On to Boppard

Day 13 - We had traveled the Mosel River south, turned around and headed north where we would make an eastern turn at Koblenz back onto the Rhein continuing on to Basel. Boppard is just a bit south of Koblenz and it was our stop for the day, our last in the Middle Mosel Valley.

We had all passed on visiting the Marksburg Castle and instead took a walk into town where we visited the market square and town ruins and did a bit of shopping. This is the infamous Peter showing us the town. The sculpture is of a lady handing candy to a child. There were three wrapped candies in their hands and I wondered how long they would last in an American city. I'm sure they would be scooped up and gone before the person placing them there had turned away.


We visited the ruins and I took the following picture to show you the width of the walls used in ancient times.



You can see how cool it was by how Tom is bundled up while he and Les shop for hats!



After lunch when the sun came out we walked back into town using the lovely promenade that runs along the river where our ship was docked. Ted took a picture of Germany's smallest vineyard, just three tiny rows.




We stopped to visit the Carmelite Church Peter had pointed out that morning. Outside is a statue of Mary (circa 1320) and each year she receives the first grapes from the harvest. The building of the church started about the same time.


The church has two naves, the first contains the former high altar from the Church of St. Severus, built in the middle of the 17th century.


The second was carved of gilded nutwood and done in 1699 but the darkness of the nave and the wood made the picture very dark.


I was able to get a good picture of the Altar of the Crucifixion, circa 1500.


This fresco consists of a series of panels depicting the life of St. Alexius, 1407. A 14th century stone pulpit is featured too. No description was given for the other stone piece.



We sailed in the afternoon past lovely castles and villages along the Rhein as we approached the Loreley Rock. Legend has it a beautiful siren would beckon captains of ships with her beautiful song and cause them to wreck on the rocks. She paid us a visit! (It was Peter's counterpart Wouter.)

Battle of the Bulge Cemetery - Luxembourg

Day 12 - We docked in Traben-Trarbach and disembarked for a tour of Luxembourg. This tiny nation comprises less than 1,000 square miles. It is a constitutional monarchy located between Belgium, France and Germany. A little history now before I go on.

German forces occupied Luxembourg in May, 1940 and its liberation (primarily by American troops) began in September, 1944. The Battle of the Bulge began with Hitler's desperate attack through the Ardennes in an attempt to drive out the Allied forces. The resulting battle, called "the greatest American battle of the Second World War" by Winston Churchill, raged here from December 16, 1944 to January 28, 1945. The US. suffered 8,447 killed, 46,170 wounded and 20,905 missing or imprisoned. The Germans suffered 10,749 killed, 34,439 wounded and 32,487 missing or imprisoned.

We arrived at the cemetery to beautiful gates adorned with golden eagles and wreaths. This land is bequeathed in perpetuity without payment or taxes to the American people to honor their dead. Our flag flies above it.


There is a large tower that contains a carillon that played America the Beautiful, Amazing Grace, Battle Hymn of the Republic, etc. and set a somber and overwhelming tone for the visit.



In case you can't read the inscription, it says:

1941-1945
In proud remembrance
Of the achievements of her sons
And in humble tribute
To their sacrifices
This memorial has been erected by
The United States of America

Maps showing the European theater and the Battle of the Bulge were mounted on slabs that contained the name of thousands of Missing In Action military men.





There are two Medal of Honor winners buried here, one of which was this young man from Indiana.


The most visited grave is that of General George S. Patton, Jr. Though he was killed in an automobile accident, he had requested he be buried here with his men.



The entire trip was worth the visit to this cemetery.

Our next stop was in stark contrast to the beautiful grounds we had just left. We were driven to a parking lot and walked through the woods to a German cemetery. Bodies of soldiers were gathered from all over Belgium and brought here for burial. While our soldiers were buried in bronze caskets in their own plot, the German soldiers share a cross with several names on it. They were buried in burlap bags. There is one common grave of over 4,000 soldiers. Because the German government contributes only 6-7% to the maintenance of this cemetery, Luxembourg refuses to fly the German flag.



We had a group lunch in Luxembourg City and then had some individual time to look around. We visited Notre Dame Cathedral and I took a picture of this sign requesting silence in French and German. Ruhe is a family name on my mother's side. This magnificent Gothic structure was constructed between 1613 and 1621. It holds the royal family vault and the huge sarcophagus of Count of Luxembourg John I of Bohemia ("John the Blind"; 1296-1346)



We stopped at a beautiful overlook on the return to the ship. This is one of a very few pictures of the two of us on this trip.

Trier, Part of the Holy Roman Empire

Day 11 - Trier is the oldest city in Germany. There were settlements here in the third millennium before Christ and the Roman Emperor Augustus founded a thriving city in 15 BC. We visited the remains of the palatial imperial baths. This complex consisted of hot water baths, a huge hall housing a semi-circular pool and two smaller pools. In the basement, a vast labyrinthine network of corridors were constructed to provide access to the heating system by those manning the carts bringing charcoal. The last photo shows an opening where the hot water flowed into the pools.








It's amazing that they had engineered hot running water and then the skill seems to have been lost for centuries. We saw homes with hot water and floor heating in Medira, Spain, also part of the Roman Empire, when we visited there in the early 90s.

We continued our walk and viewed Porta Nigra, a towering Roman gateway built around 200 AD. It is the largest surviving city gate from ancient Roman times. We also visited the Trier Cathedral (St. Peter's) where the seamless robe of Christ is housed. According to one tradition, Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, discovered the seamless robe in the Holy Land in the year 327 or 328 along with several other relics, including the True Cross. The robe is normally kept folded in a reliquary and cannot be directly viewed by the faithful. We also viewed the Prince Bishop Palace that is now used as a government building. We were glad to learn the ancient history of this city.

Next Stop Bernkastel

Day 10 - We started our day with a stroll around Bernkastel, one of the most picturesque towns in the Mosel Valley. Then we went to a wine cellar (literally) to taste riesling wines. Bern is bear in German, thus the bear fountain. The castle ruin of Burg-Landshut overlooks the river, thus the name.



The doors open into the cellar under the vineyard hills. It was dark, damp and the perfect temperature for storing wine. We would have loved to bring wine home but with the liquid restrictions on aircraft it's impossible. Some people bought some and said they would wrap it in their clothes, but if it breaks ... what a mess you would have.



Bernkastel is famous for Doctor Wine that goes back to a fable about the wine from this region curing a king. This painting on the wall tells the story.



The rest of the photos are just shots of the half timbered houses in the area bedecked with flowers.

The afternoon was spent cruising the colorful Mosel valley with all the leaves on the vineyards starting to turn. We especially enjoyed the color change because we don't get that in Texas.