Cochem to Koblenz

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Afternoon Sailing 

from Cochem

All aboard Avalon Artistry II was at 12:45 PM as the ship sailed by 1 PM along the meandering scenic Moselle River.   Following our German Lunch Buffet we headed up to the Sky Deck for the narrated scenic viewing .

Docked Overnight Koblenz

We arrived in Koblenz around 6:30 PM just in time for our evening Port Talk and dinner.   Following dinner, we were treated to a spectacular sunset which illuminated the nearby buildings, sky, and river.

Tomorrow we would have time to explore Koblenz, so for tonight, we just took a short stroll along the pier before returning to the ship for som rest. 

Local entertainment was provided by a string trio, La Strada, in the lounge at 9 PM.



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Evening in Koblenz

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Reichsburg Castle Cochem

Reichsburg Cochem
(Imperial Castle, Cochem)

The Cochem Castle, or Reichsburg Cochem in German, is a place where history comes to life. The castle we see today towering above the scenic town of Cochem on the Moselle River is not the castle that originally stood there in the 12th century. That castle had a long and colorful history until French King Louis XIV had his troops obliterate it in 1689.

Cochem Castle dates back to the first millennium, the year 1000 A.D. It was the home of the Palatinate counts and was built on the orders of Count Ezzo. The first historical mention of this castle is from 1051, when it was given as a gift to a nephew, Henry I by Richeza, the oldest daughter of Ezzo and one-time Queen of Poland.

 Getting to the Castle

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The castle sits perched upon a 100 m (328 ft) hill overlooking the River Moselle.  We took a shuttle bus to the castle summit where we were then met by a local guide for a tour of the interior of the castle. Qualified guides will show you the most beautiful rooms and make you familiar with the history of Cochem Castle.

Since we were part of a large group, there was a pre-assigned time for us to be at the castle.  We still had to wait for our group number to be called before beginning the interior tour.

View from Terrace

Just before the conclusion of the tour, we were treated to an amazing view from the terrace of the castle.  From this vantage point you can see the winding river, and the town below.

Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page:

Cochem - Reichsburg Castle

Our visit to Cochem was on day eight of our 13-day river cruise on Avalon Artistry II.   If you are just joining us, be sure to review our previous posts.

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St. Martin Chuch Cochem

 

St. Martin Roman Catholic Church

The ancient and romantic town of Cochem is situated in the most beautiful part of the Moselle Valley. While strolling through the town, prior to heading up to Reichsburg Castle, we noticed St. Martin Church in the heart of the market area. From the exterior, one could tell that there were some amazing stained glass windows decorating the church.

While I returned to the ship, my husband walked back to the church and captured some images of the interior.  We hope that you enjoy these images.  We'd highly recommend including the interior of the church to your visit of Cochem.

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This church is one of the three Roman Catholic churches built inside the city.

The church is situated by the market. The church has a turbulent history. The current old choir stand was first mentioned in 1593. Between 1932-1933 a new nave was built, but it was destroyed by bombing in 1945. In 1950/1951 the nave was rebuilt again.

The interior of the church is quite plain, with the exception of these magnificent statues and stained glass windows.

Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page:

Cochem - St Martin

Our visit to Cochem was on day eight of our 13-day river cruise on Avalon Artistry II.   If you are just joining us, be sure to review our previous posts.

Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

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German Lunch Buffet

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Avalon Artistry II

Cochem

Lunch Buffet

Following our morning walking excursion to Cochem, including the visit to the Reichsburg Castle, it was time to board our ship for one of the highlights of the week.

The restaurant was converted into a German "Brauhaus" with music, dressed waiters, and German specialties for lunch.

German Menu

The lunch menu included salad selections, two soups, German pasta and meatloaf, various German sausages, roast pork, Schnitzel, bread and potato dumplings, sauerkraut, peas and carrots, and roast potatoes.

Click on the menu for more details.


When everyone was on board and enjoying lunch, the ship sailed for Koblenz, Germany.  We arrived there shortly before dinner and would be docked there overnight.  You could disembark the ship to go for a walk if you liked.


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German Lunch

 

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Cochem Town Walk

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Exploring Cochem

Avalon Artistry II sailed into Cochem, Germany around 8 AM while we were finishing our breakfast.   Our included excursion met at 9 AM for a walking tour through Cochem.  Our guide met us at the dock and began by describing the surrounding area.

Monday Morning in Cochem

On Monday mornings the shops open around 10 AM.  Highlights of this delightful little village include little museums like the mustard mill, art gallery shops, and wine shops.  Our walking tour took us to the old quarter of town.

In the bustling old quarter of Cochem, the timber-framed houses, the market square with its baroque town hall and Martins-Brunnen, St. Martin's Church and the former Capuchin monastery (now an arts centre) have been well preserved and lovingly restored. Sections of the old town walls have also been well maintained, including the historical Enderttor, Mäusetor and Balduinstor town gates. The Cochem tourist office has maps and more information.

After concluding our tour of this part of town, we had a short mini-bus ride to Reichsburg Castle which we will cover in a separate post.

^{Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page:} 

Cochem Walking Tour

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Sailing from Luxembourg

Catching Up with Ship

Once again, our ship moved from where we last left it in Grevemmacher around 1:30 PM.  Since Luxembourg excursion was optional, not all passengers disembarked after lunch.  Those that stayed onboard got several hours of extra cruising along the Moselle river.

Artistry II made a technical stop in the village of Riol to pickup passengers who had been on the Luxembourg excursion.

 
 

Evening Sailing to Cochem

 We had some time before dinner to enjoy the view from our cabin.   As you can see from both pictures, this is wine country and vineyard after vineyard lined the river banks.

After our usual Port Talk by Mark, our Cruise Director, it was time for dinner in the main dining room.   We had a lovely view of the vineyards along our route.

Dinner - Main Dining

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The main entree choice that we selected was Grilled Skewer of Beef, Pork, and Chicken.  This wasn't your typical dinner selection on most cruises we've been on previously.  It was excellent, by the way..


Click on the menu to the left to see alternative choices as well as more details about our meal.

As usual, there were two soup choices and several other starter choices.  

We completed our meal with a Belgian waffle accompanied by berries.   Note:  you can order this off the breakfast menu as well - highly recommended.

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Sailing from Luxembourg

 

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