Cochem

Cochem Castle

View From Castle Window

 

June 2, 2011-The Mosel

Happy Father's Day to those celebrating with Europeans.

Somehow the email got sent before it was ready yesterday. What I wanted to add was that after the bridge viewing there was a magic show. We had low expectations but it was very funny and clever. They do try to keep us occupied and entertained.

Although the river is choppy the ship is surprisingly smooth. We have no sensation of sea legs when ashore. But I was a little "fermisched" (confused) this morning. I looked out the window at breakfast and tried to communicate that I was excited to see "grapeyards" going up the hills. The word "vineyards" escaped me for a moment. Grapeyards they now are. This, after all, is the Mosel wine region & you can't go two steps without being offered a taste or bottle to buy.

Three vans met our boat for our morning excursion to see Cochem Castle. Cochem is a small town (6,000 people) that looks Epcot-esque. The narrow medieval streets snake uphill past half-timbered houses and pastel painted stucco walls. The castle is a quirk of history. Originally built 1,000 years ago, it has gone through several owners and transitions. It retains some medieval turrets but in 1875 Louis Ravene of Berlin bought it as an addition to his many summer homes. He restored it to his idea of medieval style but failed to consult historic evidence from those days. He turned it into a prototype for Cinderella's Castle pointed towers and all. It still retains a charm and is diminutive by the standards of other castles we've seen. Doors and furnishings are ornately carved wood. Outlines of the wall designs were first burned into the walls using what I imagine was a tool similar to a branding iron then decorated with intricate hand painted stenciling. Delftware is used as dinnerware and as tiles backing fireplaces. Wild grape vines creep up exterior stone walls framing windows and when viewed from the interior create lush views of the valley & river below. In 1942 the Reich forced the family to sell the castle at a reduced price so it could be used as a school for soldiers. After the war it was offered back to the family but they realized they couldn't afford to keep it up and refused.

After the tour we rode the van halfway down the hill and got off by an adorable cemetery. Dewi explained that in Germany graves are rented out for twenty years. Then the family can decide whether or not to renew the lease or have the bones removed and placed in a common grave reserved for such purposes. The empty graves are then re-leased. We continued our walk to the shopping area of Cochem. It was scenic and quaint but we just strolled around, crossed the bridge and returned to the boat.

After lunch it was everyone up on the sun deck to watch as we went through another lock. The crew was climbing all over the walls of the lock and rigging ropes to tether us during the process. One man scaled a skinny ladder set in the wall and was sandwiched between the boat and the lock. One passenger quipped, "I bet his mother doesn't know what he does." We were within five feet of the boat in front of us and five inches from the walls on each side. The captain told us that everything except the railing on the top deck collapses in case of low bridges. The bridge (control room) & canopy both telescope to half their height.

It was a LONG afternoon. We've been sailing on the Mosel since lunch. We started a new puzzle, 1000 pieces this time. Unfortunately it won't fit on the tray we'd used for the old one and it's not the puzzle pictured on the box. We have no idea what the puzzle picture will end up being and it will be twice the size of the tray. Don't know what we'll do with it tonight. They absolutely will not let us use a tabletop and leave it there.

The captain gave a LONG technical talk tonight. It almost put us to sleep except I was working on the puzzle. It's now partly in overlapping layers. Maybe we'll look for plywood on shore tomorrow.

Tomorrow we stop at Bernkastel and have a morning walking tour and wine tasting. Somehow wine in the morning is not appealing. Then we have another LONG afternoon cruise back the way we just came on the Mosel to Trier.

Toby