Travel Blog: The River Winds Homeward

Now that we've been home for almost a week, it's about time to get the last blog post up!

Trier was the farthest port along the Mosel. After two days here, we turned back towards Amsterdam, with stops in Cochem, Bonn and, supposedly Arnhem. Once we reached Bonn, our captain took a look at the return flights for many of the guests and decided that it would be safer to dock in Nijmegen instead, as there would be no locks to go through to get to Amsterdam, and therefore no chance of being late.

We had a beautiful morning of sailing between Mehring and Cochem, and most people were up on the Sun Deck.

We often wondered how the vineyards were fertilized or sprayed against pests - all organic and non-toxic, of course. And this morning we found out. These pilots are amazing, flying only a few metres from the ground while the spray the vines.

We reached Cochem almost two hours earlier than scheduled, and were docked on the opposite side of the river from the town, a good fifteen minutes' walk from the bridge. As we were scheduled to go on a tour in mid-afternoon, we didn't have quite enough time to get to town, wander around, and then walk back. We had been to Cochem before, and to the Reichsburg Castle that sits high above the town, so there was no pressing need to try to fit this in before the tour.

Our tour went to the Schlagkamp winery in the very small town (population about 250) of Senheim. We had been here on our tour with Tauck, and Monica enjoyed their special vineyard-slope grown peach liqueur so much that she wanted to buy another bottle. The wine museum, full of equipment that had been gathered over the family's 11 generations (since the early 1600s!!) is quite an interesting spot, and Andreas, who has taken over running the winery, is a very humorous story-teller. Last time he told us how his named wine, Cuvee Andreas, was developed; this time he told us about the history of the wineries on the Mosel. It seems that in times past, family vineyard holdings had to be divided up physically and given to the children upon the owner's death, so 1) some holdings became very, very small, and 2) the only way that anyone could increase their vineyards would be to have them marry into the family. So Andreas told the stories of his parents and himself, and his grandmother's (a shrewd businesswoman) reactions to girls without vineyard dowries coming into the family. Very funny!

Once back on board and on our way toward Bonn, we had dinner in the Bistro. On a number of nights during the cruise, there is a tapas-style dining option offered there, and we decided to give it a try. Our waiter suggested that he bring us a bit of everything - the menu didn't have a huge number of choices, so it sounded like a good idea...but we hadn't asked him how big the portions were!

The appetizer course consisted of: beef tartar (with baguette), cured salmon in dill cream, olives with goat cheese, and a deconstructed caesar salad. Everything was absolutely delicious!

We had expected the main course to be a selection of smaller portions. Well, they were smaller than you would get if you ordered them separately, but together, it was quite a plateful! A slice of beef tenderloin, garlic shrimp and pork sliders, with sides of regular AND sweet potato fries and cauliflower gratin. Although it looked like a lot, the meal wasn't huge, and we still had room for dessert...

...which was a good thing, because the pastry chef had prepared one of Monica's favourite cakes! There were always German-style cakes on the lunch buffet dessert table, and Monica had asked hotel director Paul if the chef was planning on including Bienenstich in the rotation. Paul didn't know, and made a note to ask. Well, whether he usually did or not, he made some this time! Bienenstich, or Bee Sting, is made from a yeast dough and baked with a topping of almonds in a sugar syrup. When baked it is cut in half and filled with a combination of pastry cream and whipped cream. Wow, it was fantastic!!

After dinner, we went outside to take in the ambience of the Mosel for the last time. By the time we woke up in the morning, we would be back on the wide and bustling Rhine, probably already in Bonn.

We had never been to Bonn before, but none of the tours really sounded too impressive, so we decided to walk around the old town by ourselves, and stop somewhere for a drink or lunch - it was still quite hot outside. We picked up a map and set off.

Statue at the Old Toll Building overlooking the river

The Koblenzer Tor, the gate into Bonn from the direction of
Koblenz. And look - scaffolding!!

So what are you looking at??? Larry beside an
art piece in the Hofgarten

The Minster - the cathedral of Bonn. It isn't called a Dom
because it isn't the seat of a bishop. (And more scaffolding!)

We HAD to take a picture! There's a convenience
store beside the bakery - when's the last time
you saw a cigarette sign??

One of Bonn's claims to fame is that Ludwig von Beethoven
was born here. Unfortunately his home is closed
for restoration.

We noticed that Bonn has far more bakeries than it does
breweries or beer halls.

The Sterntor, or Star Tower was once another gate into the city

The old Town Hall. We stopped for a drink at the place beside it in the
corner, which has been a public house of some kind for so many years,
that Beethoven apparently brought his first girlfriend here
to dance!

Time for another ticky-tacky tourist shot of the ship.

Our last port stop was in Nijmegen. As mentioned, we were supposed to go to Arnhem but the captain decided otherwise. No big deal; everything in the Netherlands is quite close, and it only meant a slightly longer bus ride for those, including Larry, who went to the World War II Museum there. We packed up in the morning, and Monica had a leisurely afternoon while he was off on tour.

On our final evening, it seemed that almost everyone was in the Palm Court. We had really enjoyed this cruise on the Crystal Bach. As usual, the staff on board were a big part of the experience. We hope to see them again sometime, either on the rivers or on the oceans.