Koblenz

Overnight, we had moored in Wittingen, but in the early hours, the ship moved downriver towards Koblenz at the confluence of the Moselle and the Rhine. (The name Koblenz comes from the Latin Confluentes). We had slept well but were up early to get some breakfast before today’s excursions. The forecast for the day was 24-26 C and some cloud with a possibility of some rain this evening.

Jane, Tevor and I had a long excursion around the town and up to the fortress. Di had a leisurely excursion planned later in the morning. Our long excursion left at 09:30, and we were taken through the various squares, streets, and alleyways of the town, hearing the history and significance of each location as we passed. 

Our guide, Siggy, was very knowledgeable and had a perfect command of English. He kept up the commentary throughout the three hours. We saw parts of the old Roman walls, squares dominated by Jesuit colleges, squares celebrating the town’s history, and, of course, promenades along the Moselle and Rhine riverbanks. 

As we passed German Corner (where there is a huge mounted statue of Kaiser Wilhelm), we passed Diane’s tour coming in the opposite direction. 

By this time, we were on our way to the cable car. We hopped into the pods and were whisked high above the Rhine to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress high above the city. 

The Ehrenbreitstein Fortress is the second-largest fortress in Europe (after Gibraltar). Siggy explained the layout and the defensive structures that should make it impregnable, but in reality, it was never attacked and became redundant with the advent of breech-loading cannon that could pound it from a range of 2000 metres.

I left Jane and Trevor up in the fortress and made my way back to the ship, where Di and I had a quiet lunch and a glass of wine. We then went back out for another walk. During this morning’s tour, Siggy pointed out an ice cream shop which was regarded as the best in Koblenz. We found our way through the streets and joined a queue to get some ice cream. The queue stretched about 50m up the street by the Cathedral, and moved slowly towards the huge selection of types and flavours of ice cream, yoghurts, and gelato. We chose well and sat in the shop working our way through their mid-sized ice cream tubs. From there, we looped down to the Moselle and made our way back via German Corner to the ship.

We had a quiet afternoon in our cabin. I was trying to check in online for tomorrow’s flight (unsuccessfully). It appears that Lufthansa’s website is playing up. I managed to get checked in my aski our tour director to try. He was also having problems, but finally succeeded. I also managed to do the bulk of my packing.

We met up in the lounge for a drink before dinner, then went down for our farewell feast.