From the ship's dock, we had to take a 45-minute bus ride to get to the town of Cochem, another typical Medieval German town. The main reason to stop here was to visit Reichsburg Castle, a mighty castle located on a hill above the town. We will finally get to actually go inside a castle. Woohoo!
We are traveling on the AmaCerto, another one of those river boats (I've been told I am supposed to call them ships, but oh well). The particular cruise we are doing is called Europe's Rivers and Castles. We will be on three different rivers - the Moselle, the Rhine and the Main. Each one of these rivers had a very differene distinct feel. The Moselle - a smaller river but home to Riesling Wine, The Rhine - 32 miles with 35 castles (or maybe 35 miles and 32 castles) and the Main, a very small, very rural feel.
We came aboard in the afternoon, got settled in our staterooms and attended the mandatory safety meeting. After dinner and an evening classical concert, I came back to my room to find the customary chocolate on the pillowcases. Yup, I think I am going to like this. It seems that I am going to have to get used to everybody calling me Ma'am or Miss Cindy. Around 5am, the ship set sail for our first stop in Trier.
Just down the road from the Dinosaur Park, was Naturparkzentrum Teufelsschulucht, also know as Devil's Gorge/Devil's Canyon/Devil's Throat. It was a nice little walk with many people wondering “Where is the gorge?” We found it and I decided that we should just go down and take a peek. Corolla was wearing fancy shoes and decided that she shouldn't go off-roading with us. The idea was that we would go look and then come back and collect her. Well, an hour later, we still had not returned. The path went on and on. We finally caught up with her back at the car. Needless to say that Corolla was a little bit peeved and perhaps rightly so. Myself, I have to say the hike was glorious. Steep rock walls, narrow crevices...it felt really good to walking out there in Mother Nature.
How many chances do you get to go to Luxembourg? Luxembourg is a Grand Duchy, the only one remaining in Europe. It is the seventh smallest and the least populated European country. Luxembourg may be small, but it is mighty. It is one of the richest countries in the world.
