For their final weekend in Europe, we planned two nights along the Mosel River in Germany. The Mosel is the river shown in red in the map below. We stayed about 15 minutes south of Cochem, in a small village called Ellenz.
We stayed in the top floor of the guest house shown below, the "Penthouse" as Jason called it.
It was set up "open living " style with a loft that the kids instantly claimed as their room for the weekend. There were no separate rooms (other than the bathroom), so it made it a bit challenging for adult socializing time after the kids bed time. However, we were all so tired in the evenings, that we were more than happy with the early bedtime. This was the view from one of the windows in our room. Can you spot the vineyards on the facing mountian? The Mosel is Reisling country, for all you white wine fans. These grapes are grown on steep mountain sides. Apparently, the steeper the better as the angle allows the most sunlight to reach the grapes all the way to the base of the vine. When you buy a bottle directly from the local vineyards, they are labeled so you know exactly which section of which mountain the grapes came from.
We arrived in Ellenz just before dinner on Friday evening. The owners of the guest house suggested a local spot for dinner, and we were not disappointed. The staff was friendly and we managed to work out what to order despite none in our group of 7 speaking any German and apparently their English wasn't much better then our German!
Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early. Jason and Dad headed to the local German bakery and picked up an assortment of fresh pastries.
Our first stop of the weekend was Burg Eltz. It is a castle located in a dense green forest and has remained in the Eltz family for 850 years since it was first constructed. It once outlasted a 5 year seige! The last inhabitants of the castle were as late as World War II.
The picture above was snagged off the internet, because when we arrived we were greeted with cranes and 1/3 of the castle covered with cloth and scaffolding. 
Despite the construction, it was still a magnificant site as we approached the castle. There was a delicate stream flowing down in the valley, beautiful tree covered rolling hills surrounding all sides, and a perfect Carolina blue sky! 
We decided to walk to the castle from the parking lot, as it was all down hill, and opt for the 1.50 Euro shuttle to carry us back to the top after we finished our tour.
Unfortunately, the view in the courtyard was also a bit obscured, but we managed to catch a quick picture of Dad and Jayne enjoying the tour.
It was at least 80 degrees and lunch time by the time we finished our tour of the interior. We grabbed a quick ice cream to tide us over until we could get back to the car and find a spot for our picnic lunch. 
Here is the gang at Burg Eltz! Finally, a picture of all 7 of us.
Our next destination was Cochem. It is probably the most "touristy" of the villages along the Mosel.
We quickly found a water front park for our picnic. It was nice to relax for an hour, let the kids play, and enjoy the scenery. 
We toured through Cochem, and the kids found a great way to cool off on this warm 85 degree afternoon...water fountains!
We did a little shopping, picked up souvenirs and then headed back to the guest house to cook dinner.
Following a relaxing pizza/pasta dinner in the guest house, we headed out for a stroll along the Mosel.
Can you tell Drew is a bit attached to his PaPa? 
Did I mention that summer has arrived in Europe?! These pictures were taken around 9:00 p.m. and it was still this light outside! It's great to have extended evenings, especially on vacations, but not so great to have the sun start coming up again around 5:00 a.m.!
Sunday morning we packed up and left Ellenz to head back to Brussels. On the way home, we planned to make a stop at Trier which is a town at the southern part of the Mosel in Germany, just near the Luxembourg border. It boasts some amazing Roman ruins and also claims to have been inhabited at least 1,200 years before the Romans arrived.
These photos show the Porta Nigra, which was one of 4 gates through the Roman walls that used to surround the city. This is the only surviving gate. It is without a doubt an imposing structure, and mind-boggling to think of the engineering and problem solving it took to build such a structure with no electricity or power tools. 
We strolled through the picturesque old city center and of course the boys did their best to get into the water fountain. 
The we made our way to the oldest church in Germany. The construction of this church began in 326 AD.
The inside of the church was massive and awe-inspiring. 
Along the way, we stopped for a few breaks, and made our way to our final destination of the ancient Roman amphitheatre.
We had a wonderful ten days with Dad and Jayne. It was action packed, and by the end our legs were tired and we were a little behind on sleep, but we made the most of every day. I am so thankful that God provided the resources for them to visit us in Belgium and that we could discover new parts of Europe together. We continue to be blessed beyond anything we deserve during this unique journey of living abroad.
1 comment:
As always, I'm enjoying "touring vicariously" with you! This would be one of my favorite places to visit. Reisling & Mosel are the only wines I like. When we were in Germany a couple of years ago, it was in Jan. & very cold/snowy, but I'd love to go back & especially to this area (since we missed it). How neat to get to have your family visit!
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