A train journey down the Rhine River

Tuesday April 12th
A neighbour called Brunhilde came to pick us up at 8.30 to take us to Ravensburg to catch our train to Koblenz. She arrived early enough to take us on a quick drive around the old city walls in the centre of town. We were a bit sad we hadn’t had time to go round on foot and have a proper look. Back in the Middle Ages, it had its own laws and was often under attack, so many towers were built, hence its nickname 'City of Towers'
The train arrived and departed punctually and off we went to Ulm via Biberach. The countryside was mostly very flat with many open ditches. After changing trains, the land became hillier and we were fascinated by the terraced vineyards on the steep hills near Stuttgart.
From Mannheim (another change of train)the country was flatter again with plenty of market gardens until we reached the Rhine River at Bingen. Now came the most interesting part of the journey, the Rhine Valley. It really is beautiful. Not only do you see all the river traffic from massive barges to pleasure craft (pic 1), but you also catch glimpses of ancient castles and towers on the hillsides and on a few islands too(pic 2). The sky gradually clouded up and there were some heavy showers after Loreley (pic 3). AFter passing through or by many villages and towns, we reached the end of this part of the trip at Bingen. From there, it was only a short hop to Koblenz.

It was only a chilly 10 degrees when we arrived at the station, and when we went for a walk near the hotel, it started to rain, then hail, so we ducked into the only coffee shop that we could see. It was very tiny and the African manager was smoking. We wished we could duck straight back out again, but the weather was too nasty. The coffee was not very nice either, so we were glad when the rain and hail eased off enough for us to return to the fresh air. It was so cold that we decided to cut our walk short and returned to the hotel to rest in our room.
After a while, we decided to go in search of a map of the town, having not found one either at the railway station or in the hotel lobby. We soon found the rather small information centre nearby. It was so full of people it was difficult to access the brochure stands lining one wall - nothing suitable! Bruce decided to wait outside as the queues for service were so long and slow-moving. When I eventually reached the counter, I saw some maps there and picked one up - such a long wait for a 2-second pick-up! Unfortunately the map just detailed the sites of the upcoming Floral Festival which was due to start the day after we left. Back at the hotel again, we spied some maps - good ones! If only we’d asked there first!!!