Cochem - Burg Eltz

Friday 24 May

We got up nice and early for breakfast in order to get to Burg Eltz today.  The castle is a 90 minute walk from Moselkern station.  Fortune favours the brave – we had a sunny morning, but how long it would last was anyone’s guess.  Despite the sunshine, it was still very cold.  We caught a train around 9.30am, and 15 minutes later we were in Moselkern.  And it was still sunny!  Half an hour’s walking took us to the end of the village and the beginning of the forest walk to the Burg.

It took an hour through the forest as the track was wet, muddy and slippery.  Caelli has to be particularly careful with her footing.  Lots of birds calling; virtually nothing moving.  Our first view of Burg Eltz through the forest.

Then the many, many steps to get up to the castle.  It’s a fantastic looking place.  Can you spot Phil and Caelli looking over the wall in the second photo?

First things first – food.  Hot chocolates and chips later, we felt better.

We went into the castle courtyard to wait for a tour.

The tour through the castle was unexpectedly in English.  Another place that didn’t allow photos, however.  This castle has been lived in continuously since the 1400s and is still lived in now, so only a small part of the castle is open to the public.  There was also a treasury to look through, and photos were allowed here.

We had some more food before we left for the long walk back to the station, and Phil walked up the road for a more distant photo of Burg Eltz.  I’m in the pic somewhere!

Trains leave Moselkern for Cochem once an hour, and we were lucky enough to fluke a two minute wait!  We arrived back in Cochem with half an hour until the final falconry show at Reichsburg.  A 10 minute walk from the train station to the bus station to catch the bus to the castle, and we made it in time for the show.  There was still a bit of sunshine!

All the information during the falconry show was in German, unfortunately.  The girl flew three birds: a Barn Owl, a Black Kite and a Harris Hawk, which is a North American species.  The Harris Hawk was very friendly.

Caelli took the bus back down to the city centre and Phil and I walked, stopping for a photo of the city walls on the way.

Off to the internet cafe to post yesterday’s blog (and eat some more German cake, this one raspberry).  It started raining pretty heavily while we were on the internet.  At least the rain held off on our long walks through the forest.  And it was nice to see Cochem in sunshine, too.