DJmotortouring – Page 21 – EUROPE BY ROAD (and other travel blogs)

Jelenia Gora (Lower Silesia), Poland July 2022 (Tour 6)

I’ve been to Poland before (on business) but only to the cities of Warsaw and Gdansk (& Gdynia). I’ve not visited this part of Poland and this is Vanya’s first time in the country. We were both looking forward to crossing the border from Germany and seeing a little bit of Lower Silesia.

Lower Silesia is a south west region of Poland near the Czech border and the Karkonosze Mountains. Jelenia Gora was established around the 11th century and is now a sizeable city of 80,000 people. By the year 1000, Silesia was part of the kingdom of Poland but, following the first invasion of Poland by the Mongols, Poland and especially those lands in the control of the Silesian Dukes became wholly fragmented and, after the Mongols withdrew, the country fell under Bohemian (later Czech) rule. In 1526 it became Austrian under the Hapsburgs. It then changed hands a number of times. Prussia (later Germany) seized it during the mid 18th century but at the end of WW1, when the Poles and the Czechs regained their independence, Lower Silesia was divided between them. In the late 1930’s Germany again seized the Polish and Czech controlled parts of Silesia. Most recently, at the end of WW2, Jelenia Gora (along with other large parts of Silesia) became Polish once again with all resident Germans being forcibly expelled and replaced by Poles whose own lands had been annexed by the USSR. Turbulent times indeed and believe me, the above is a most simplistic version of events. Enough of the history.

Despite all the turbulence surrounding the place, the town of Jelenia Gora came out of WW2 remarkably intact. As usual I made first for the old town; the centre of which in Jelenia Gora is the Market Square with it’s surrounding arcades, the town hall, restaurants, cafes, colourful old merchant’s houses and a Neptune fountain. I never did discover the story behind the fountain.

The Market Square & Town Hall and a rather unusual stilt walker emerging from the walls of the Town Hall

Arcades and much evidence of deer around the city. Jelenia Gora translates to Deer Mountain in English

Moving away from the square I passed the minor basilica of St Erasmus and St Pancras which was built between the 14th and 15th centuries. Pausing at the church I couldn’t help but notice that all of the epitaphs carved into the church walls are written in German; a reminder that this part of Silesia was for many years wholly German.

The Minor Basilica of St Erasmus & St Pancras

Further on I came across the Wojanowska Tower and Gate. This entrance into the town dates back to the 14th century when it became necessary to upgrade the town’s fortifications, not least because of the development of firearms. The gate has three coats of arms on it being the Silesian, Polish and Prussian. I am surprised that this latter coat of arms is still on display given the diligence the city fathers appear to have shown in removing all things German during the years immediately after WW2.

Just outside the Wojanowska gate, a little further along the street known as 1 Maja, is the city’s most impressive building, the Holy Cross Church. This was originally a Lutheran church built in 1718. It was taken over by the catholic church in 1945. The outside is not that impressive but the inside is so incredibly ornate, it matches anything I have previously seen in the Orthodox Churches in the Balkans. It blew me away. And big! I read that it can accommodate up to 10,000 people incliuding 4,000 seated. If there is one building worth seeing in Jelenia Gora it is the Holy Cross Church.

Nothing particularly impressive about the outside of the Holy Cross Church but the inside…

We were unsure as to what to expect from either Jelenia Gora or the campsite we were staying at but were pleasantly surprised on both counts. That evening we headed back into the city for food and drink and…

Back into town in the evening for a bite to eat and refreshments. The restaurant had no dry wine. Vanya wouldn’t try the local beer. She ended up with a Pina Colada!

Moritzburg (Saxony), Germany July 2022 (Tour 6)

Erfurt was fantastic but it was time to move on. Our next destination was Weimar and we made it to the town within 40 minutes of leaving Erfurt but, something was going on in the place which made it impossible to park. We drove around a short while looking for a parking space but then gave up and continued on to Moritzburg in Saxony. From what little we saw, Weimar for all it’s history and culture didn’t really appeal.

Most famous for it’s Baroque Castle, Schloss Moritzburg is a pretty moated castle with four large round towers situated some 8 miles from Dresden. Initially it was a hunting lodge built for Duke Moritz of Saxony between 1542 and 1546. It seems this the forests and lakes in this area were favourite hunting grounds of the Electors and Kings of Saxony.

Almost 200 years later Augustus the Strong of the Saxon House of Wettin (who became Elector of Saxony and King of Poland), wanting something of a pleasure palace, had it converted into the magnificent Baroque castle it is today. It was not open to visitors when I arrived but the inside is supposed to be spectacular. It has more than 200 rooms and seven extravagent halls. One room known as ‘The Feather Room’ has many thousands of multicoloured feathers of exotic birds on display. Another, the Banquet Hall has a collection of 71 red deer antlers some of which are 400 years old.

I don’t know much about Augustus the Strong but I read that he was a patron of the arts and it was he who transformed Dresden into a major cultural centre. He was enormously strong (as is suggested by his name) and he is rumoured to have sired more than 300 illegitimate children with a host of mistresses – seems a lot.

The Banquet Hall with it’s collection of red deer antlers. Obviously, this is not my photo. I never made it into the castle.

The House of Wettin used the castle as a residence from then on with the last owner, Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony, using it between 1933 until 1945 when towards the end of WW2 the Wettins were evicted by the Russians. Some of their most precious art treasures were buried in the castle park by the Prince and his sons but these were almost all discovered and carried off by the Soviet troops. What they didn’t find was unearthed in 1996 by some amateur archaeologists who discovered a number of boxes containing jewels and gold ornaments.

Except for the castle and it’s grounds there is not a great deal to Moritzburg but there are a number of cafes and a couple of bars (one being the hotel) and I did enjoy a nice beer sitting in the hotel gardens.

Next time, it will be Dresden, not Moritzburg. From all that I have heard, Dresden will certainly be worth coming back to.

Erfurt (Thuringia), Germany July 2022 (Tour 6)

And this is where, as so often happens, our plans changed. A pleasant, very interesting and well travelled German couple whom we met in Bacharach recommended we visit Erfurt and Weimar. He is a sportswriter who amongst other things is paid to trial new motorhomes all over the world and his wife was until recently an English high school teacher – no prizes for guessing whose job we most covet. With people such as this, you listen and you respond. We turned the Van around until it was facing Erfurt and off we went. Great decision!

Erfurt is Thuringia’s capital and it’s largest city with a population of 200,000+. The city made it’s money in the Middle Ages as a a trading centre for Woad (a then rare and very expensive blue dye) and it was, no doubt, helped in this regard by being a staging point on the Via Regia (i.e a pilgrim route set up by the Holy Roman Empire and which forms part of the Camino de Compestela) that stretched from Frankfurt am Main to Leipzig and the Polish border. It has a well preserved medieval centre and has been home to some very special people including but not limited to:- Martin Luther (theologian and religious reformer who was ordained in Erfurt); Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman and all round good egg); Johann Friedrich von Schiller (poet, playwright, philosopher and a mucker of Goethe’s) and; Johann Bach (composer and musician).

Talking of musicians, if the number of buskers playing classical (and not so classical) music in the city is anything to go by, the music tradition in Erfurt is in safe hands. They were everywhere during my morning visit into the city and again during the afternoon and evening when I returned with Vanya. Sounds odd but one of my favourites was a young fellow playing Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” on a cello.

One of the city’s most popular tourist sites and the place I made for first during my recce is the Kramerbrucke Bridge. It is a unique medieval stone arch bridge over the Breitstrom (a branch of the River Gera) which dates back to 1325. Much later, after the bridge had been lined with timber framed houses owned by the city’s merchants, it also became known as the Merchant’s Bridge. It is a wonderful looking bridge with the groundfloor of the houses now converted into shops, cafes, etc and the upstairs into apartments which are still lived in to this day. It is easy to understand it’s popularity.

At the east end of the bridge, on the Wenigemarkt, stands the Agidienkirche (the Church of Sankt Aegidius). For a few cents, visitors can access the Methodist Church which is now the Agidienkirche but, I was told by the curator that I must not ascend the 33 metre high Red Tower. Why on earth not? Other people were up there. Well if you’ve seen one Methodist Church, you have seen them all (they are remarkably spartan) and so; immediately after I had made a brief inspection of the church itself, I set off up the Red Tower and I was rewarded with some fine views over the city. On the way out I discovered that the Agidienkirche is fitted with closed circuit tv. The curator had a fair bit to say to me and it wasn’t all polite but, it was worth it.

The view from the Methodist Church window along Kramerbrucke was fine and some of the stained glass windows (designed by children?) were unusual but…

… the views in and from the belfry of the Red Tower were what I really wanted to see

From the Agidienkirche I set off down the narrow alley formed by the properties on the Kramerbrucke. I mentioned previously that the properties are now given over to cafes and craft shops and, yes, there is also the odd tourist souvenir shop but, there is one particular place which simply has be visited. It is the “Haus der Stiftungen” and it is easily recognisable. It is an original property built in 1578 and it is run by a foundation which serves to promote the bridge. Entry is free and visitors are welcome to wander around the inside of the building.

One thing I did start to notice as I circled around the back of the bridge (looking for photo opportunities) were a series of rather incongruous ‘statues’ of various cartoon characters. Subsequent research revealed that they feature in a very popular TV programme on Germany’s Children’s TV Channel (KinderKanal or KIKA for short) which is run out of Erfurt. Vanya and her dog Beanie will be interested in those.

So, much later in the day, there is Beanie with Kikaninchen the Rabbit and Vanya with Das Sanndmanchen from KIKA. We also saw Bernd das Brot and Kapitan Blaubar with Hein Blod.

To the west of the Kramerbrucke is the Fischmarkt, a particularly picturesque square of mostly renaissance buildings which were originally dwellings. The city’s more modern Rathaus (Town Hall) also sits on this square, as does the Kunsthalle (Art Gallery) and an interesting statue, Der Romer. This statue was put there in 1591 and is of a Roman soldier holding the city’s flag aloft. I had no idea that the Romans made it so deep into Germany.

My primary interest during this first sortie into Erfurt was the Cathedral of St Mary which sits on the Dom Platz (no surprise there) but, en route I passed the Theatre Waidspeicher, a converted woad store which in 1986 was renovated and converted into the Erfurt Puppet Theatre. This theatre, using homemade puppets and props, puts on plays of fairy stories, adaptations of children’s books and modern dramas for children (during the day) and adults (in the evening). Judging by advertising outside the theatre, I suspect some of the performances for adults will be quite racy.

I made it and the 12th century gothic style cathedral of St Mary, built on the site of the much older chuch of St Boniface, is everything I expected it to be; as is the smaller and older Sevirikirche alongside it. Unfortunately I was unable to take any decent photos of the front of the Cathedral and/or the Sevirikirche. The ‘Cathedral Steps Festival’ takes place on the Dom Square in front of the two churches every year during July/August and the festival stage and grandstands for this years open air operatic performance was already up and blocking all decent photo opportunities. My understanding is that this year’s performance will be Verdi’s ‘Nabucco’ but I swear I could hear some of Berlioz’s ‘Damnation of Faust’ being rehearsed whilst I was sitting on the square drinking a weissbier. Strong stuff that weissbier!

No decent photos of the Cathedral nor the Sevirikirche unfortunately but, it was wonderful sitting on the square in the sunshine, with a beer in hand, listening to rehearsals. I like opera.

Overlooking the Dom Platz and the Cathedral and the Sevirikirche is the large Baroque Zitadelle Peterberg. However, I’ve seen enough fortresses on this tour already and elected to give it a miss. Anyway, I prefer castles to fortresses.

But, Erfurt, we are so glad we came.

Mainz (Rhein Pal.), Germany July 2022 (Tour 6)

Vanya wasn’t so keen on Mainz but she has an aversion to larger towns and was always going to feel disappointed after Bacharach. I, on the other hand, didn’t mind it but the city has a wonderful cathedral and there was a beer festival on over the weekend we were there.

We booked into a city centre camp site just over the river from the Old Town. The main bridge across the Rhine was a stones throw from the camp site and the beer festival was at the other end of it. Perfect location and planning!

Founded at the confluence of the Rhein and Main Rivers by the Romans in the 1st century, Mainz (previously Mogantiacum) is the capital of the Rhein Palatinate region. More than 80% of the city was destroyed by allied bombing in WW2 but, to see it now, you would barely believe those figures. It was quickly and carefully restored. There is one church, that of St Christoph, adjacent to the Karmerliterplatz, of which only the outer shell remains and that has deliberately been left standing in memory of the victims and the destruction of the city during the heavy bombings of 1942 and 1945.

The Carmelite Church on Karmerliterplatz and, nearby and now serving as a war memorial, the bombed out shell of the 13th century church of St Christoph of Mainz. This was the parish church of Johannes Gutenberg and where he was baptised.

Anyone visiting Mainz old town will very quickly find the Marktplatz, just follow the crowds of people. In this square and the surrounding area is a large part of Mainz’s history. There are a number of beautiful pastel coloured buildings, the marktbrunnen fountain, the Gutenberg Museum and most important of all, the Mainz Dom (St Martin’s Cathedral). It’s worth going to the old town to see the cathedral alone.

Almost next to the Cathedral is the Gutenberg Museum. In case you don’t know, Mainz was home to Johannes Gutenberg who in the early 1450’s invented metal type printing. This means of mass printing revolutionised publishing and it perhaps comes as no surprise that Mainz is home to both Germany’s first ever newspaper and the Allgemeine Zeitung. William Caxton subsequently built on Gutenberg’s device and introduced printing into England.

After fully exploring the Markplatz and the area thereabouts I headed off to walk the eastern side of the old town. There I found so many stolpersteine (see previous blogs on Bacharach and Rudesheim) but, more uplifting, I stumbled on the Evangelische Christuskirche (the Evangelical Church) where, inside, a string orchestra was rehearsing. Don’t misunderstand me, it wasn’t the church which so fascinated me although the church building is impressive. No, Evangelicals are a bit too fundamentalist for me, I was captivated by the music being played. Sadly, I didn’t recognise the music but it was an enjoyable 30 minutes just listening and watching. I don’t think I have ever seen a conductor work so hard to get his points across to the orchestra.

Inside the Evangelical Church on Kaiserstrasse.

There were quite a few stolpersteine on and around Kaiserstrasse

On the way back to the camp site I paused at the beer festival down by the riverside. There were some 20 to 30 kiosks selling different predominantly German beers and a handful selling snack foods or wine. Needless to say, I stopped and tried a couple of the local beers (three to be precise) and a really cold Vinzentiner Weissbier won the day.

Sankt Gaor (Rhein Pal.), Germany July 2022 (Tour 6)

We were ready to take a second boat trip, this time down river. We wanted to go to Boppard (which had been recommended to us by a local) but the boat time tables worked against us and so we settled for St Goar. That was a shame because Sankt Goar proved to be something of a disappointment. Certainly, you don’t want to believe all the hype on the internet about Sankt Goar having the wow factor and being a real up and coming tourist destination, etc. It really doesn’t and it really isn’t.

The best part of our boat trip to Sankt Goar was the journey there and back. It took about an hour heading downstream and an hour and a quarter heading back and this section of the Rhein (between Bacharach and Sankt Goar) is even more picturesque than that which we experienced two days ago. Moreover, sitting and doing nothing while drifting down the Rhein is actually very pleasant.

On the way we passed the two small picturesque towns of Kaub and Oberwesel, numerous almost obligatory castles for this part of the Rhine (one of which, the Pfalzgrafenstein, is particularly eye catching) and, of course, we passed the famous Lorelei or Loreley Rock.

That’s the small town of Kaub to the left of the above photo with Castle Katz overlooking the town and the far more attractive Castle Pfalzgrafenstein in the foreground. Pfalzgrafenstein was used as a toll station between 1327 and 1866

The Lorelei Rock. Okay, so it is nothing special to look at but it is surrounded by legend.

The 132m Lorelei Rock sits on the right bank of the Rhein just up river of Sankt Goar (or, to be more precise, Sanktgoarshausen because Sanktgoarshausen is on the right bank and St Goar sits directly opposite on the left bank of the river). It’s a fairly irrelevant little hill not unlike many others on the banks of the Rhine but, it was made famous in the ballad “Zu Bacharach am Rheine” where a stunning young girl named Lora Ley, after being shunned by her lover, sought revenge and caused the death of numerous men. She was arrested and banished to a convent but, on the way to the convent, she asked to view the Rhine landscape one last time and then jumped to her death from the rock. There is another more modern story about Lora Ley sitting on a rock by the Rhine brushing her hair and distracting passing sailors and so causing them to crash and drown and, as if to support this theory, just to the south of Sanktgoarshausen is a statue of a girl sitting on a rock, brushing her hair. I favour the first story.

A little bit about Sankt Goar. The town is named after a Celtic missionary who settled in the area in the 6th century. He was subsequently made the patron saint of innkeepers. It is a small town but it’s castle, Rheinfels, was once the largest in the area until French revolutionary troops sacked it. Rheinfels was subsequently repaired and is now a tourist hotel. The town’s only other claim to fame is it has the world’s largest free-hanging cuckoo clock suspended outside a souvenir shop near the catholic church. We stood outside the shop at eleven o’clock, video camera at the ready, waiting for the cuckoo to show, but once again we were disappointed.

The approach to Sankt Goar and the Cuckoo(less) Clock. That’s Castle Rheinfels in the background of the second photo.

After walking around Sankt Goar we hopped on to the car ferry and crossed over to Sanktgoarshausen where we found a nice little cafe and sat drinking coffee in the sunshine until it was time to catch the boat to Bacharach. That was very pleasant.

The ferry with Sanktgoarshausen in the background

Rudesheim (Rhein Pal.), Germany July 2022 (Tour 6)

And so we set off on a boat trip up and down the Rhine. This was not just any part of the Rhine; it was along a part of the 65 kilometre stretch running from Rudesheim to Koblenz which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to it’s historical significance – there are so many castles.

We travelled upstream with a day return ticket to the small town of Rudesheim am Rhein; passing Lorch, Trechtingshausen, Assmannshausen and Bingen on the way and; we had the boat almost to ourselves.

The journey took us almost 1.5 hours and was both pretty and interesting. We passed numerous castles on the way and received a brief history of each one over the ship’s tannoy system but don’t expect me to remember them all. There were simply too many.

Rudesheim is okay but nowhere near as authentic nor as welcoming as Bacharach. Many more cruise ships dock in Rudesheim and it has become very touristy. A cruise ship docked moments after us and, in no time, a throng was heading off towards the north of the town in the direction of the Niederwald Monument. I can understand that; the Niederwald is an impressive sculpture with, no doubt, fine views up and down the river but it was enough to turn us in the other direction.

The Niederwald Monument (not my photo). Commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm I and built between 1870 and 1880 to commemorate the Unification of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War. The principal statue is Germania but the Kaiser also figures, on horseback, as do some of his victorious soldiers.

At the heart of Rüdesheim is Drosselgasse, a long two metre wide cobbled alley lined with original timber-framed buildings. The alley is now full of souvenir shops and cafe bars but it is as close as you’ll get to the original in Rudesheim which now attracts three million visitors a year.

Vanya, Nala, Beanie and I spent almost 5 hours in Rudesheim before rejoining our boat for the journey back to Bacherach. That would be about right if you were to include the Niederwald Monument in your stay.

We made a short stop at Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet Museum (it is different!). We went for a stroll around the outside of the Bromserburg Castle which is now a wine museum and we discovered yet more Stolpersteine.

Just outside 20 Rathausstrasse are four Stolpersteine in the names of Karl Keller and his family. I’m sure there are others elsewhere across the town. Karl was a cobbler born in Bacharach (related to Willi Keller mentioned in the Bacharach blog) who fought for Germany in WW1 with the 97th Infantry Regiment on both the Western and Eastern Fronts. He was wounded in action and was decorated with the Iron Cross but that didn’t save him nor his wife and two children.

Back to Bacharach.

Bacharach (Rhein Pal.), Germany July 2022 (Tour 6)

And so to Bacharach on the Rhein. We were going to stay for a day, have a quick look around and then move on. That’s not how it panned out. We stayed four awesome days enjoying everything about the place; our campsite (we had a great spot overlooking the river); and the town itself (Bacharach now figures up there among our favourite places to have visited during our European Tours – Matera, Obidos, Vannes, etc); and most of all, the German people whom we met and talked to during our stay (locals and holidaymakers alike). Indeed, Vanya now sees Germany in a totally different and much more positive light than when we toured Bavaria and this is due largely to the German staff and customers of the Kurpfalzische Munze bar.

Bacharach is picturesque little town of less than 2,000 people on the left bank of a scenic stretch of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley some 50km south of Koblenz. It started life as a wine trading and shipping station in the middle ages. We visited a number of towns in the area during our stay but none were as pretty as Bacharach. You don’t need to take just my word for it. The great French novelist Victor Hugo, who visited the town in 1842, was moved to describe Bacharach as one of the world’s prettiest towns.

The drive into town took us straight down the Oberstrasse, above.

There are two main thoroughfares through the town, the Oberstrasse and the Langstrasse both of which run parallel with the river. They each have narrow cobblestone streets and half timbered houses many of which date back to the 15th century. The oldest house in Bacharach, on Oberstrasse, dates back to 1368 and has been renamed Altes Haus (Old House). Oberstrasse contains most of the town’s principal buildings (the church, the town hall, hotels, bars and shops, etc) while Langstrasse, closest to the river, is now largely residential.

First photo: Looking down on the town from the Postenturm at the simple but elegant cream and red coloured 14th century Protestant Church (Kirche Sankt Peter). Second photo: The Altes Haus.

It is believed the town’s name is derived from the Roman god of wine and revelry, Bacchus, and certainly this area has long been associated with wine production, particularly white wines. The hillsides around Bacharach are rich with vineyards. We sampled quite a few Riesling wines whilst in the area.

Most visitors to the town will sample the region’s Riesling in a local Weingut and two in the very centre of the town which came recommended are Fritz Bastian’s Weingut zum Gruner Baum and Weingut Toni Just Hahnehhof. Each appears to offer good value tasting sessions. However, whilst in Bacharach, we chose to sample the local wines (including some by Fritz Bastian and Toni Just) in the less formal setting of the town’s bars and hotels where we could meet and talk with some of the locals. It is more expensive this way and we do perhaps miss out on some inside information about the wine from the wine producers themselves but, there’s no better way to enjoy the stuff. The atmosphere in a welcoming friendly bar such as the Kurpfalzische Munze, drinking what the locals drink, and meeting and talking to them easily surpasses what sometimes can be sterile wine tasting session with other tourists.

The surrounding hills are bedecked with vines and down in the town on Oberstrasse is the Kurpfalzische Munze

So here we are starting some serious wine sampling just outside the Kurpfalzische Munze. Bread, cheese and grapes were supplied to help with the tasting

Sometimes we were a little late getting away from the wine tasting

A little more about the town. Towering above Bacherach is the Burg Stahleck castle (520m above sea level) which was destroyed in the late 17th century (some say by an invading French army and others say it was on the orders of the Archbishop of Cologne) but, it was rebuilt in the 20th century and is now a Youth Hostel and open to the public. You can take tea and cakes on the castle terraces whilst taking in some fine views down the Rhine. Having said that I think that the Postenturm, which is not as high and easier to get to from the town centre, makes for a better viewing point.

Looking up to and down upon Burg Stahleck

Just below the Burg Stahleck is the Wernerkapelle ruin, originally a pilgramage church built between 1289 and 1430. This ruin has a particularly dark history. It started with the murder of a teenage boy, Werner of Oberwesselin, in 1287. He worked for a Jewish family and, with anti-Semitism rife in the area at that time, the Jews were blamed for the crime. Retaliation saw some two dozen local Jews killed. Rubbing salt into the wound, the catholic church subsequently made Werner a saint and the Wernerkapelle was commisioned.

*Looking down on Bacharach from the Postenturm*

Sadly, Anti-Semitism has been rife throughout Europe for most of the last two thousand years. Bacharach was again touched by it once some 90+ years ago after the Nazis took power in Germany. This was brought home to me during our stay in Bacharach when, whilst walking along Langstrasse, I chanced upon some Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) in the names of Willi and Emma Keller. Stolpersteine are small brass plates inscribed with the names of individuals who were victims of Nazi persecution. They are usually built into the pavement outside the building where the individuals last lived and are intended to keep alive the memory of the ordinary people (my words). Willi and Emma Keller were brother and sister who lived at 43 Langstrasse in Bacharach before being seized and deported to Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1942. They didn’t survive Theresienstadt. The stolpersteine are part of a pan-European commemorative ‘art’ project and an increasing number are being placed throughout many countries in Europe. I have previously seen them in Hungary, Nederland and Germany. There are others in Bacharach (and we saw them in some other towns we visited in this part of the world) but, credit to Bacharach and the other towns for supporting this initiative. Many towns simply will not tolerate them.

Some of the Stolpersteine on Langstrasse. Heinrich Paff who lived at number 25 was a watchmaker and WW1 veteran who was wounded fighting for Germany.

I simply cannot finish this blog on such a sad note. A few more photos of a very pretty town:-

In this area it is almost de rigeur to take a cruise either up or down the Rhine. We did both; first of all heading up river to Rudesheim on the right bank of the Rhein and then, two days later, down river to Sankt Goar on the left bank and Sankt Goarhausen on the right. Those boat trips are covered briefly in separate blogs.

Echternach (Mullerthal), Luxembourg July 2022 (Tour 6)

In this part of Luxembourg the River Sauer forms the border between Luxembourg and Germany. Cross the bridge over the Sauer in Echternach and you are in the German town of Echternacherbruck. There is little of interest in Echternacherbruck (other than a very large campsite with the longest riverfront) but Echternach appears to have slightly more going for it. It is reputedly the oldest town in Luxembourg.

This is the second time that I have appeared somewhat dismissive about places we have visited on this tour (earlier it was Wiltz and now Echternacherbruck) and that is perhaps unfair. The fact is we get to see so many absolutely amazing places on these European tours that it is all too easy to denigrate those that don’t fulfil all of ones expectations. Such comments on my part need to be kept in perspective particularly when we are making only a short visit. Henceforth I will endeavour to be a little more objective.

We parked the Van up on the German side of the river for the night; I did my usual recce while Vanya caught up with her Spanish lessons and; in the evening, we both went into Echternach (that’s Luxembourg) for dinner and drinks.

The campsite we selected is on the German side of the River Sauer adjacent to the bridge which leads to Luxembourg. The only evidence of a change in country is the old customs building

During my recce I found two churches worthy of mention in Echternach, one being the Basilica of St Willibrord which was constructed in the 1950’s on the site of an earlier Abbey dating back to 700 (Willibrord was an English monk from Ripon who worked to Christianize the Frisians, became the first Abbot and ultimately went on to become Bishop of Utrecht) and the other being the parish Church of St Peter & St Paul (where Willibrord is now buried). The Basilica impressed me most with it’s simple, elegant lines inside and out and a lovely stained glass window.

There’s not a great deal to the town; a small square, a pedestrian throughfare coming off the square (where a number of cafe bars can be found) and a few narrow sidestreets but all was fairly quiet while we were there.

We ate (I ate) the largest plate of deep fried calamari at a small cafe bar on the pedestrianised street and then we settled at a bar on the town square for the rest of the evening and chilled.

There’s another timely reminder for me; the truly great moments are not just about where you are or what you see, they are about what you make of them. Okay, no more self chastisement.

We were supposed to head east from here towards Dresden but during the course of the evening Vanya has persuaded me that we should head south down along the Rhine Valley. We’ll see what that brings over the next few days.

Vianden (Oesling), Luxembourg July 2022 (Tour 6)

Situated close to the German border in the north east of Luxembourg is Vianden; an absolute gem of a place; a fairytale little town with a fairytale castle. With less than 1,800 people it could easily be overrun with tourists (stay away weekends) but it is very much worth a visit.

There’s a small church at the lower end of the town with a simple yet charming interior

The town’s castle is visible from the bridge over the River Our and the castle is nowhere near as high above the town as some Google sites and the owners of the chairlift would have you believe.

A cobbled main street, the Grand Rue, leads gradually up from the town bridge through candy coloured cottages, cafe bars and a few small hotels to the castle (and beyond). It is an easy walk but for those unable or not wanting to walk up, there is a chairlift which will take you to a viewing platform above the castle and you can then walk down to the castle. Be warned, however, the chairlift is not for those uncomfortable with heights.

You’ll pass a few interesting features on the way up to the castle including Le Badigeonneur – don’t ask me what it represents or how it got there. It looks like a collection of musicians.

Perched on a small hill overlooking the town, Vianden Castle was put together between the 11th and 14th centuries (and properly restored in the 20th century with some additional Gothic touches) and it was owned for four hundred years until 1820 by the Dutch Royal Family. I read somewhere that the castle looks like the castle out of Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and it really does. I paid the 10 Euros necessary to go inside the castle and within it is unlike any castle I have previously visited – it’s wholly enchanting.

The inside is very appealing and I love those windows

There are several exhibits inside depicting medieval life in the castle

The views down to the Vianden were impressive

Vianden is a small town and you don’t need more than half a day to see it all but one place perhaps worth visiting in addition to the castle is La Maison Victor Hugo. This is where the renowned author Victor Hugo lived for a while during 1871. The house now serves as a small museum and exhibits a range of artifacts which belonged to him during his stay. Look, it’s not a great museum but I am a fan of Victor Hugo (remember the post on Montreuil sur Mer?).

Wiltz (Ardennes), Luxembourg July 2022 (Tour 6)

We crossed the border from Belgium and stopped at the first campsite we saw, Camping Kaul, which proved to be a top site and one that we would have been happy to stay at for longer but as for the town of Wiltz… forget it. We walked it all and despite having a population of 5,500+, it appeared deserted (and this at a time the town is in the middle of it’s Summer Holiday Festival – there were signs all over the town advertising the festival and we even visited the outdoor music hall to see what was going on – nothing! ). Sorry, Wiltz.

That’s the Camp Kaul swimming pool behind Vanya. The locals seemed friendly enough and one went out of his way to help guide us into town (past a quite exquisite mural).

There were very few decent photo opportunities in Wiltz but there is a story behind the lighthouse style monument in the second photo (above) which is certainly worth recounting . In August 1942, during WW2, after the German occupiers of Luxembourg introduced forced conscription of workers, some people in Wiltz went on strike and that strike quickly developed into a General Strike. The Nazis responded by executing 21 Luxembourgers and the monument, erected in 1954, pays tribute to those victims. Brave people.

And then the evening improved. As we made our way back to the campsite we happened upon a small but surprisingly noisy little bar owned by a Luxembourg-Romanian who was entertaining a few friends from the Balkans (well, the guy I first spoke to was from Montenegro and the owner of the bar subsequently confirmed that his customers come from all over the Balkans). We were made to feel most welcome and the owner charged me “mates rates” for the alcohol we drank. Yep, there’s nothing wrong with the people we met in Wiltz.