Visiting Germany

On a beautiful afternoon we drove our car on board

the Finnmaid. We enjoyed a very relaxing day on the ship.

Late in the evening we arrived in Travemünde.

The first thing we saw along the shore were lots of

wind turbines. They were everywhere in Germany.

We drove along the Autobahn towards our destination.

We saw grain and corn fields along the way,
lots of cows, some horses and a few deer.

We walked around in Münster for a while.

We enjoyed lunch and had a double espresso

and some delicious ice cream as well.

We visited Köln (Cologne). We saw the Kölner Dom
(the Cathedral) and did some shopping to keep our
teenagers happy. We had lunch in an Italian place.
They had a sofa made of the back half of an old Fiat.

Every little village had its own church. The church

bells started ringing at seven in the morning. They rang

twice at half past, once at a quarter to and a quarter past

and a little more at even hours. This photo is from Dieblich,

southwest of Koblenz on the  river Mosel.

We visited Burg Eltz (the Eltz Castle) The castle

has been owned by the same family for 850 years.

It hasn't been touched by any of the wars and remain

as it has been for centuries. We took the guided tour,

but photography was not allowed indoors.

For more info, please visit Burg Eltz.

The weather looked better when we were leaving the castle

and we decided to walk to the parking lot. It started

to rain before we reached our car and we left

very wet but very happy with our visit.

Enjoying sunny weather in Cochem. 

Porta Nigra in Trier. It was built by the Romans around 180 AD.

Hauptmarkt, the main market square in Trier.

Trier is the oldest city in Germany.

The Roman baths in Trier.

Lots of good food. Here a steak with chanterelles.

Coffee break in Trier.
"Forget love - fall in coffee!"

The Mosel region is known for its wines.
There are grapes growing on the sometimes
very steep slopes all along the Mosel valley.

The market square in Bernkastel.

We were going to visit Marburg, but it was

raining cats and dogs and it didn't look like it was going

to stop anytime soon. We took a break in Hannover

instead. We walked around a little and our

teenagers got to do some more shopping.

We grabbed a bite to eat and walked around in

Travemünde for a bit before we had to

check in for our return trip.

We spent a day on board the Finnstar

mostly sleeping and resting.

The next morning we arrived home

tired but very happy after our journey.