Bernkastel - Batlle of the Bands

The day was similar to Trier, but we’re closer to town than we were in Trier.  We walked around town ourselves, skipping the group walk.  We walked through old streets, with half-timbered houses.  We saw the oldest building in town, from the 1300s.  It was small and a little crooked.  There were also some interesting fountains that we photographed.  One of the most interesting things we saw was cigarette dispenser mounted on a wall in the public square, just like you used to see in the 70s and 80s.  We had a group wine tasting at 10:30 this morning, so we met up with the group.  We got there a little early, so we waited for the rest of the tour to show up.  While waiting, 2 small marching bands passed by us.  There was a festival/competition going on in the town square.  One of the bands stopped and when they found out we were tourists from North America, they played a song for us.  Quite amusing.  It reminded us of an Oktoberfest band. 

After the wine tasting, we headed back onboard for lunch on the sundeck.  Again, a sunny day and a temperature around 24C.  We sailed up the Moselle with Koblenz as our destination late tonight.  We passed the lowest bridge on the route.  We were not allowed to stand up when we passed under it.  You could reach up with your hand while seated and touch it.  Some more wine and beer while cruising.  Our curling season starts tonight.  Sorry we can’t make it.  Go team! 

We spent most of the afternoon, relaxing, Jennifer used her noise cancelling earphones to listen to music and block out the loud talkers on board, it was quite therapeutic.  We had cocktails again with the AMEX people and had dinner with them.  The appetizer was pears with thyme, a really good combination, the soup was fine and the main was turkey with a cranberry gravy.  Finally for dessert we had a lemon tart, which was quite good.  We played a River Quiz game in the lounge and went up on deck to see Reichsburg castle lit up as we passed by after dinner.  For me, seeing the castle at night was a real highlight. It was lit from flood lights at are on the ground in front of it.  It looks like the castle is floating in the air. The lights of all the the shops along the waterfront were also very picturesque.  Now it’s off to bed – we have another full day tomorrow.

 

The ship that time forgot

The one is for all the George Clinton fans

 

Some old buildings in town.

A view along the Moselle

Everybody loves a dude that brings wine to the party. This is from a fountain the depicts the history of wine making in the area.  This scene shows how the villager loves the Bishop of Berkastel, because he gives the wine at the festival.  EvenLego dude was at this party.