<<I always keep warning here on this forum, when visiting the Alps, take weather into consideration! Most of the times, the mountain peaks are in clouds, so if you have only one special day to go into the Alps, the odds are against you!>>

Yes, I knew! I was struggling with planning. We had 2 days in that area: 1 days to see Fussen castles and 1 days for Zugspitze . And honestly, I am glad we had a good (well, OK) weather next day for castles. Well, I would've preferred to have a good weather for both days, but if given a choice I would've chosen the good day to visit castles. Most likely I will not come back to Fussen, but I plan to come back to Alps, especially after the new cable car and mountain facilities are completed.
And you were very lucky next day!!

Fifteenth day - May 14, Saturday. Precious Swanstone

The first thing I did, when we woke up that morning, was to go to the balcony to check the weather. Sigh…. there was a thick fog. "Perfect weather for visiting Neuschwanstein Castle” was my sarcastic thought, but we did not have a choice, our tickets had been reserved in advance. Today was Saturday, and the huge number of tourists from all over the world was joined by similarly huge crowd of German families, local and from other parts of the country, coming to see the most famous castle in Germany. To avoid standing in long lines, we pre-booked tickets using this website: https://www.hohenschwangau.de/1308.0.html

We booked the Kings Ticket, which gave the opportunity to visit both castles: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. We submitted a form online, and after a couple of days got an e-mail confirmation with times for both tours, and instructions on when to arrive and where to pick up tickets. The first tour was scheduled at 10:55, the tickets had to be picked up no later than an hour before the start time, so we left the hotel at 9:30. Today, in addition to the castles, our plan included, if time permits, visiting the Wies Church (Wieskirche).
When we arrived to the ticket office in the small village of Hohenschwangau, we realized we did a right thing by purchasing tickets in advance. We also understood what the receptionist in Munich hotel was talking about. Despite the weather, despite the fact that it was not the peak season, there was an ocean of people. Even the line to the window for pre-purchased tickets was about 15 minutes long, but the lines to the regular ticket windows were at least 40-45 minutes and already selling tickets on afternoon tours. About 70 percent of all tourist were from China. Finally we got our tickets along with the map.

Hohenschwangau Castle (Schloß Hohenschwangau)
Website: https://www.hohenschwangau.de/430.html
Entrance: € 23 (including both castles)

Our first tour was in the castle Hohenschwangau. To get there you can either walk on the slightly steep slope for about 20 minutes, or take a horse cart pulled for an additional cost. We had about 45 minutes before the tour, so we decided to stretch our legs and walk. Along the way we stopped in numerous souvenir shops, just to look and check prices, so we knew where to buy cheaper goods on the way back. And rightly so, since the prices for the same souvenirs differed quite significantly.
When we reached the castle we walked around while waiting for our tour. There was a a system of processing tours in place: an electronic tableau displaying the number of the tour allowed to enter. Once you number is shown, you scan your ticket and you’ll be allowed to go thru the turnstile.
Finally out tour number came up and tour started. Our guide led us through the rooms and halls of the palace built by the Bavarian King Maximilian II , later called Hohenschwangau (“High Swan County Palace”) in honor of the main character in Wagner's opera "Lohengrin". Wagner was a great friend of King Ludwig's son Maximilian, for whom the castle was built, and who grew up here. Ludwig never married, suddenly terminating his engagement and remained single for the rest of his life. He was a big fan of Richard Wagner, and one of the most beautiful rooms of the castle was called the Hall of the Swan Knight.
Photos were not allowed inside, but, comparing with the previously seen castles, this one was quite modest, but it was very interesting to hear the story of King Ludwig. Definitely the beauty of this castle is in its exterior integrated into surrounding landscape.
When the tour ended, we decided to walk down the path for horse carts, and I suggest you to do the same. First, there were stand with portraits of all Bavarian kings with biographies along the way, and , secondly, there was a small vista point which offered a beautiful view of the lake Alp.

Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloß Neuschwanstein)
Website: http://www.neuschwanstein.de/deutsch/schloss/index.htm
Entrance: € 23 (including both castles)

Our tour to the next castle, Neuschwanstein, was scheduled at 13:25, there was more than enough time and, again, we decided to walk, especially all horse carts were taken by Chinese groups. The road to the castle leads through the forest, with a slight slope, and it was very nice and easy walk.
Neuschwanstein of course was fabulous, despite the fact that we had seen its pictures everywhere in Germany and on the cover of all the guidebooks, and do not forget and exact copy in the Disney parks Having said that, none of it can replace the experience of seeing it with your own eyes, even on a cloudy day. The beauty of this castle is not only and not so much in architecture and perfectly chosen proportions, and its union with the natural surroundings and the chosen place. Whatever the controversies associated with the King Ludwig: "Mad King Ludwig", as claimed by some, or "King of the dreamer”, as claimed by others, we must pay tribute to him for his contribution to the German culture and history.

When we reached the castle, the sky finally opened for sun. It must be said that the castle look more impressive from the distance, but from there were magnificent views of the lake Forgen.

There was the same tours control system as in Hohenschwangau.
Today we were very lucky with our guides. Both, the girl in Hohenschwangau and the guy here were very interesting, enthusiastic, despite the fact that they do it every day, several times a day. Unlike the girl, the guy was much more direct, and just said that the cause of King Ludwig engagement break-up was his love and intimate relationship with Richard Wagner. The King was very religious, and struggled all his life trying to subdue his attraction to men, but nature prevailed and he was never able to force himself to marrying a woman.

After seeing the castle both inside and outside, we rested, enjoying a cup of mulled wine, and then went to take a picture of it from the famous bridge Marienbrücke. To our great regret, the bridge was closed for renovation.
We did not go back the same path, instead we boarded the shuttle bus to the village, where he visited all previously noticed souvenir shops and purchased a bunch of gifts home. I must say that the gift shops in Hohenschwangau were best in terms of price and quality.

Lech Waterfalls (Lechfall)
Website: http://www.lechfall.de

We spend almost the whole day in castles, deservingly, but we would’ve liked to see the other attractions of this region. We do not plan visit Lech Falls, but we saw the sign on our way to the castles and decided to come back.
There was a footbridge above the waterfall formed at the place where the river Lech thunderously bursts through the rocky gorge and falls from the high threshold.
Of course, it is not Niagara, but water had some interesting clay texture. It did not look like water, more like coffee with milk, smooth. Nice place to stop if you have time.

Wies Church (Wieskirche)
Website: http://www.wieskirche.de/eframset.htm

Finally, the last point of the day was a visit to the church in the village of Vis, located half an hour from Fussen. Our navigator took us along the highway at first, but then turned onto a side road, which after a certain time became a single lane. It was getting narrower and narrower, until it seemed that our car is wider than the road. We passed the farm where the owner gave us gloomy suspicious look. We thought that we were going the wrong way, but there was nobody to ask, and the farmer did not look like someone speaking English. We started thinking about turning back, but, first, we were not sure that we could do a u-turn on such a narrow road not get stuck in a mud, and, secondly, I wanted to see that church, that gave us so much troubles.
And you know what? When we eventually arrived, parked our car on a side of a road and walked about 50 meters under the pouring rain, the first thing we saw when we finally reached the church was a bus and a huge group of Chinese tourists coming out of it, lol. I had thought that we would be alone in this solitary place, where so hard to find, but it turned out that the church is very accessible and very close to the highway. It just our GPS chose the wrong way.
What can I say? I am very glad that we persisted and did not turn back! Located in the middle of the Alpine log, inconspicuous from the outside, this church was the most beautiful church that we had seen in Germany, it was a masterpiece of rococo. The interior of this magnificent church was just mind-blowing, it is a-must be seen with your own eyes to believe the existence of such beauty. Despite the bad weather outside the window, interior with its huge dome seems to be flooded with light that shimmered and reflected on wood carving, gilded moldings, columns, statues and colorful murals.
We did not want to leave. He waited until the our Chinese friends finished taking photos and leave, so we could quietly sat together enjoying this astonishing creation of human hands.

Buon appetito!

Our embarrassed navigator was correct on our way back to Fussen and our road was much faster. We put the car on the hotel’s parking lot and went for a walk and find a cozy place to dine. The rain became heavier, so we did not do much walking, but quickly found a nice Italian restaurant. At first we did not want to go: an Italian restaurant in Germany? nonsense, the best Italian restaurants are in New York But we were tired and id not want to look any further, we had not eaten since morning, except for a cup of mulled wine!. Anyway, we did not see either Switzerland or Italy on the Zugspitze. Therefore, it was necessary to fill the gap: yesterday we had Swiss specialties, and today it was a destiny that we came across an Italian restaurant.
The restaurant was full, there were no seats, but the hostess seated us at the bar and told to wait little. Ten minutes later, we sat at a vacant table. So what do you have here? Well, pizza? nah, definitely not. Oh, yeah, branzino , that’s it!
There was two young German couples sitting at the table next to ours, who heard our Russian, switched from German to English and began to discuss us. It was amusing to hear
“Are those the Poles?"
“No, Russians."
"One hell. Do Poles and Russians understand each other?"
"Probably"

I did not want to put those guys in an awkward situation, so before they said something to regret later, I made sure they heard us speaking English. They looked a little embarrassed, but smiled and mentioned that today is a wonderful evening.
Thee kept quite for a while, and then.. went back to German. Now they could say whatever they think of us, we had no clue
Later in a hotel we Googled and found that that restaurant is the number in Fussen. It is called Il Pescatore (http://www.ilpescatore-fuessen.de/?lang=de)
OH and by the way, when we were leaving the restaurant, we bumped to a group of ... well, you guessed it. My husband and I laughed “Are these guys stalking us?”, But then I said: “You and I are discussing the Chinese, which makes us no better than those German kids”.

Sixteenth day - May 15, Sunday. Allgau’s up and downs: from valleys to mountains, from snow to tropics.

Today we left the hospitality of Bavaria and moved to neighboring Baden-Württemberg. We planed to cover almost 300 km, but certainly were not going to spend all that time in the car. How could we, when today we were about to see the one of the most picturesque regions of southern Germany, Allgau Alps and cross one of the most beautiful lakes in Germany, Bodensee, outside of Germany better known as Lake Constance. One day was inexcusably not enough for that region, so we got up early to do as much as possible. The final destination of today was Freiburg, and on the way we had planned to make a few stops to admire the beauty of this area, if only the weather was on our side ….
We were so happy to see sun yesterday afternoon, secretly hoping that it would be a turning point for the weather to improve, but no. The new morning was misty and sky was teasing us switching between glimpses of sun and rain drops. While the sky was deciding our fate for today we went to have breakfast. Sitting next to our table were 2 couples of Russian-speaking locals who came here 10 years ago and settled somewhere nearby, 10 km from Fussen. Despite the proximity, today was the first time they were going to see the most famous German castles! It always happens when you live next to the objects of the world culture and history, that many people are dying to see, whether it's theaters and museums in New York, the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, or the castles of King Ludwig of Bavaria.

Vista point Kanzel (Aussichtspunkt Oberjoch Kanzel)

The sky finally made a decision not to our advantage, so when we checked-out and left the hotel, it burst into rain. And because we were driving higher and higher to the mountains, raindrops gradually morphed into snowflakes. We drove through the alpine village Hindelang, known for its spas, and then the most mountainous village in Germany Oberjoch, alpine center for hiking and mountaineering. One kilometer from Oberjoch, we made our first stop at the observation deck Kanzel located almost at the very top of the mountain pass. It opens up a magnificent view of the Valley Isle (Ostrach) and the surrounding mountains.
It was very early, and besides us, there were only a couple of German teenagers, apparently hikers. Snow had already died down and we managed to do more or less decent photos, which, of course, in no way convey the beauty of this place. From the viewpoint down we could see the serpentine curve of the highway descended to the valley, and that is where we were going next.

Hiking Oberstaufen - Paradies - Kapf
Website: https://www.oberstaufen.de/en/experi...urs-48776.html

We followed the serpentine road, driving for half an hour, and finally reached the town of Oberstaufen, situated at the foot of the massif Gohgrat. This small town attracts visitors not by the charm of its streets, typical for alpine villages, but also its surroundings with hiking trails of different complexity and duration along the slopes of the Allgau Alps. So we decided to hike one of short (about 2 hours) trail.

We parked the car near the train station, benefiting by the free-of charge parking on Sunday. The weather at that time was perfect for hiking, sunny and cool. We followed the trail recommended on the above website.

WE started at the train station, walked through the city center, past the church, and then went out of the city, following the path to Paradise point, that offered breathtaking views of the mountains of Austria, Switzerland and of course Germany. We sat on a bench at the top and could not stop looking. Our way back went through the woods, where there was a silence, so unusual for us, the urbanites. When we came out of the woods, we saw another great view, this time of Oberstaufen, from above.
The town was almost empty (Sunday!), only a few moms strolling with babies in the park and a group of cows of different shades and colors, peacefully relaxing right there on the meadow.
If during the summer Oberstaufen is the center of hiking, during the winter it turns into a center of winter sports: downhill and cross-country skiing, sledding, everyone can find something to enjoy.

Lake Constance. Mainau Island (Bodensee. Insel Mainau)
Website: http://www.mainau.de
Log in: 19.00 € + 5.00 € for parking

OK, back to the car, forth to new adventures! And we were going to find our next adventure at the shore of Lake Constance, more precisely in the city of Constanza, and even more precisely on the Mainau Island, the favorite place on weekend for local families.

It was about two hours drive, and our path laid along the Alpine road (Deutsche Alpenstrasse) through the town of Lindau, and then, after crossing the Baden-Württemberg - Bavaria border, till the town of Meersburg where we were to take a ferry to go across to the other side of the lake.
All coastal towns that we drove through had some Mediterranean flavor with their beautifully decorated flower beds, lively squares and charming promenades. Here, people do not run from one landmark to another, they walk slowly, sit in cafes sipping coffee and really relax and enjoy. There were many sailboats, yachts and boats at the lake, that made me real envy. If we had more days, I would definitely rent one of those. My dream is to own, forget about a yacht, just a boat with a small cabin. Alas, this dream is not feasible now….
There was a large parking lot right before the bridge to the island of Mainau, to pay for it we had to buy a token together with tickets to the island, and not to lose this token until you leave.
We purchased tickets, carefully hid a token, and went to the island. The central part of this subtropical island, where you can see the palm trees, fruit trees and blooming flowers year-round, was a baroque castle. In the 19th century one of the numerous German Fridrichs bought the island as a summer residence. Being a passionate lover of plants, he built an arboretum, a rose garden and a greenhouse, further improved by his descendants. Palm trees, citrus and fruit trees, orchids, azaleas, rhododendrons, tens of thousands of tulips and roses filled this botanical wonder. Unfortunately in May, the tulips have faded, and the roses have not yet bloomed, but apart from them there were a great many other diverse flora.
But our favorite attraction on the island was the Butterfly House (Schmetterlingshaus), where you could see the fluttering beauties from around the world. Unfortunately, they do not like to sit still and pose for pictures, so you really need to be patient to catch the moment.
And, of course, it is a paradise for children. There are swings, there are plenty of playgrounds, flowerbeds in the form of cartoon characters, and most importantly nurseries with animals where kids can pet them.
And for couples like us, there were a quiet walkway along the lake where we enjoyed views of Constanza, fed swans and watched the sailboats and kayaks.
The day that started so cold reached the heat of tropical level, seriously. We went into one of the many cafes to drink a beer to cool down.
Hmm, my report called "The Four Seasons for 3 weeks", but looking back, I noticed that day, we have experienced all seasons: morning started with the autumn rain, then changed to winter snow, then we walked through the spring forest near Oberstaufen, and here now it was really a summer day in the shade of tropical trees.

Arrival in Freiburg-im-Breisgau

After a rest, we returned to the car to drove our last leg for today, a 2-hour drive to Freiburg. Of course I desperately tried to recall where I hid the token, but finally found it!
In Freiburg we stayed for one night at the hotel Mercure Hotel Panorama (http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-...rg/index.shtml). It is not located in the city center, but on the hill with a beautiful view of the city.
Settled in a room with a balcony where we watched a gorgeous sunset, we follow our regular routine: dinner in the hotel restaurant (good food, impeccable service, a little pricey), and then the sauna and swimming pool. Spa complex was just super, modern, spacious and there were 2 swimming pools, one of them nude. I liked it because in previous hotels where swimsuit is retried for the pool, I got tired putting wet swimsuit back and forth between sauna and swimming pool.
The day today was eventful: long road, hiking, blizzards, storms and scorching sun. Sauna was just what we needed to rest. When we came upstair to our room we fell asleep immediately.

I hope I did not lose my readers
For those who are still with me, here is a next installment:

Chapter VI. Schwarzwald.
Day seventeen - May 16, Monday. Through the Black Forest on a black car ....

That day was the exact copy, in terms of weather, like the previous 3 days: for in a morning, then heavy rain, snow midday, and later in a day the sky cleared up and the sun was shining bright.
The plan for today was to get the Baden-Baden, breaking more than 200 km. This could’ve been covered quickly on the highway, even with a quick stop to France, or longer drive on local roads through a very picturesque part of Baden-Württemberg,Schwarzwald, or in Black Forest in English. We chose the latter, outlining several stops in some places of interesting in terms of history, local traditions and nature.
But first we started with a walking around the old town of Freiburg, as we could not ignore this very nice town.

Freiburg im Breisgau

Initially I tried to book a guided walking tour, but there were none offered at such early hours on Monday morning, therefore we just did it ourselves. Freiburg is the largest city in Schwarzwald, located in a valley surrounded by mountains and vineyards. Ov course, there was an Alshtadt with Rathaus, the Cathedral and central platz, obligatory for all the medieval towns.
By the way, there are two major shares in Freiburg. The first one, Rathausplatz, was a small one with chestnut trees and fountains in the center.
The other, Cathedral Square (Münsterplatz), named after the main Freiburg’s Cathedral (Freiburger Münster), was a larger one surrounded by architecturally interesting buildings, restored after the war. Of course, a central place on the square was the cathedral, a masterpiece of German Gothic architecture with superb stained glass.
Another interesting features distinguishing Freiburg among other medieval towns we've seen was very small (the sago of the big coin) paving stones, and the unique design of manholes, but especially the system of ditches laid along the city streets. At first I thought it was the storm water drain, and then I read in my guidebook that this system (Bächle) once served as water supply of the city, also used for fire control. In the 19th century, many of those ditches was closed as superfluous, and now the remaining ones were purely decorative. Legend says, if you step into this channel, you would marry one of the Freiburgers. I did not step on it, as my husband was right next to me and might got a wrong idea

Vista point Kandel (Der Kandel)
Website: http://www.schwarzwald.com/landschaft/kandel.html

After Freiburg, we took on of the small roads and plunged into the forest of the Schwarzwald. That road took us further and further away from civilization until it becalm a narrow path with tall snow-covered pine trees on both sides. When we arrived to our next stop, the vista point on the Kandel Mountain with supposedly beautiful views of the region, there were nothing and nobody there besides just one car covered with snow.
Kandel is the one of only few hills in the Schwarzwald, allowing to see, if weather permits (big IF), a beautiful view of the surrounding open spaces and runway for gliders. Today, despite light blizzard, we still could see a valley , but there was nothing “gliding” in the air, besides snowflakes.
There was a half of kilometer trail to the very top, but we did not dare because of the weather.

Monastery of St. Peter (Kloster St. Peter auf dem Schwarzwald)
Website: http://www.badische-seiten.de/st-peter/

We got rather pretty gold at the Kandel, so we rushed back to the car and went downhill to the village of St. Peter (St. Peter auf dem Schwarzwald). Here, the main attraction was the former monastery of the Benedictine monks with a charming church built in Baroque style, and small cemetery of the founders of the city of Freiberg. The church interior was decorated with painted ceilings, high altar, and the elegant library, decorated with beautiful stucco.
We strolled through the monastery, stope to see the cemetery. To our surprise found a big poster advertising a concert of young musicians from the eponymous city of St. Petersburg, Russia

German Clock Museum in Furtwangen (Deutsches Uhrenmuseum)
Website: http://www.deutsches-uhrenmuseum.de/no_cache/start.html
Entrance fee: 6,00 €

Schwarzwald region claims to be the place where the cuckoo clock was invented, so it was not surprising that the German Clock Museum was located here, in the town of Furtwangen, the center of clock manufacturing. In addition to the world's largest collection of cuckoo clocks, you can find clocks and watches from all over the world and from different eras. Absolutely a must when travelling in this region, I had never seen anything like this museum before!
When we were about to leave, the usher rushed after us and invited us to the Street Organ demonstration in the music room of the museum. Indeed, we did hear announcements over the loudspeaker in German, but did not understand, so the guy made sure we did not miss the show, very nice of him. He demonstrated different mechanical musical instruments from the tiny to the enormous the size of a room. He invited someone to try the hurdy-gurdy, first in German, but everyone in the room was too shy. The same cannot be said about the Americans, especially Russian-Americans! Therefore, when the calls in German were to no avail, he turned to us, and , well, I was right there
My “show”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=X8vI-3O7LiM

Triberg
Website: http://www.triberg.de/index.php?id=159

Well, if Furtwangen boasted a museum, the title of the world's cuckoo clock making’s capital firmly belongs to the city of Triberg. Its main street was a paradise for clock lovers. There were a huge number of clock stores selling all imaginable and unimaginable types of watches, clocks and chronometry mechanisms.
We went to ALL of these stores until we finally found a cuckoo clock of small size but with actual cuckoo bird that comes out of the opening sashes. I still cannot find a place in my home to put it so it does not wake us up at night


Village of Schiltach
Website: https://www.schiltach.de/en/Home

Do you want to see the combination of the American city of San Francisco and the Bavarian town of Rotemburg? Cannot image such place? Well, welcome to the village of Schiltach village, located in the Schwarzwald at the intersection of two rivers, Schiltach and Kintsyg. Well-preserved timbered houses are located on steep, at 45 degrees, slopes surrounding the Market Square, and believe me, they are no less impressive and picturesque than the famous Plonlein in Rotenburg!
Initially we just wanted to drive thru this village, because of very heavy rain, but when we came and saw that beauty, we could not not to stop. My husband was running beside me holding an umbrella while I was taking millions of pictures. Absolute gem of Schwarzwald!


Village of Alpirsbach

WE stopped in this village just for bio-needs (sorry for details) and found ourselves in the middle of the street fair which took place throughout the entire length of the main street. There were vendors selling goods, snacks and of course tons of beer, there was a lot of singing and fraternization. There was a tent managed by a local Muslim community, next to the village Islamic Center. It was nice to see, apparently they have taken roots here and found a new home, participating in local festivities.
There is a very pretty Romanesque basilica in this village, but we did not come inside.

Town of Freudenstadt
Website: http://www.freudenstadt.de/de/Freudenstadt-Portal

Our next stop, the lovely town of Freudenstadt, is famous for Europe's largest market square, surrounded by arcaded houses and town church. City was destroyed in 1945, but had been completely restored by the 50s.


Lake Mummel (Mummelsee)
Website: http://mummelsee.de

The last stop before arriving in Baden-Baden was Mummel Lake, named after the mermaids (Mummeln), who, according to legend, inhabited lake’s dark icy depths. When we reach the lake, the weather was just terrible, our windshield wiper worked non-stop and still barely coped with rain, so Dima did not even want to leave the car. But I did not make all that way just to sit in a car and bravely walked to the lake shore. The lake was very small, surrounded on all sides by firs and pines. During the warm summer (does such thing exists here?!) it is one of the favorite places for local families to spend a weekend.

Arriving to Baden-Baden

Well, finally today's log road ended with our triumphant entrance to the famous Baden-Baden, which greeted us with the bright sun. Seriously, the weather turned 180 degrees for the better. We stayed at the hotel Brenners (http://www.brenners.com/eng/home/) in the room with balconies and windows overlooking the famous Lichtentaler Allee!
The hotel is old, with multiple buildings, where it was easy to get lost. When a concierge showed us the hotel, we realized that we probably need GPS to get to the pool and sauna
The staff was very friendly, but some of the guests were a little prudish, but not a big deal. There was a cigar lounge where after dinner, we finished our day with the real Cuban cigars, which still not allowed in the United States.

Another enjoyable read, Fetinia, had to look up some of those towns you visited. Our teens (and I) were thrilled to get a light snowfall (in July!) a few years ago in Bavaria, their first ever snow. No views, but we ran out in it like little children, so exhilarating. I know the locals were very frustrated with their cool summer that year, but that was a great memory for us.

Day eighteen - May 17th, Tuesday. The naked truth

Hooray, no need to get up early today, no schedule, no obligatory sightseeing, today was officially the day of doing nothing!
We did not have any plans of visiting castles or churches, or museums. All of this exist in Baden-Baden, of course, but today we decided to take a breath after 2 weeks of intensive cultural-historical-natural-learning marathon.
Today we decided to rest, relax and recharge in the famous thermal baths of Baden-Baden.
In Baden-Baden, there are two large complexes: Caracalla and Friedrichsbad. They , actually, belong to the same owner, but oriented at different audiences, so to speak. Friedrichsbad is a traditional Theremin, aimed at adults (entrance age is 16). You follow certain rituals, going through all the procedures in a specific order.
Caracalla is more entertaining, and more focused on families with children. Unlike dimmed rooms of Friedrichsbad, Caracalla has open and bright rooms, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and saunas. There's no need to follow any particular order visiting all rooms, tickets can be purchased separately for swimming pools or for the sauna, or both.
And of course one big important difference: Friedrichsbad is completely nude. In Caracalla only saunas are nudist, but pools require wearing swimsuits.
We decided: once we come into the country, we must experience its traditions in the fullest extend. We go into the Friedrichsbad.

Lichtentaler Allee

We had breakfast in the hotel starting with champagne For breakfast, besides the usual set, there were Russian style pancakes to order, which I terribly missed in the States. I, of course, ordered them, but they made them with syrup, not with sour cream, how I like. They ransacked the kitchen, found 8 varieties of yogurt , 5 varieties of curd cheese, obazda (!), No sour cream. “Are you kidding me?”, “No, m'am, we are extremely sorry. But tomorrow we will make sure you have your sour cream with pancakes". Ok, moving on….
Pancakes, with or without sour cream, have a lot of calories, so after the breakfast we walked along the famous promenade Lichtentaler , which laid right in front of our windows. The alley running along the small river, rather brook, was very elegant and impeccably groomed. I suggest to take an hour or even two to walk on it, without haste, especially in June and July during the roses blooming. We were in May, for roses was still early but, as on the island of Mainau, there were many other wonderful flowers and trees such as alder, chestnut, magnolia, maple, oak, and, of course, linden. Besides us, there were joggers, couples, matrons walking their dogs, old men playing chess on the benches, gossiping old ladies or just vacationers, nursing ducks in the river. There were very beautiful and stylish houses and buildings on both sides of the alley. Unreal idyll, so far removed from our everyday reality, everyday hard working, worries and hopes for the future of our son, and for the health of our parents.

Thermal Complex Friedrichsbad
Website: http://www.carasana.de/en/friedrichsbad/home/
Fee: 25.00-59.00 € (depending on the package)

When we learned that in Germany men and women bath together naked, I was, to put it mildly, strained. In the US, a sauna and spa are separate, and we still wear a swimsuit. But after discussion my husband and decided: si fueris Rōmae, Rōmānō vīvitō mōre (When in Rome, do as the Romans do). My husband did not have problem at all, but for me it took longer until I got used to the idea. I thought about it and decided: I have nothing to be ashamed of. Most of people around us do not look like Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie either. Moreover, I see these people for the first and last time in my life, do I care what they think of me? But the most important: if you want to blend in, then be like everybody else. If all naked, and you're the only one in a bathing suit, it will draw more attention.
Of course, when I was confronted with a male stranger in the shower for the first time, I was uneasy. But as we went to the saunas almost every day, I gradually got used to, and so we arrived to the Friedrichsbad thermal springs, I was prepared.

By the way, there are “separate” days of these terms for those who still could not get used to the idea, but today was a regular “co-ed” day. We bought a package with a full range of services, got bracelets with bar code (the only thing that we had on our bodies for the next 3.5 hours) and went to the locker room. We were given a sheet and then we just went from room to room following the instructions posted in front of each room. The first 8 stages the body is gradually heated, and then started to cool down back to normal.
Step 1: wash well in the shower.
Stage 2: 15 minutes lying down on the couch in the room with hot air.
Stage 3: 10-15 more minutes lying down in a room with very hot air. If in the previous room, I almost fell asleep, here I could hardly wait till 15 minutes pass. Here we were sweating a lot.
Stage 4: shower to wash off all that sweat.
Stage 5 (optional, not in all packages): brush massage with soap. You can choose a hard or a soft brush. I was massaged by a man with a soft brush, and Dima with a hard brush by a woman. By the way, here your sheet is taken away and from this point you have nothing to cover yourself.
Stage 6: one more shower to remove the soap after brush massage
Stage 7: 15 minutes in the steam room with hot air.
Stage 8: the hottest room with very hot air, it is difficult even to breathe. Few can withstand required 15 minutes.
Stage 9: swimming pool with warm water.
Stage 10: Whirlpool. Here we probably sat for half an hour, it was that good.
Stage 11: a large swimming pool with cool water. After all the hot procedures it was paradise!
Stage 12: another shower.
Stage 13: ice bath. Nobody, I mean nobody, was able to enter this pool completely except us. Everyone dipped a foot, trembled and fleed. But we are Russians, swimming in iced water in a middle of winter our national sport, lol! It was recommended to sit 3 minutes, I passed all 5!
Stage 14: After an ice bath, you get a huge thick heated towel and relax.
Stage 15 (optional, not in all packages): body massage
Stage 16: the best. The steward wraps you in a warm blanket like a cocoon and leaves to sleep. I instantly fell asleep as if I was given a sedative.
17, the last stage: relaxing in "the reading" room. You also can have a lunch here if your packages includes it. Lunch was just OK, whole wheat panini with ham and cheese and a salad, very healthy.
It is difficult to describe the experience in words, that’s for sure. Better come and try out for yourself!

Evening in Baden-Baden Casino
Website: https://www.casino-baden-baden.de
Admission: 5 € in classic room, 3 € in the slot machine hall

After this unusual experience, we walked around the city, had a cappuccino cup and strolled back. Along the way I saw the shop with porcelain figurines, and finally found what I was looking for a reasonable price. I bought a porcelain figurine of peasant woman that brings my childhood memories in my grandmother's house….
WE decided to visit a casino at 10PM. We had a plenty of time before that, so we decided to relax and enjoy in the swimming pool at our hotel and then to have a dinner.
Sauna in our hotel was good but not significantly better than in other hotel we already been, but the pool was gorgeous, large, and most importantly with a view of the park. When all windows (and they are floor-to- ceiling) open, it seems you are surrounded by the forest. And nice touch was warm marble benches around the pool.

Having swam as much as possible (there was no sauna or pool at our hotels in the next 2 days), we returned to the room to dress for a casino.
The casino was close to our hotel on the Lichtentaler Allee, so we are again walked and enjoy it one more time. Knowing myself being a gambler, we only took the amount of cash that I was willing to loose and no card to withdraw. We had dinner in the restaurant at the casino, at a table by the window, the watched nicely dressed people walking in.

What you say about the casino? Used to relaxed liberal traditions of Las Vegas, for us a casino in Baden-Baden was the complete opposite. Let's start with the fact that there was a dress code, unlike Las Vegas, where you can visit casino on your way from the swimming pool to a buffet wearing shorts. Secondly, here you have to have an ID and go thru the background check. This is unimaginable in LAs Vegas, where nobody cares where you were born and where you came from. But most importantly, in casinos in Las Vegas try to lure you into the casino offering a lot of perks from free drinks to free rooms in hotels. Here, in Bade-Baden you must pay an entrance fee.
Despite all of this we still wanted to visit, because, according to the guidebooks, it is the most beautiful in the world.
First we went to the classic room with roulette, poker and other card games. The interior was very beautiful, just splendid. Now I understood why the required dress code. I was the only woman there, and I felt less comfortable than when I was naked in the sauna. So we went to a more liberal, slot machine room. Here I sat down at my favorite video poker, Dima sat at the machine next to me. In general, there were ups and downs, we ended up playing till 2AM, lost everything. So we were stripped the second time in one day, so to speak
WE walked along the dark, completely empty alley. But we were not scared of the muggers, as we did not have a penny left

In general, a casino in Baden-Baden is a beautiful, but .... not my cup of tea. Give me Vegas any day…

By the way, we tried hard to find where is it a notorious Russian nevou riches and mafia that occupied Baden-Baden? Besides a couple of Russian old-timers on the bench, quietly playing chess, and a couple of girls in the cafe, we did not see any Russian at all. Frankly, we on our black Mercedes SUV looked closest to what might be called the Russian mafia, lol.

>> we on our black Mercedes SUV looked closest to what might be called the Russian mafia <<

Now, I know why you could afford Brenners and The Charles!

Keep on writing, this is one of the best trip reports I have ever been reading here on Fodor's. Although it is about my own country, it is interesting to read how travellers see things.

Fetinia, my mother was in her 70's when we went on a mother/ daughter trip to Europe 6 years ago. She was very comfortable in her birthday suit, so to speak, in Bad Schlema and when she accidentally walked into a male sauna, she just sauntered out with a 'well, there's no George Clooney's in there'....

>Now, I know why you could afford Brenners and The Charles!<
No, no Hard work, savings and good planning

>Keep on writing, this is one of the best trip reports I have ever been reading here on Fodor's. Although it is about my own country, it is interesting to read how travellers see things.<
Will do, will do. Got sucked up by Olympics this weekend

>Fetinia, my mother was in her 70's when we went on a mother/ daughter trip to Europe 6 years ago. She was very comfortable in her birthday suit, so to speak, in Bad Schlema and when she accidentally walked into a male sauna, she just sauntered out with a 'well, there's no George Clooney's in there'....<

Your mom rules! Great sense of humor!

Chapter VII - Moselle and Rhine Valleys.
Day nineteen - May 18th, Wednesday. Ode to the German automotive industry.

My husband Dima gave me carte blanche to create our itinerary: cities, hotels, places to visit. His only request was to visit one of the Mercedes plants. As I mentioned earlier, my husband has very "smart" hands, he is a perfectionist and likes everything done with high quality, and hates half-done, patch-up jobs, so he was eager to see how his favorite car make, “the perfect car”, is built.
Our tour started at 13:30, so initially we planned to stop in the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, but because of yesterday’s late night gambling, we woke up super late, at 10 AM, and decided to skip the museum and go directly to the factory.
We did a couple laps for the last time in our beautiful pool, then did another very important thing: packaged flower seeds, bought on the Mainau island, and asked at the reception to ship them to Moscow, to Dima's mother. She is passionate about flowers, before her retirement managing the flower shop in Moscow, and we wanted to please her with varieties of beautiful flowers from Germany. I hope the seeds take root in Russia.
We decided to skip breakfast, just had nuts and fruits from the minibar, which was included in our room price. I wonder if the hotel found a sour cream for pancakes today?

Mercedes factory tour in Sindelfingen
Website: https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mer.../guided-tours/
Admission: Free

There are three Mercedes Benz factories in Germany: in Bremen, Stuttgart and Sindelfingen (an hour's drive from Stuttgart), but only Sindelfingen location offers a tour to the factory for the visitors. The tour is free and not without reason: many vehicles in this location are made to order, and the tour is carried out with a goal that the client may order the car right on the spot.
Booking a tour is very easy. We sent an e-mail to [email protected] indicating the desired dates, language and number of people. We got a response immediately with confirmation for the English tour for specified date, at 13:30.

We arrived early, around noon to the Customer Service Centre (Mercede-Benz Kundencenter) and exchange our vouchers for the plastic cards (tickets) with our tour start time.
Since we did not have breakfast, we decided to have a meal here, especially since the cafe looked very nice. Besides, after the tour we had a long road trip to the Mosel valley region, and we wanted to get there as quickly and not waste time on food.
After lunch, we visited the gift shop, bought a T-shirt for our son, and a very practical travel bag, which would come in handy very soon (more on this later).
While waiting for the tour, we walked around a big lobby with the exhibition of historical Mercedes cars, starting with the first Benz auto, modern cars and a conceptual model.

Finally, there was our guide Peter, who I called to myself a "dude", he was kind of all fidgety, and somewhat reminiscent of the actor Aaron Eckhart in the movie "Thank you for smoking". Anyway, first, we watched a documentary about the history of Mercedes-Benz. It is interesting that Karl Benz (founder of Mercedes-Benz) and Gottlieb Daimler (founder of Daimler) had never met, although they had been competitors for many years. Daimler died prior to the merger.

After watching the film we were put on the bus (of course Mercedes) and was taken to the factory itself. WE visited tow workshops: press shop and assembly line. Unfortunately taking pictures was strictly forbidden, While o a bus through the territory, I noticed a couple of Toyotas. Peter said that 80% of employees own Mercedes (with big employee discount!), But to drive another brand is not prohibited. It is nice that many workers can afford to own such an expensive car, it means the company takes good care of them.
First stop: the Press shop. Here almost everything was automated, it's just amazing how a flat piece of metal takes a required shape after just a few steps. Interesting fact #1 (you I love interesting facts): there is a 30-meter-thick concrete foundation under the Press shop to withstand the pressure of constantly working of pressing machines. Interesting fact # 2” We noticed that the workers do not wear hard hats. The reason is simple and frightening: hard hats are not needed, if something falls in this shop, the hard hat is useless….

Second stop: the Assembly line. Unlike the press shop here 75% is a manual labor. The only two operations are automated: rooftop and dashboard installation. You MUST see how the robot pushes the panel through a narrow doorway and accurately set in place , unbelievable preciseness and accuracy. Of course everything was spotlessly clean and in perfect order. Dima even grumbled that the hospital he works i not as sterilized as this shop. There are several teams working on assembly line, each has a daily goal to complete certain no. of cars, however exceeding this daily goal is not encouraged. Why? Because when one team is ahead, others will start to rush, which leads to a greater likelihood of errors. If an error occurs, the vehicle is not removed from the line. The line is programmed, and if you take one car out, then the whole line messed up in a domino effect. Therefore problematic car is brought to the end, and only then, if possible, the error is corrected.
Workers have several breaks per shift: the first, after one hour of work, is 15 minutes, then 30 minutes after 2 hours, then lunch, and then in the second half of the shift. Everyone takes the break the same time, and the line stops.
We did not visit a Paint shop, because visitors are not allowed there to avoid any tiny particle that can mess up a dye. Peter showed us how one grain of sand, or hair caught in the dye can destroy otherwise good car. The traditional colors of Mercedes are of black-gray-white palette, but the buyer can order any color. Peter told how they had one buyer who brought a bag of powdered gold, which was added to the dye, so his car was painted with real gold ( I have a good guess from which country this customer was , probably on his way to Baden-Baden.
This factory also makes armored vehicles with bulletproof glass for government officials (from many countries, not limited to Germans) and other VIPs.
The last thing we saw on the tour was how so called “marriage” was done: when body is reunited (“marries”) with the engine. Everything was calibrated to the millimeter, super!

What can I say, the tour exceeded our expectations. "Dude" was a very good tour guide, telling all with great enthusiasm and seemed very devoted to the company. My question was:
“Who is the main Mercedes’ competitor? The Japanese, the Americans?”
“Give me a break!”
“ Other Europeans?”
“Do not be ridiculous!”
Then he added seriously that the ONLY (he emphasized) a serious competitor to the Mercedes is another German company BMW. And then he added with a smile, "But we are still the best!" Who would’ve doubt that!

Road to the river Mosel valley.

After the tour, we hopped in to our own product of German engineering art and continued our journey. Under the tour impression, I saw Mercedes everywhere, even in wind turbines were reminiscent of its sign
We left the land of Baden-Württemberg, and crossed the border with Rhineland-Pfalz. We did not have any particular plans for the rest of today except the long 3 hours drive and checking-in to the hotel. Oh, no! There was very important errand for tonight: we had to re-pack all our stuff in 3 bags leaving only essentials in our two backpacks.
As there is nothing to talk about for the next 3 hours, I would tell you why. Tomorrow was the last day of our car rental and we had to say goodbye to our car dropping it off in Koblenz There we were to board a boat and go down the Rhine River to the town of Bacharach. The question arose: what to do with our luggage? At first we were planning to leave it in lockers at the Bacharach rail station, but then I found out that station in Bacharach is not a station, but rather just a stop with only the ticket machine and a couple of benches for waiting. Hmm, what to do with luggage then? I had several options: (1) to leave it in Koblenz, and then take a round trip on a boat; or (2) to take luggage with us on a boat and go all way to Mainz, without disembarking in Bacharach. Neither option satisfied me, and I began to think of an alternative. I recalled that when we were in Japan, each hotel had a service of shipping luggage to the next destination. It was very convenient: in the morning our luggage was picked up, we moved to another city for the whole day of sightseeing, at the end of a day we checked-in to a new hotel where our luggage already been waiting for us in our room. We decided to google if there is such a service in Germany. It turned out there is provided by omnipotent DBahn. However, we had to arrange everything ourselves, not hotels. We booked this service using this website: https://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/p...-service.shtml. The only condition there was no next day shipping, therefore I booked a pick up from our hotel in Koblenz between 18:00 and 21:00 on Thursday ,May 19, and drop-off in our hotel in Frankfurt on Saturday, May 21st. I e-mailed to our hotel in Frankfurt, and they confirmed that there would not be any problems, they would deliver our luggage to our room, and we do not have to be present. The issue with the luggage had been resolved, but today we had to re-pack all our stuff, especially all the gifts and souvenirs that had accumulated in our trunk and the back seat, put it all in 3 bags (that's where the Mercedes bulk bag came in handy), and leave only essentials (change of clothes for 2 days and toiletries) in our backpacks. Knowing German punctuality we must be in Koblenz hotel at 6PM sharp, so I calculated what city in Moselle valley we had to spend the night before so we did not have to rush the next day. The choice fell on the center of the Mosel wine-making town Benkarstel-Kus.

Coming back our trip, there was nothing special between Sindelfingen and Bernkastel-cous, as elsewhere in Germany, everything was very well maintained and looks impeccable. “The entire country looks like one great golf course” my husband joked.

Benkarstel-Kus.

Finally we arrived to our destination. We stayed at the hotel Märchenhotel (http://maerchenhotel.com). It is not a hotel, but more like a guest house, where each room has its own name. But here was not such a pleasant surprise waiting: our room Schneeweißchen (Snow White) was on the top fourth floor. No elevator. It means that we had to bring all our luggage walking all way up on a narrow staircase at the end turning into a spiral. The husband, who, as you may understand, took the burden was cursing at me: “ Do you always have to take the best room, could not be easier to book a basic room, but on the ground floor ?!” Well, my fault, I admit that I did not check if this hotel had an elevator .… I wanted a romantic a room with a fireplace and a jacuzzi … Instead I got an angry tired husband
Finished with our suitcases, we went to explore the town and find a place for dinner.
There are so many things for curious tourists in Bernkastel-Kues , you can easily spend a few hours or even a day exploring the quaint old town. Of course, as in any self-respecting medieval town, there was the Market Square, where, along with numerous quaint shops and cafes there was the Town Hall built in the 17th century, and the old pillory, where criminals were executed.
One of the most famous building in the town was a kind of local equivalent of “flatiron building" hosting a restaurant Spitzhaeuschen, which was closed at that time, so we went to another, Cafe Thiesen, and here we finally found the Pfälzer Saumagen in a menu! I must say it was fantastically tasty. I do not know what spices and herbs they put in it, but it was absolutely yummy. Even Dima, who was initially kind of disgusted to the prospect of eating someone’s stomach, eventually appreciated this dish.
After dinner, we strolled back to the hotel, packed all things and sit by the fire with a bottle of Moselle wine. There was no saunas in this hotel , but our room had a hot tub, which was cool: illuminated with changing colors, and 3 modes: wave, wildness and a mode where the whole body has a sensation of needles tingling. I lay there with a glass of wine and read where we're going tomorrow.

No elevator. It means that we had to bring all our luggage walking all way up on a narrow staircase at the end turning into a spiral. The husband, who, as you may understand, took the burden was cursing at me: “ Do you always have to take the best room, could not be easier to book a basic room, but on the ground floor ?!” Well, my fault, I admit that I did not check if this hotel had an elevator .… I wanted a romantic a room with a fireplace and a jacuzzi … Instead I got an angry tired husband>

what, this happens to you too? I always try to find places with lifts but somehow I get waylaid by pictures of the lovely pension or B&B, and forget about the luggage!

Glad you eventually got to eat, and like, the Saumagen.

Elevators...sigh..... I booked our apartment in Florence for its' views (and the rest was pretty good, too) but views means ....height, usually. So, only 3 floors, but, morning coffee at market, then sightseeing, then grocery shopping, then dinner, meant 12 flights that day. On top of all that walking. But it was worth it

>> It means that we had to bring all our luggage walking all way up on a narrow staircase at the end turning into a spiral. <<

For a small tip, a hotel employee would have brought your baggage on your room.

>For a small tip, a hotel employee would have brought your baggage on your room.<

That is true, but there were a woman and 2 girls there (it is not a hotel per se, it was more like B&B). No way my husband would've asked them to carry our luggage even for a fee

What a gentleman!

I booked our apartment in Florence for its' views (and the rest was pretty good, too) but views means ....height, usually. So, only 3 floors, but, morning coffee at market, then sightseeing, then grocery shopping, then dinner, meant 12 flights that day. On top of all that walking. But it was worth it>>

adelainean - on my last trip to Venice to attend a language school, I was lodged in a very nice room in a flat on the edge of the Grand canal, very convenient for a vaporetto stop and everything I wanted to see and do. the only snag - it was up 7 flights of stairs.

You won't be surprised when I say that i didn't go back very often during the day. perhaps once after classes and once at night. If I didn't have what I wanted, tough.

@ annhig "the only snag - it was up 7 flights of stairs"
.... and I thought I had thunder thighs on my return

and I thought I had thunder thighs on my return>>

lol, Adelaindean. I'm not sure about thunder thighs as after I had to lug my case up to the flat when I arrived, [a case which I had thought was pretty light until I got to the 3rd flight!] I limited the number of times I did the climb strictly to 2 a day - once in the late afternoon after the classes and any excursions had finished, and then at night on the way to bed.

it certainly made me careful about making sure I had everything I needed for the day!

I am a little pre-occupied with guests from Russia. I have tow families to entertain: one are relatives, another are friends, both came the same time! I will resume my report in a couple days. I sent one to Miami, and spent a weekend on Jersey Shore with another

Twentieth Day - May 19, Thursday. In vino veritas.

We were waken before dawn with simultaneous "WTF?" by the terrible roar outside of the window, just like in the movie "My Cousin Vinny". What happened, who attacks?! We looked out the window, and saw a helicopter right in front of the windows hovering over the vineyards. We went down for breakfast and asked: what was this helicopter doing rumbling at 7 am next to our room? The answer was again like in that movie: “ It’s very strange, it usually starts to pollinate at 6…”

Actually, it was good that we woke up that early, as today we had a lot to accomplish: our plan was to take a road (for the last time in Germany!) along the river Mosel, stopping at popular towns and places of interest on the way , planning to reach our final destination, the city Koblenz, by 6PM. But the starting point of today's itinerary was a visit to the winery for tasting of local wines.
Long time ago I was very fond of white wines, but has gradually become “redder” and “redder": first switched to pink, loving Zinfandel, and then the taste has changed dramatically and I completely switched to red wines. And now I would never trade the Merlot for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir for Riesling or Cabernet Sauvignon for Sauvignon Blanc. Although I fancy white Muscat among dessert wines, but at any time, I still prefer well-seasoned port. I love wine to be semi-dry but not sour, tart, but sweet, especially American wines: Argentinean, Chilean and Californian.
Germany, of course, is primarily known for its white wines, although red Franconian wines were very good.
But today we are in the heart of the German wine country, Mosel River Valley, known for its Mosel wines of the same name, mostly white Riesling, although in the last 20 years, some red varieties began to appear. We must’ve visited one of the wineries and taste the local wines, as they say, first hand.

Our hotel was located on the right bank of the Moselle in Bernkastel, and we drove across the bridge to the left side of the river, called Kues, the home of local wineries. Actual vineyards were right behind front row of wineries on the slopes of the hills descending to the river. It is interesting that the vineyards had huge posts with the name seen from far away who the owner is.

S.A.Prum winery (Weingut S.A.Prum)
Website: http://www.sapruem.com/startpage.php
Tasting: 15 € for the 8 samples

We stopped at one of the oldest Bernakstel Kues -based wineries, owned by Bernakstel Kusa-based Prum family since 12th century. We met the owner, Herr Raymond who took us to the tasting room, where we were helped by Miguel. Miguel himself had only recently arrived from Portugal to start the project: crossing Portuguese vines with the locals. He even did not really speak the German, so was relieved that we spoke English. I told him immediately about wine preferences, and he picked the samples for me. They were pretty good wines, some were not my cup of tea, but some I liked enough to buy a couple of bottles to take home.
And at the end of tasting Miguel treated us with Portuguese wine he brought a from his family vineyard in Portugal. The red one

Traben-Trarbach , a town entwined with vines

After saying GoodBye to Miguel and Herr Raymond, we continued our journey along the Mosel River. Weather finally decided to play along: it was very warm and sunny. I was a little drunk after having almost half bottle of wine, was in a good mood and expecting a wonderful day.
People in this region travel by car, or on bicycles, RV seemed very popular as well, and of course boats.
Next stop was the quaint little town of Traben-Trarbach, spread on both sides of the river and famous for its many old half-timbered buildings and beautiful aristocratic houses. There is an annual wine festival here in July, when connoisseurs from all Europe come here to taste fine wine from the old cellars.
And above the city, on top of the ruins you can see the Gradenburg, an ancient castle from the 14th century.

Cochem , the town where you can look at the Mosel from the top

In about half an hour, we arrived in Cochem, which is considered one of the most attractive towns in the Mosel Valley. Here we were lucky to park right on the waterfront, then joined crowds of people both visitors like us and local families enjoying fine day. Cochem has all the basic features of a medieval German town: the old town (Altstadt), Market Square (Marktplatz), Church of St. Martin (St.-Martins-Kirche), but at the same time, the city impressed us with boiling modern life.
But the main Cochem attraction is certainly Reichsburg, a massive fortress on a top of a hill, the largest in the Mosel valley, among other things, once protecting this stretch of the river. The castle was completely destroyed by the French in the past, but most of the castle was restored in the 19th century in neo-Gothic style. There was a quite steep walking path from the old town about a kilometer, but the effort is worth it: from the Reichsburg walls you could see majestic view of the Mosel river and valley.

Churches of Treis-Karden

Have you noticed that most of the towns along the Mosel have double name? Except Cochem. This is because Cochem is located only on one side of the river. But if a town is spread on both sides, then the name reflects this having two parts: Bernkastel-Kues, Traben-Trarbach. The small picturesque town of Treis-Karden, just one of the many “twin-cities" in the river valley, known for its bridge over the Mosel. There was a lovely post-Gothic church on one side of the town, while the other side boasted a Romanesque monastery. We had a little lunch break in this cozy small town, having freshly baked waffles with tea.

Elegance and rigor of the Burg Eltz

After leaving Treis-Karden, our road took us away from the river, because our next stop was the medieval Burg Eltz, perched high above the River Moselle in the small town of Wierschem. This magnificent medieval castle is still owned by the family, whose ancestors built it in the 12th century, and is one of few castles that had not been damaged during the WW2. Honestly, I was even more impressed with this castle than with the Neuschwanstein Castle, probably because, in case of famous Fussen castles, I knew what to expect, but here, Berg Eltz took us by surprise. There was a rather long walk from the parking lot leading through the woods, but when we finally made the last turn - surprise! - Berg Eltz was surrounded by green hills in all its glory. And if Neuschwanstein Castle is best viewed from a distance, the Eltz Castle became more and more beautiful the closer we approached. Walking inside the walls made me feel so comfortable here, Idid not want to leave. There was a very beautiful park around the castle, and if we had more time, I'd love to walk around longer.

Rustic charm of Kobern-Gondorf

Mosel Valley is famous for its many charming villages that cling to the slopes descending to the river shores. One of these villages was Kobern-Gondorf (or, based on a name, the two old villages united into one). This small village featured not one, but four castles, the most famous and interesting of which is Wasserschloss, the only castle in Germany straddling a major road with path-thru gate. And of course, we did pass through it

Koblenz: the town where the Mosel meets the Rhine

Finally we arrived at the final destination of today's trip along the Mosel River, the city of Koblenz. This city had the honor to be based on the intersection of two most impressive rivers in Europe: the mighty Rhine and majestic Mosel. We drove on this very beautiful city to our hotel Kleiner Riesen UG (http://www.hotel-kleinerriesen.de), located right on the banks of the Rhine. Here, we had a very unpleasant moment. During check-in, we informed our receptionist about our luggage pick-up, to which he replied, "Oh, they were here already at 11 am, but left because neither you nor the luggage was there." Oops, we could not believe it, we requested pickup at 6 pm, and now was only 5:30 .... The guy called DBahn, had a long talk in German, finally he said that our luggage would be picked up tomorrow at 11am. Of course I was upset, because we had a river cruise leaving at 9 am tomorrow. I did not want to leave our suitcases, with all the gifts and souvenirs and other valuables, what is they “forget” to pick it up again? I did not expect this, where was notorious German order and punctuality ?!

After settling in the room, we had to make one more important thing which was saying goodbye to our war-horse, our lovely Mercedes, who had served us faithfully for 2 weeks. What a sad day … Before going out we left our suitcases at the reception desk just in case if DBahn person decided to show up.
We dropped off a Mercedes, and then returned back to the waterfront where we walked inhaling fresh river air, admiring the cruise ships, and at the same to find the kiosk to pick up tickets for a tomorrow river cruise. Here we admired the city's main attraction, the so-called German Corner (Deutsches Eck), the tip that separates the rivers Rhine and Mosel. Made in the form of a tip of the ship, there was not only a magnificent view of the city and the two rivers, but also a giant 37-meter monument to Emperor Wilhelm I.

We walked along the waterfront back to our hotel stopping for dinner in the outdoor restaurant, where we had a glass of wonderful Mosel wine.

When he returned to the hotel, we were told that our luggage was taken with big apologies! After the call, the DBahn employee reviewed his paperwork and found he made a mistake not arriving at the scheduled time. Well, thank God, the faith to German punctuality was restored and we could sleep peacefully. After all, tomorrow we get up early , our boat departs promptly at 9 !!!