Flowing rivers, fortresses, and former homes

Koblenz - Our next stop was at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers (confluence is a word that previously had never entered my active vocabulary). So right at the spot the rivers meet, in Koblenz, there was a huge Wilhelm I memorial that had monuments set up for every region of Germany. It was oddly similar to the WWII memorial in DC. Here we stayed in a lovely hotel, and the man at the front desk had a lovely French accent, which made me excited to experience the French speaking side of Central Europe.

Burg Eltz - Along the Mosel River from Koblenz one can find Berg Eltz, a medieval castle still owned by a noble German family. Next to the structure remains the ruins of a siege castle when the King of Luxembourg, or the Pope or someone who thought they were important, decided they wanted the land for themself. In the end hurling stones over the walls amounted to no progress and they let the nobles keep it.

Trier - Further down the Mosel River, lies the city of Trier, which was built upon Roman foundations (as so many European cities are). Quite a few ancient structures remain including the Porta Negra, pictured below. Apparently 37 years you could waltz right into the ruins, but now most are fenced off and they charge admission. Thus is life.


Auw bei Prum - On our way into Belgium we stopped at the small village, Auw, where my parents lived in 1973, when my father was in the military. It was amazing for them to see how little the area had changed since then, just a few improvements, street lights, wind turbines in the fields, and fancier houses here and there. We discovered from speaking to a resident that the same family owned the house my parents had stayed in, but that it had passed from the father, to the son who my parents saw come into this world so many years ago.

Heidelburg - After a few days in Benelux, which I will speak about later, we headed back through Germany into the town of Heidelburg. Like so many others places we visited the city consisted of a historic old town, a fortress on a hill, and a bridge over a river. The fortress was beautiful, and remains in ruins as it was after the French laid siege on the city hundreds of years ago. You can see a bit of it looming over the main square in the photo below.