{"id":3491,"date":"2015-08-30T11:51:09","date_gmt":"2015-08-30T16:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3491"},"modified":"2015-08-30T11:51:38","modified_gmt":"2015-08-30T16:51:38","slug":"3491","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/?p=3491","title":{"rendered":"European Vacation Day 2 Mosel River Valley Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

I woke up at 7:15.\u00a0 That\u2019s about midnight back home.\u00a0 The rain was coming down lightly, but it was still humid and warm out there.\u00a0 Oh well, rain stopped a Zurek Family vacation in the past.\u00a0 After lazing around for a bit, I got into the shower and back out.\u00a0 Next, it was time to push Rich off to the showers.<\/p>\n

Once we were done, we worked on getting Mark started.\u00a0 As we waited for Mark, his cellphone was ringing and ringing.\u00a0 Pretty soon, Uncle Max came through the door looking for us.\u00a0 I explained that Mark was moving and we\u2019d wait for him to get done, since our Skoda was blocking his garage.<\/p>\n

Back at the house,\u00a0 Aunt Uschi had breakfast ready and waiting for us in the 3 season room.\u00a0 I explained that I had been slow to get moving.\u00a0 I had held everyone else up.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the guys wouldn\u2019t get going until I did.\u00a0 We had eggs and bacon with brotchen (rolls) and an assortment of toppings.\u00a0 Rich found out that Uncle Max had Air Force coffee.\u00a0 I think it made Uncle Max\u2019s day that someone else liked it.<\/p>\n

We cleaned up the dishes and headed out to tour the Mosel River Valley.\u00a0 This is Aunt Uschi\u2019s home area.\u00a0 They produce a great deal of wines with their vineyards growing right up the side of the mountains along the valley.\u00a0 Mark drove us out of Ramstein and off on the adventure.\u00a0 The rain continued to come down, but only lightly.<\/p>\n

Our first stop was Bernkastel-Kues.\u00a0 These two towns are fused together with the river running between then.\u00a0 Bernkastel was the side we chose to park.\u00a0 The town appeared to be full of tourists and people were walking everywhere.<\/p>\n

We walked into the downtown area.\u00a0 Right in the middle of town is the market square.\u00a0 This wide area provides the stage for functions put on by the town.\u00a0 Today, the tourists were walking, sitting, and just seemed to be everywhere.<\/p>\n

Bernkastel has a house that molded itself into its surroundings.\u00a0 It goes up and then juts out, and bends around the houses next to it without touching them.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen many pictures of it and paintings.\u00a0 I was able to take that picture myself. Today.<\/p>\n

We ambled along the streets with the other people.\u00a0 An occasional car would drive up the street.\u00a0 Even though they are cobblestones, many houses line the street and these are the actual residents.\u00a0 There is a castle in ruins above the town.\u00a0 Many of these relics appear up and down throughout the valley.<\/p>\n

Rich saw the mention of black bears throughout the town.\u00a0 We discovered that the valley was the home for many of the population.\u00a0 Bern in the name of the town actually started out as baren for bear.\u00a0 Fountains and flags throughout the town continue to honor the bears in the original name.<\/p>\n

The shops were full of wonderful things to look at.\u00a0 Since I was limited on space in my luggage, I was afraid to look.\u00a0 I saw a lot of things I would love to have.\u00a0 Prices are still pretty good for us in Europe.\u00a0 I wonder how much that would have added on to the vacation price in the end?<\/p>\n

We continued to wander around and found a nice biergarten at the top of one hill.\u00a0 We went in to sample some of the local wine.\u00a0 The ruins were overhead of us with the steep hill leading down to the Mosel.\u00a0 We had a great view of the river and Kues across the way.<\/p>\n

Back in the car, we headed up river to explore and see what we could find.\u00a0 Rich had done supply runs from a base just west of the river and had come down to Zell in the valley to buy wine.\u00a0 We were able to see the place he went.\u00a0 It brought back great memories for him to see the Schwartz Kat zellars.<\/p>\n

Construction knows no bounds.\u00a0 We had to shift back and forth from one side of the river to the other.\u00a0 It was amazing to see all of the bicycles, camping, and general enjoyment of the river environs.\u00a0 With the rain cleared up, we had sunshine and nice weather for our tour.<\/p>\n

We got to Cochem at the near top of the valley.\u00a0 A weinfest was in progress.\u00a0 We parked and walked around to see what the fest had to offer.\u00a0 Rich saw a fischbrotchen shop along one of the streets.\u00a0 It was on his list to get one of these.\u00a0 It must have been good.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t stop talking about it.\u00a0 I\u2019m still hearing from him about that sandwich.<\/p>\n

We walked to the old wall of the town.\u00a0 From the backside of the wall, you could see the opening used a toilet by the wall occupants.\u00a0 Yep, it just fell to the ground right on the street.\u00a0 Glad that doesn\u2019t happen anymore.<\/p>\n

As we wandered the streets, we looked up one side street to see an SUV headed down the steep mountain side.\u00a0 Well, people live up there also.\u00a0 I did get a picture of the car coming down.\u00a0 Slow and steady is definitely the battle cry there.<\/p>\n

Aunt Uschi, Mark, and Rich stopped for potato pancakes.\u00a0 Right there, the fountain was spraying out colored water.\u00a0 It was supposed to harken back to the fest days when the fountains really did put out wine and you just had to stick in your cup to catch the goodness.<\/p>\n

We walked among the rides, people, and activities until we got back to the car.\u00a0 This side and the other side of the river were all dressed up in flowers and flowerboxes.\u00a0 It was really beautiful.\u00a0 Somehow, it is all idyllic and presents such a beautiful world for visitors.<\/p>\n

Going out of town, Mark stopped so we could try to get a picture of the very nice castle in the mountains above Cochem.\u00a0 With the sun down so far, it was really hard to get anything that wasn\u2019t too dark.\u00a0 I need to see if I can make the picture show the beauty that we could see.<\/p>\n

The road leading out of town was on the other side of the river, but construction soon forced over the river.\u00a0 We got to a place where we could turn toward home.\u00a0 This way took us through farm country and little villages where house and barn were one and the same building.\u00a0 It was a nice way to end the tour of the valley.<\/p>\n

Back at the house, Uncle Max was home and waiting.\u00a0 We loaded the Brittany spaniels, Hamlet and Clover, into the car and went to dinner.\u00a0 Up the hills over town is the Schloss Hotel.\u00a0 Above here is the ruins of a castle in the area.\u00a0 It was very warm inside the restaurant, but we managed to enjoy dinner with some very good German specialties.<\/p>\n

Then Uncle Max wanted ice cream for dessert.\u00a0 In town, they took us to their favorite Italian ice cream shop.\u00a0 It appeared to be about to close.\u00a0 The clerk was sweeping and talking to someone.\u00a0 We came in and ordered.\u00a0 The ice cream was tasty.\u00a0 I was totally full and still managed to eat every bite of mine.<\/p>\n

It was dark and very foggy at this time.\u00a0 We went out to the hunting land that my uncle manages through the state.\u00a0 Hunters help to control populations, other hunters, and general well being of the animals and land in an assigned area.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great idea to let the people who use the land help with this control.\u00a0 Hamlet and Clover went about their business and enjoyed some time on the property.<\/p>\n

At the house, we continued to talk.\u00a0 An earlier conversation had been about the Civil War and my uncle had an album of songs around the history and personal stories of the Civil War.\u00a0 We listened to a few tracks before the Hazelnuss liquor was poured.\u00a0 I can image this warm and part of something sticky and sweet.\u00a0 My aunt says it\u2019s popular over ice cream.<\/p>\n

Finally, it was time to say good night and return to Mark\u2019s.\u00a0 The three of us settled in and continued to talk.\u00a0 We got all caught up and shared stories.\u00a0 Before I knew it, it was 1:00 AM.\u00a0 Where did the time go.\u00a0 I was so tired.\u00a0 Jet lag was still with me.\u00a0 I said good night and moved to the stairs.<\/p>\n

It was a great day.\u00a0 I like talk to Aunt Uschi, Uncle Max, and Mark.\u00a0 Tomorrow would be too soon to leave.<\/p>\n

\"3<\/a>
3 season room in the backyard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Backyard<\/a>
Backyard at Uncle Max and Aunt Uschi’s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Patio<\/a>
Patio at Uncle Max and Aunt Uschi’s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Castle<\/a>
Castle ruins at Bernkastel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kuse<\/a>
Kuse on the Mosel River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Aunt<\/a>
Aunt Uschi and Rich strolling along one of the Bernkastel streets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Hard<\/a>
Hard carved supports to the structures in town.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Structural<\/a>
Structural supports on one of the houses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Famous<\/a>
Famous structure in Bernkastel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Family<\/a>
Family story on outside of their house in Bernkastel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Joy,<\/a>
Joy, Rich, and Aunt Uschi in Bernkastel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Market<\/a>
Market square in Bernkastel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"More<\/a>
More street scenes in Bernkastel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"My<\/a>
My companions walking around Bernkastel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Vineyard<\/a>
Vineyard right outside of the city gate in Bernkastel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Restaurant<\/a>
Restaurant and gasthaus from as far back 1438.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful structure in Bernkastel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Vineyards<\/a>
Vineyards surrounding the town of Bernkastel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Walking<\/a>
Walking the main road in Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Story<\/a>
Story of the town of Cochem on the wall.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Weinfest<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Part<\/a>
Part of the old wall in Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Original<\/a>
Original toilet opening in wall in Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
A stage for the Weinfest in Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Street<\/a>
Street performers in Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SUV<\/a>
SUV coming down the hill in Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Beautiful<\/a>
Beautiful gasthaus in Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Castle<\/a>
Castle above Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Opposite<\/a>
Opposite side of the river at Cochem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I woke up at 7:15.\u00a0 That\u2019s about midnight back home.\u00a0 The rain was coming down lightly, but it was still humid and warm out there.\u00a0 Oh well, rain stopped a Zurek Family vacation in the past.\u00a0 After lazing around for a bit, I got into the shower and back out.\u00a0 Next, it was time to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3491"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3529,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3491\/revisions\/3529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}