Last day at Boppard

Today was another dull day until the sun came out briefly when Claire and I left for a walk to the ferry tour favorite place Boppard. As it was an unsettled day Claire was ladened with Mums coat and Dads huge umbrella and I was wearing Steve’s coat that he left when he visited us. We had already spent the rainy morning driving along the Rhine to fill up with diesel and to get last minute supplies of wine, chocolate and sausage.

I had read that Boppard was ruled by the Romans and that they built a wall around the town consisting of 28 10 meter towers with walls between. There are only the remains of 11 towers left now but in fact Boppard has the best preserved town wall remains in the whole of Germania. What happened in the football last night?

Next stop the chair lift that overlooks the largest bend in the Rhine. I guess that in another few million years, people will be coming here to witness the forming of an ox-bow lake on the Rhine (assuming we manage to survive). It is a while since we have been on one of these lifts and I must say, I was a little anxious when we set of on the steep bit. There were spectacular views on the way up until you go over the top then its just trees so have your cameras ready early. It is even better views on the way down and I tried to take a movie so as to get the whole view in one go but my batteries soon ran out. Luckily I had another set in my pocket but it wasn’t that easy to change on a chair lift while you are carrying so much. I hope that you can see the movie as it is the first time we have tried to upload one. Sorry, I screwed up the movie.

All the towns and villages around here have these lovely little narrow streets that seem to have disappeared in England during my lifetime to make room for the car revolution. In this picture, Claire is at the bottom and the church at the top. On the right hand side of the church is the main square of Boppard ( I have other pictures of this square on other days). The main square was there in Roman times and they built Roman baths in the square so the soldiers could bathe there. In the 5th Century ad these were converted into a church. I think that the church in the photo is several generations down the line but it is supposed to be in the same position as the original baths.

The house in the last picture is my personal favorite that we have seen on this holiday and it’s not just that we have had a drink there on a couple of occasions. I have had the chance to study it (while Claire had been in the toilet) and I like it on several levels, especially an engineering one.

On the toll fifth of the bell at 5 o clock we were opening the door of our favorite restaurant. Claire was adamant that we ate there again for the “last supper” at the Steverus Stusse. If you visit this area you must eat here, it is the only modern menu in the area with very good quality food at reasonable prices. It is positioned between the main square and the Rhine but it doesn’t open until 5pm. We had already had our best meal of the holiday at lunch time in the Garten Hotel in Kamp where we met the pilgrims. Try a walk up to the angry brothers castles, have a drink or strawberries at the top and come back down to the Garten Hotel for lunch and a drink if you are any where near Kamp Barnhoff.

If you are coming from England to see the Rhine and Mosel, I would recommend staying in Boppard as you do not have to cross any river by bridge or ferry, it is interesting, and it has plenty of interesting places nearby and there is even a petrol station here in Boppard. You wouldn’t believe the trauma we have had looking for fuel. Compared to England this area is devoid of shops, fuel stations, good restaurants, and sometimes personality. On the up side there are spectacular views, everywhere is clean, most people look after their gardens and clean around their own properties, but for me, somehow, it seems a bit “old fashioned” compared to England, especially when it comes to restaurant menus and the food available. England’s restaurants have moved on in leaps and bounds in the last few years and have modern menus and good healthy food in most places these days, especially along the main rivers such as the Thames. As a couple of wine users, Claire and I are quite surprised at the quality of the wine over here, not just the white the is known, but the red also. The red wine in Germany now is excellent, I have been surprised in a nice way and they are on the way to competing with the French in my opinion. Maybe Steve will prove us wrong when we visit them soon at their mill. I promise to book our ferry crossing as soon as we gat back Steve, I know you would like to know our plans so you can make yours to accommodate our’s.

We will be getting up tomorrow at around 4.30am and it is now 10.30pm so I wont upload this until we get home. Thank you for following us on this holiday; we have so little time to write anything, especially my lovely wife Claire; but I know she will be back with vengeance once we are home and busy again!