Day 5 – October 6 - COCHEM

This is another charming village along the Mosel River with hillsides covered with vineyards overlooking the town.  It’s history goes back to 886 and maybe even further than that. 

We visited our first castle; Reichsburg Castle overlooks the village of Cochem and the Mosel River.  In 1151, King Konrad III occupied this castle and declared it an Imperial Castle.  In 1688 it was overrun by French King Louis XIV during the Nine Years’ War.   The following year they destroyed it.  The castle complex lay in ruins until 1868 when it was bought by a Berlin businessman who reconstructed it.  It is now owned by the town of Cochem who took over it in 1978.  We toured several rooms.  A very impressive complex with a fantastic view!

       Awsome views of Mosel River and Cochem from the hilltop at 
     Reichsburg Castle.

A walking tour of historic Cochem brought us along cobblestone streets to the town square.  Once again, a charming town with colorful, picturesque buildings with window boxes full of flowers.  All around the square and side streets are quaint shops and lots of outdoor cafes.  We had some free time to stroll around and shop.  We slowly strolled through the streets, did some window shopping and stopped at a café where I enjoyed some potato pancakes with smoked salmon.

 Town Square

 ??? Try walking the floors in that apartment!

      Unique and interesting wall mosaic on the side of a bridge tower.

We hurried back to the Viking Odin, only to be met by some angry staff and the ships captain with a very unhappy look.  We were about 20 minutes late (@#!! We had the wrong return time), and the ship was about to leave without us.  They actually held it back...waiting for us.   Whew....  Later on that night at dinner, some people were talking about the people who where almost left behind, how irresponsible they were, and what it must be like to stand on the dock seeing their boat sail away.  What would they do, where would the go....  We are so grateful that we did not have to worry about that!  We also kept our mouth shut.  Decided not to identify ourselves as “those people”.

Great view of Reichsburg Castle from the river as we sail past Cochem.

Tomorrow we leave Mosel River and sail onto the Rhine River.