River Cruise Oct 5/14

We stopped today at a town called Konigswinter, where a castle ruins, built in the 12th century,crowns Drachenfels, the hill behind the town.  There is a cog-train up to the castle, which we rode up on, and I soon discovered that I had charged the battery in my camera and forgot to put it back in.  :-(  VERY annoyed at myself! It was a beautiful view, though a somewhat foggy day, and it was cool to be up there and climb around in the ruins.  A cave in the hill is said to have sheltered the dragon (Drachen) which was slain by the hero Siegfried. There was a station part way up from the town, and we walked down the winding path to the station, being rewarded by seeing a sheep part way down.

Leaving the town of Konigswinter, we cruised to a place called Koblenz, where we overnighted.  Although quite misty, I managed to get a few pics along the way.

Distinctive because of its 4 towers is the Basilica of St. Castor or Kastorkirche, near Koblenz.

I don't remember the details, but the Canadian forces figured in the destruction of this bridge during WW2.  It had some significance and there is a museum built next to it.

The cockpit of the Rembrandt with the co-pilot at the controls.  This young man from Netherlands is still in training to become a ships captain, in fact his training is almost complete.

Glad I don't have to polish it, but it is a beautiful bell.  It is typical of the whole boat - shipshape!  The crew were always cleaning or polishing something, and there was lots of wood and brass and copper to be found!

 
 I just like this because it shows the vineyards behind it so nicely.

 Just a typically German building.

There were wine festivals everywhere because of the time of year - harvest.  It looks like it might be a couple dancing in front of the stage.

This is an indication of the type of land they use for the vineyards - every little space they can find among the rocks.

This HUGE chimney was built for a generating station and never used - remind you of anything?  What a colossal waste of "concrete".  (Get that Herm?)

Koblenz - from the Latin "confluentes" - is where the Rhine and the Moselle Rivers converge.  This point is commonly known as the Deutsches Eck (German Corner).

This incredible statue, the largest equine statue in Europe, is of Emperor William I, built in 1897.  The horse alone is 14 metres high.  After the war, Americans used it as target practise and destroyed it completely (brave of them, eh?), but eventually some pieces of it were found in someone's basement, resurrected, and the statue rebuilt.

 

In 1990, after the destruction of the Berlin Wall, three concrete slabs were moved here and installed near the statue.

 As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus in 8 BC,the city celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1992.  This just boggles my mind!  There is so much history in this area!  I wish we could have spent more time here, but the next morning we journeyed on up the Moselle River.