If you think my title is a bad pun, I had thought to call this entry, “Moseying Down the Mosel” (but thought better of it).
I didn’t plan to do much sightseeing in Koln, but rather head towards the towns along the Mosel River. I left my hotel and did plan to take photos of the cathedral (which is conveniently located next door to the train station). The cathedral is massive, supposedly to leave one with a sense of awe. I got to the main train station and headed outside. Rain was falling and it was windy. The rain became more intense and the task of holding my umbrella and trying to take a photo was clearly more than I could handle. So I headed back inside to gather provisions for lunch (they have a very large array of restaurants and a good-sized market). I did have time for another attempt at photographing the cathedral and this time, the weather was more accommodating.
My initial destination was the small town of Cochem along the Mosel River. I changed trains in Koblenz, with our conductor announcing that we would not be able to make the connection (as we were running late and they could not delay that train). As it turns out, I did manage to make the connection (with a little fast walking). The trip from Koblenz to Cochem was mostly on the banks of the Mosel, making for a very scenic trip. Many of the hills had vineyards and there was an occasional cow or two, munching happily.
Cochem is a picture-postcard small town. Many tour groups come here, along with a fleet of boats that sail along the Mosel. I walked from the train station with my luggage (as I couldn’t find the lockers and as the one person selling tickets and answering questions had attracted an unusually long line) towards the center of town (about 10 minutes away). The center of town really was beautiful; as if it were designed solely for tourists. I took many photos along the way, and then headed back to the train station along the river walk. In total, I spent one hour visiting Cochem. I would have liked to have taken a boat trip or visited one of the remote castles in the area, but I just didn’t have enough time.
From Cochem, I made my way to Trier. Trier is “the oldest city in Germany”, sporting ancient Roman ruins. I had booked a hotel next to the train station (a somewhat worn, but nice enough place), so I checked in & dropped off my bags, then set off to see the sights of Trier. The main sights are a ten minute walk from the station, along a park-lined boulevard. I saw the ancient Roman gate (Porta Nigra), the Cathedral and ancient Roman Baths (along with yet another beautiful set of gardens). The baths were very interesting, as the Romans created a fairly elaborate system for transporting the water through the facility. It was a very large site and as I walked through the tunnels, I wondered if I would ever find my way back out of the catacombs/labyrinth.
After sightseeing, I headed back to the hotel for a well-needed nap. Afterwards, I headed to the café next door to catch up on my blog uploading (they had free wireless internet). I was probably the only person there not watching an important soccer match (in the inter-European “Champions League”). It was a bit chilly outside, but the fresh air certainly beat the prospect of going inside, where there was plenty of smoking occurring. This would be one factor that would make it difficult for me to live in Europe: Smoking! The good news is that the train, train stations (at least in theory) and many other places have banned smoking.
Of course, my sensitivity to smoke has only been heightened by my having this upper respiratory infection. Today, it has been a full two weeks with this version of the crud (with the first 2-3 days being the worst of it). I think I’ve done well to not have it cut substantially into my trip. However, my guess is that I’ll only get better once I make it home. In the past few days, my voice has been rather “froggy”, making it surprisingly hard to get German words out. I still find that I speak German well enough to ask the question, yet not understand the answer. But with a froggy voice, even the former is in doubt.
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