Day 3 and 4: Cologne and Koblenz/Castles on the Rhine

Yesterday we stopped in Cologne, Germany. The Germans call the city Koln...same place. There was a walking tour and I decided it was going to be too difficult to walk with a bad hip...so I took a shuttle into town and looked at the scenery. Koln is a big, old, city. The Cathedral is impressive--and it was decked out for Easter Sunday. Lots of people were celebrating Easter by walking and playing in the parks along the river (the Rhine is BIG here). There is a large Ferris Wheel in one of the parks. For some reason, cities want to have a Ferris Wheel to show off their views. The line was long, so I'm guessing the views were good.

Today we stopped in Koblenz, which is where the Moselle merges with the Rhine. It's a big hub...but it was a bank holiday so nothing was open. I was hoping to go to a little yarn shop I know in town so I was disappointed it was not open. Maybe tomorrow, when we are in Miltenburg, there will be a yarn shop. We did not stay in Koblenz long, as the rest of the day was devoted to viewing the "Castles on the Rhine." There are over 40 castles overlooking the Mid-Rhine (as the area it is called). Most of the castles are ruins, harking back to an earlier day of tax collecting. Do not think romantic fairy tale castles, these are fortifications that guarded a piece of the river the landowner was obligated to maintain. Sometimes a landowner had castles on both sides of the river that was protected with a barricade that could be raised and lowered. The only way to cross the barricade was to pay the tax. If you did not want to pay the tax, you could ram the barricade and risk a bombing or shelling from the fort. The landowner maintained the river by keeping the waterway clean and free from snags. Someone had to pay for that service and that was the reason for the tax. It was also a good money making scheme which is not in effect anymore.

After dinner tonight, we left the Rhine and headed down the Main River (pronounced MYNE). We entered the first of over 30 locks on the Rhine/Main/Danube canal. I like this set of locks better than the locks on the Panama Canal as you can really see "up close and personal" how a lock works. We'll have a better view tomorrow in full daylight. 

The food on the cruise is excellent. The service is excellent. I'm already cutting back on what I'm eating as there's no way I can eat 5 course meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and keep wearing the same size clothes. First time cruisers are still learning they cannot have 3 desserts at dinner time. The staterooms are tiny, but we ordered our cruise late and only tiny rooms were left. Next time, we'll have to order earlier so as to get a slightly bigger room. We've been on 18 river cruises, and  I like the staterooms that Grand Circle has better than those of Viking...the beds are more comfy and the rooms feel bigger. That's just my opinion, others might not agree with me. 

FYI: We have an online connection, but it is not powerful enough for me to post pictures.