Castles and Food

October 29, 2023

This morning we sailed on the Middle Rhine river. This area is known for the many historic castles and ruins visible from the river. So after breakfast, we sat in the lounge and watched the small towns, old castles, and vineyard-covered hills go by. The view was amazing, and accented by the fall colors of the trees. The ship staff demonstrated how to make Rudesheim coffee and gave us samples to drink. Yum! (Forgot to take pictures - again)

Below are some pictures of that area:

Once we arrived in Koblenz, we boarded a bus and went to tour the Eltz Castle. The Eltz is within a beautiful forest, set away from the nearest towns. Records confirm that it is at least 800 years old, and has been owned by the same family for that entire time, 33 generations. The family still retains private rooms there. Areas of the castle were added or updated over the years, but many of the public rooms have been maintained to reflect the design and decorative choices of the earlier eras. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but below are pictures of the outside.

We were looking forward to getting back to the ship because the chef was putting on a special German Night Feast. And we were going to celebrate John (Karen's brother) and Denise's 50th Anniversary! The beer, schnapps, champagne, pretzels, cheese, sauerkraut, red cabbage, 2 types of sausage, beef in brown gravy, pumpkin seed breaded chicken, scalloped potatoes and more were all yummy. It was so fun to be able to try all those foods! And dessert was amazing too.

John and Denise were surprised by the bottle of champagne we brought to help them celebrate their anniversary. And they were really surprised when the waiters and manager brought them a cake and sang to them! Fun ending to the day!

The next day, our ship leaves Koblenz on the Rhine River and cruise to Cochem on the Moselle River.