We wrapped up warmly after breakfast and went for a long walk. Koblenz was in the throes of preparing for a major floral festival that would last for 6 months, but we wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. The town was full of bustle and bunting, teams of workmen were everywhere, sometimes obstructing the streets and thoroughfares and causing some of the usual sights to be closed off.
We found that there was a really modern shopping centre, well-laid out for pedestrians, quite close to the hotel.
Near the bank was an interesting fountain (pic 1) designed as a fantastical mythical ship, I think the caption read that it was from Gulliver’s Travels. Interestingly enough, there were still some old buildings about, such as these pics of some fascinating buildings, one at each corner of a crossroads (pics 2-4).
We soon reached the old part of town, and would have liked to have gone inside Liebfraukirche, one of the many twin-spired churches, but the morning service was on. We passed other interesting buildings and churches before arriving at the Mosel River (pic 1). We followed it downstream to the point where it flows into the Rhine - Deutches Eck. This was partly obstructed by the workmen putting up a huge marquee and other things in time for the festival opening on the Friday. We were still able to visit the huge statue of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The original one had been destroyed during the First World War, but it was rebuilt some time later. It is colossal and you climb up lots of steps into the structure and get marvellous views over Koblenz and the rivers (pic 3 view up the Rhine). The wind was biting though so we didn’t stay too long.
We walked alongside the Rhine past monuments and many different types of buildings including the Kurfürstliches Schloss (2) to Pfaffendorfer Bridge which we crossed to reach the old town of Ehrenbreitstein. There are wonderful views up and down the Rhine river - pictured view towards castle and fort. It was fun to reach the other side several storeys higher than the street underneath.
To drive the cold away, we had coffee and cake at a really interesting café which doubled as an Italian Coffee Machine Museum. The proprietors had been involved in coffee-making in Italy and had emigrated to Germany time ago with their collection of machines and books. They also had an incredible variety of gateaux - but I've no idea what the different ones were called!
We wandered around the oldest part of the small town, and were rather sad that we were just one day too early to visit Beethoven’s mother’s house (pic 3).Before climbing the hill to the castle and fort, parts of which date back 1000 years, we visited the museum briefly and I was quite amused when the lady on duty asked me whether we were Dutch (I must have a very strange accent when I speak German)!
A route was marked on our map through a tunnel above the museum. A plaque just inside explained that the tunnel had been dug as an air-raid shelter and could accommodate many people. We followed it a little way in, expecting at any moment to see a sign to say that it was closed, or a light switch, but neither appeared, so we went back to the opening, only to find that some workmen had closed off the path down the hill as they were resealing it – they rather grumpily allowed us to pass.
So we started the climb by following a road up the hill. The climb is reasonably steep and winds around a very craggy hill. The castle and fort stand on top of steep precipices – a good defence. The road is walled on the outside edge and there are many small apertures that make good frames for photos across the river.
Unfortunately, owing to the preparations for the floral festival, we couldn’t visit inside the buildings, so had to content ourselves with looking at the views before going all the way back down again. Another way up to the castle is a cable car from the other side of the river, but on this day they weren’t in use apart from ferrying some of the many workmen up and down. You can see them crossing the river in the following photo, also you can see the statue at Deutsches Eck. The second picture is of a historic building in Ehrenbreitstein, then one of a little marina on that side of the bridge.
Back down the hill, we found a Turkish café in Ehrenbreitstein where we enjoyed doner kebabs before walking back to the bridge to Neustadt. We took a different route back through the old part of town before returning to our hotel at 5. The first pic is of the Town Hall from inside the interior courtyard, the second of some lovely old buildings in a nearby square, then Florinsmarkt.
The Hoegg Hotel caught my eye with its lovely paintwork and form.
As we were still feeling rather full after our Turkish lunch, we bought a couple of buns at a nearby bakery to eat in our room later on for supper, and just drank cold water before going to bed.
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