Europe Travels – 3- 10 Aug, 2007
On Friday 3 August, we lingered at the Zimmermann’s home in the morning and got a late start to the day. From there we drove a few miles and took a ferry across the Rhine to a cog railway that took us up a mountain to the ruins of Dragonfels Castle for a beautiful view of the Rhine River and a distant view of the spires of Cologne Cathedral. After a walk around and a late lunch we took the tram back down and drove up the Rhine to Koblenz, Germany where we decided to spend the night.
The major concentration of castles along the Rhine is from Koblenz to Maintz and the next day, Saturday, 4 August, we were treated to views of many castles on both sides of the River as we droved up the west side of the Rhine. We first visited Stozenfels Castle which required a long walk up a winding road through a forest. In the castle there were two weddings being conducted in the garden and we took a tour of the castle which had been restored in the 1890’s by Germany royalty. It was very nice with a lovely setting and view of the river and other castles nearby. From here we drove to Shoenburg Castle which is largely a ruin but has a very romantic hotel and restaurant built among them. We had strolled through the ruins and had coffee in the restaurant. We thought this castle was the most impressive of all the ones we saw that day. Next we stopped at Sooneck Castle and climbed around the ramparts, but decided to skip the tour. From there we proceeded up the river to Reichenstein Castle just before closing and where another wedding was finishing. We walked around the inside where the walls were covered with horns of all types of antelope and deer hunting trophies and there were displays of ancient armor and armaments. The castles were closing and we were a bit saturated so we drove to our Heidelberg hotel where we spent the night.
On Sunday, 5 August, walked through the old town of Heidelberg where there was bicycle race in progress. We walked through a number of quaint streets and took a tram to the castle above the city. Heidelberg Castle is huge and much of it is in ruins but it is very impressive never the less and affords great views of the city. After lunch we drove about three hour to Colmar, France and arrived in late afternoon. After checking into the hotel we had a walk around the town and had dinner in on of the squares. The town is very quaint with old half-timbered buildings and cobblestone streets and flowers everywhere you look, it was beautiful. We had a very nice three course dinner with Alsace wine where there were two wonderful street singers. It was delightful!
The next day, Monday 6 August, we hadn’t quite had enough castles so we drove to the Haut-Koenigsburg Castle which required long drive up a hill and steep hike with dozens of other tourists. This castle had been magnificently restored around the turn of the century, by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. It is very large and much of the old wooden draw bridges and ramparts had been rebuilt according to original plans and includes reproductions of original furniture and ancient cannons and other weapons. It was a very worthwhile visit. From there we proceeded back toward Colmar along the “Route d’Vin’ (Wine Route) with may beautiful medieval villages through vineyards where may of the famous Alsace wines are made (including some of our favorites such as Riesling, Muscat and Gewurztraminer). The first town we came to was Zellenberg which is not in the guide book but a street sign said it was an old medieval city. It was a wonderful place with almost no tourists and had a high tower at the entrance, the old city walls were intact with may very old buildings and flowers everywhere. After we lunch we drove to Riquewihr and Kayserberg that were in the guide book and were slightly more quaint but mobbed with tourists with difficult parking. At Kayserberg it started to rain to so we headed back to Colmar to our hotel.
Hard rain was forecast for the next several days so on Tuesday, 7 August, we decided to drive to our next house exchange at Anthy-sur-Leman, France on Lake Geneva. Before leaving Colmar we visited the Dominican Church to see the lovely painting of the “Virgin in the Rosebush”. The drive to Lake Geneva was mostly freeways and passed near Bern, Switzerland, where we stopped for a few hours to see some of the sights there. It was somewhat interesting, with a few old towers, cobblestone streets and arcades but a bit of a driving nightmare (even with the GPS). An hour or so later we were descending to Lake Geneva and after driving along the French south shore arrived at our lovely exchange home in Anthy.
Wednesday and Thursday (8-9 August) were rainy and we settled in, met our friends Alex and Naomi who flew in from Israel to spend a week with us and caught up on our reading.
The major concentration of castles along the Rhine is from Koblenz to Maintz and the next day, Saturday, 4 August, we were treated to views of many castles on both sides of the River as we droved up the west side of the Rhine. We first visited Stozenfels Castle which required a long walk up a winding road through a forest. In the castle there were two weddings being conducted in the garden and we took a tour of the castle which had been restored in the 1890’s by Germany royalty. It was very nice with a lovely setting and view of the river and other castles nearby. From here we drove to Shoenburg Castle which is largely a ruin but has a very romantic hotel and restaurant built among them. We had strolled through the ruins and had coffee in the restaurant. We thought this castle was the most impressive of all the ones we saw that day. Next we stopped at Sooneck Castle and climbed around the ramparts, but decided to skip the tour. From there we proceeded up the river to Reichenstein Castle just before closing and where another wedding was finishing. We walked around the inside where the walls were covered with horns of all types of antelope and deer hunting trophies and there were displays of ancient armor and armaments. The castles were closing and we were a bit saturated so we drove to our Heidelberg hotel where we spent the night.
On Sunday, 5 August, walked through the old town of Heidelberg where there was bicycle race in progress. We walked through a number of quaint streets and took a tram to the castle above the city. Heidelberg Castle is huge and much of it is in ruins but it is very impressive never the less and affords great views of the city. After lunch we drove about three hour to Colmar, France and arrived in late afternoon. After checking into the hotel we had a walk around the town and had dinner in on of the squares. The town is very quaint with old half-timbered buildings and cobblestone streets and flowers everywhere you look, it was beautiful. We had a very nice three course dinner with Alsace wine where there were two wonderful street singers. It was delightful!
The next day, Monday 6 August, we hadn’t quite had enough castles so we drove to the Haut-Koenigsburg Castle which required long drive up a hill and steep hike with dozens of other tourists. This castle had been magnificently restored around the turn of the century, by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. It is very large and much of the old wooden draw bridges and ramparts had been rebuilt according to original plans and includes reproductions of original furniture and ancient cannons and other weapons. It was a very worthwhile visit. From there we proceeded back toward Colmar along the “Route d’Vin’ (Wine Route) with may beautiful medieval villages through vineyards where may of the famous Alsace wines are made (including some of our favorites such as Riesling, Muscat and Gewurztraminer). The first town we came to was Zellenberg which is not in the guide book but a street sign said it was an old medieval city. It was a wonderful place with almost no tourists and had a high tower at the entrance, the old city walls were intact with may very old buildings and flowers everywhere. After we lunch we drove to Riquewihr and Kayserberg that were in the guide book and were slightly more quaint but mobbed with tourists with difficult parking. At Kayserberg it started to rain to so we headed back to Colmar to our hotel.
Hard rain was forecast for the next several days so on Tuesday, 7 August, we decided to drive to our next house exchange at Anthy-sur-Leman, France on Lake Geneva. Before leaving Colmar we visited the Dominican Church to see the lovely painting of the “Virgin in the Rosebush”. The drive to Lake Geneva was mostly freeways and passed near Bern, Switzerland, where we stopped for a few hours to see some of the sights there. It was somewhat interesting, with a few old towers, cobblestone streets and arcades but a bit of a driving nightmare (even with the GPS). An hour or so later we were descending to Lake Geneva and after driving along the French south shore arrived at our lovely exchange home in Anthy.
Wednesday and Thursday (8-9 August) were rainy and we settled in, met our friends Alex and Naomi who flew in from Israel to spend a week with us and caught up on our reading.
posted by Dahlia and Lance Riley @ 4:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home