicky, and Carol and Penny.
The tables had cheeses, dried meats, pretzels, and bread.
The buffet included red cabbage, sauerkraut, sausage, sauerbraten, backhendl (fried chicken), roasted chicken, pork knuckle, german salads,
breads, and dried meats. There were some mustards - of course - too.
There were desserts too: sacher, esterhazy, apricot crumble, and dobosh. Oh, and fresh fruit.
These were also other desserts, I don't know exactly what they were, that were supposed to be a sweet pasta, and a crepe.
While there was the buffet, another option was the chef's plate.
This got food to the table without having to wait on line. And if anyone - like me - wants more, they can go to the buffet and get some.
The first course was cabbage soup(?) - it wasn't on the buffet or the menu.
Then the sampler plate - we both had that.
I, of course, got more entrée from the buffet.
For dessert, Linda had the apricot crumble, and I (eventually) had the other three cakes.
Even with all this food, the "warm desserts" - the three non-cake desserts above - were eventually removed, and replaced with ice creams.
At one point during dinner, toward the end, I captured this shot.
After our meal, we rolled ourselves to our stateroom, and got ready for bed.