Day 51 3/12/2010

This is another time that I will try very hard to catch up but I get on a plane for spring break in a couple of hours.

Day 45 3/6/2010

Today is Saturday. Trisha, Colton and I decided the day before that we wanted to go on a day trip somewhere. I ended up choosing Koblenz. There we several castles, fortress and a huge monument in Koblenz that we could go see. There were also several churches that I wanted to visit. We decided to meet at 9 first, however, when I checked the trains there wasn't a train leaving until around 10 so when I woke up that morning I called to ask if they were still coming then I told them not to go to the train station till around 9:30 so we weren't waiting around for an hour. Finally at 9:30 Trisha and I met up. We needed to get tickets so we messed with the machine. We still don't quite know how to work it so we sat there and messed with this machine almost too long. Finally we were able to get our tickets to head out. We got over to our platform and grabbed our train to Koblenz. This ride was about an hour and a half but it wasn't too bad. We were able to sit down and talk for the most part. When we got there we exited the train, and started to head toward town. Apparently, there was a soccer game that day and Colton was wearing the colors of the soccer team that was playing. The police stopped us before we could head out the correct exit and sent us the other way. We can only assume that it was because of Colton's scarf. We walked all the way out that end of the exit only to find that were on the wrong side the rail tracks. The town was on the other side and there was nothing on our side. We didn't know what to do because the police were at the other end. Finally we just decided to head back and when we got to the place that we were turned away the police weren't there so we just kept walking. When we came out of the station we decided to head toward the first monument in my book. This was at the meeting place of the Rhine River and the Mosel. This is the two largest rivers in Germany. We just started walking in the direction that we thought was right. Turns out, it wasn't exactly the right direction because apparently I suck at reading maps. We finally got to a street that I knew and there was a very pretty church there. We took pictures of that and tried to take a peek inside but the doors were locked. So we started heading down the street toward the monument at the river meeting place. It was enjoyable to go at our own pace and to actually enjoy the sites. We saw a few shops and stores but we decided to wait until later to shop. We eventually got down toward the monument. We passed an interesting building that Trisha and I both laughed at. It was basically a 'fortress' that the bishop of Cologne barricaded himself in because he was hiding from the people of Koblenz. They didn't like him very much I don't quite remember why. We also passed the Markt Platz, which isn't nearly as big as the one in Bonn because, I don't think it's used anymore. We also saw another church before we got all the way down to St. Castor's church. I think the exact order that we went in was first, Herz-Jesu-Kurche. Then we passed Alte Burg which was the fortress that the bishop barricaded in. After that we passed our second church and the first one we were allowed to enter called, Florineskurch. It was beautiful. All the vaults were painted and there were nice sculptures all over. There was also a pretty tapestry on the wall behind the baptismal altar. There were several nice praying areas on either side of the altar. After the church we continued to walk toward the monument. The next thing that we reached was Alte Berg even though at the time we didn't know the importance. Now I know because I was doing research after the fact. The last thing that we saw before we saw the monument was St. Castor Kurche (church). This was another building that we were able to go inside and see and another one that I was impressed with. It was beautiful. I loved this church again with the painted rib vaults and ceiling. There were other things in the cloisters but the roof was the best part. Finally we arrived at Deutsches Eck. This is the place where the rivers meet. This was neat because there was a flag for every region along the water. I'm guessing the flags for the regions down the Mosel on the Mosel side of the point and the flags for the regions down the Rhine on the other side. Either way it was neat. I was able to pick out the flag for Bonn. The monument that was there was a replica of the original built in 1895 the first one was destroyed in the World Wars. This was a huge Equestrian statue with King Wilhem I riding it. He was decked out in the fancy clothing of the Royals or course. We were able to walk up the stairs that lead to the gigantic pedestal that this statue was on. It was like a small temple without the altar underneath him. The pedestal was open with columns so we were able to go up there and look out over the convergence of the waters and the town of Koblenz. After a while we decided it was time to go see something else. We walked down the Rhine for a while toward the bridge that would take us to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress on the other side, just to run into construction that blocked of the path that ran along the water. This was frustrating because I wanted to walk along the river. We doubled back to try to find a way around that wasn't too bad because the road are nearly square. During this we decided to grab some lunch. We ended up stopping at a shop that sold pizzas. This was alright. Trisha and I split a pepperoni and cheese pizza. It was ok even though the pepperoni's weren't really pepperoni but they were some kind of spicy meat. We walked down the streets and I think this is when we found the Markt Platz... Or it may have been called something else. We also found a shop to look in but there really wasn't much in there. We eventually made it to Rheinbrucke Bridge. This was when the temperature dropped and the show was falling upward because of the wind and the water combination. It was very cold walking across that bridge. We got to the other side and the snow that was falling was huge. The clumps were bigger than my thumb. We spent our time walking down the road toward the Fortress because that was our destination. We walked throught the small 'town' that is now a part of Koblenz. We got to see yet another church. This time we couldn't go in. Then we kept walking along the river to try to find the fortress. Part of the way we ended up walking along the river bank because of some more construction. I was determined to stay on the road that went along the river. It was cool because we weren't walking on pavement it was the actual river bank. When we got to the end to start walking up to the bridge there was a cluster of Mallards. This was cool because the all thought we had food so they all came waddling up to us to get some, quacking the whole way. It was quite amusing. After Trisha and I shot some pictures, we continued on our way. At one point we walking through some of the buildings but for the most part we stuck to the river till it was time to climb the hill up to the Fortress. This was an awesome looking place but unfortunately we would find out when we got to the top that the place was closed till later in the year. That made me sad because it looked like an interesting place to go. At this point we had made it up to the typical entrance to the place but again we found it closed. Then Trisha spotted a set of stairs that led up. So we decided to climb them. This ended up being a great idea. We got to see the small part of the fortress that was on those stairs and when we got to the top we found an open gate leading out onto a part of the fortress that provided us with an incredible view. It was amazing because we were higher than the town and we were able to get an awesome picture of the city line. After that we climbed back down. At that time I needed to go to the restroom so we tried to find the cafe that we saw earlier on our way up there. After we found it we bought a desert because it would be rude to use the bathroom and not buy anything, plus I'm not entirely sure they would let me otherwise. After we bought the pastery we headed back the way we came because we didn't want to get lost. This wasn't too bad because we got to walk along the water again. It was ok we got to see the ducks again. This was about the time that we wanted to head home. However I had some other things I wanted to see. So we headed over the bridge then to the left of the bridge was a VERY small wine 'village.' In the guide book it said that it was just a replica. However it was still interesting to go look at. Before we went inside Trisha spotted a pair of unusual geese. They were very pretty because of the coloring. I liked them quite a bit. After we got some pictures I started to head toward the village area. However, Trisha decided to chase them which was quite amusing because they refuse to fly so I got to see a goose run out right. We peeked into the village and looked around there wasn't much to see it was just three buildings grouped around a small patio area. Then we headed to the other place I wanted to see. This was the highest point in Koblenz because the Fortress was technically in the other town. There was church placed at this point called the Church of Our Lady, or Liebfrauenkirche. This was by far my most favorite church. Although I kinda wish we had seen it earlier because we walked right past it a few blocks over. We sat inside and just looked around this one. The vaults were again painted but it was the best out of the three that we saw. This one was also darker inside but still very awe inspiring. I got quite a few pictures of this one like anything else that I take pictures of. After that we stopped by a shop that I bought a spoon at for mom but since I didn’t find anything for myself I don’t think I’ll be giving it to her. At this point all three of us were very tired and we decided it was a good time to head home. We grabbed the train back to Bonn and we actually got there before the sun went down. Colton said goodbye and Trisha and I grabbed the train we usually catch then when we got to our stop we went our separate ways as well. When I got home I talked to Sean for a while then I practically fell into bed.