We continued along the romantic Rhine. We headed out along the bike only only to find the road was closed for the day. Cyclists only. We rode with Dutch couple for a while. They had 7 grandchildren. They had overtaken us on the road when we were still on the bike path, but we soon caught up with them ( they couldn't maintain the pace). The man was riding a carbon fibre Giant road bike (Defy advanced - very nice) with a trailer with all their luggage - a very unusual arrangement for European touring cyclists who are almost all riding heavy bikes with suspension forks (what for?), enormous saddles and very high handlebars. They generally get along with a very low cadence at about 15km/hr.
Castles, fortresses, picturesque villages and towns. Lots of river traffic, also cruise ships ferrys and barges.
We arrived in Koblenz aware that the BUGA was in progress. This is the BUndesGArden festival, the biggest garden show in Europe. Incredibly, we had run into the BUGA two years ago in Schwerin, and as a result had been unable to find any accommodation on that occasion. Stumbling upon it again, we agreed we had better have a look (one of us more enthusiastic than the other). We stowed luggage in a (free) locker, locked the bikes, and spent the next 5 hours wandering the garden show. There was a performance of West Side Story happening in the castle grounds across the river accessed by cable car - all part of BUGA. From the fortress there were great views over Rhein and Mosel and Deutsch Eck.
We picked up our luggage and headed along the Mosel. Immediately quiet and more rural than the Rhein. Just out of Koblenz we passed under a huge autobahn bridge.
Amazing vineyards creeping up impossible slopes.
After a fairly short ride we arrived at Hotel Kastanienhof. The reviews had commented on the excellent food so we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was the nicest meal we had had in Germany. Spare ribs and chicken breast with Italian vegetables and rosemary potatoes, strawberry parfait for desert.
Castles, fortresses, picturesque villages and towns. Lots of river traffic, also cruise ships ferrys and barges.
We arrived in Koblenz aware that the BUGA was in progress. This is the BUndesGArden festival, the biggest garden show in Europe. Incredibly, we had run into the BUGA two years ago in Schwerin, and as a result had been unable to find any accommodation on that occasion. Stumbling upon it again, we agreed we had better have a look (one of us more enthusiastic than the other). We stowed luggage in a (free) locker, locked the bikes, and spent the next 5 hours wandering the garden show. There was a performance of West Side Story happening in the castle grounds across the river accessed by cable car - all part of BUGA. From the fortress there were great views over Rhein and Mosel and Deutsch Eck.
We picked up our luggage and headed along the Mosel. Immediately quiet and more rural than the Rhein. Just out of Koblenz we passed under a huge autobahn bridge.
Amazing vineyards creeping up impossible slopes.
After a fairly short ride we arrived at Hotel Kastanienhof. The reviews had commented on the excellent food so we had dinner in the hotel restaurant. It was the nicest meal we had had in Germany. Spare ribs and chicken breast with Italian vegetables and rosemary potatoes, strawberry parfait for desert.
Wow. Amazing photos! Nice duck! Hotel Foch haha! :)
ReplyDeleteIt all looks and sounds amazing. I went to Sydney to ride on the weekend. Didj being the crazy fitness type made me ride up nasty hills for 73km... ouch.