Ripping up the Rhine Valley

We left Amsterdam on a cloud covered, rainy morning. The spanish inquisition had been replaced by a group of friendly stoner Frenchies, who had passed out the night before and didn't move when we left.

The train ride took us across the green plains of the Netherlands towards the forested hills of West Germany. We left the fog and the rain in Holland, and were hit hard with the hot, humid climate of Koblenz. After trying to be the innocent, naive English speaking tourists trying to make it to their accomodations, and getting only hostility from the very local, very German-only speaking people of Koblenz, we pulled out the trusty Let's Go Europe travel guide and made our way to the Jugendherberge at the Festung Ehrenbretstein... or Fortress Hostel.

I have been reading Jack Kerouac's On the Road during our travels, and have decided that although Jack's On the Road was not in Europe, Neil and I are also looking for our very own Dean Moriarty. We found him in Koblenz. Felix was on a work term from Dusseldorf and was the first English speaking person we had run into since leaving Holland. (everything is in German here, I mean no translations, this friggin key board is German, why do I want this ö, or this ä...) Felix had spent a year in the states on an exchange program for school. He was just one of many interesting passers-through that stayed in the 12 bed dorm in the Fortress.

After hours of exploring this huge medieval strong hold on top of the hill that over looked Koblenz, we made our way to the Altstadt (old town, look at me, using German words), that fell between the Rhine and the Mosel. We wandered the streets and took in the old churches and town houses. Unfortunately the highlight of the daz was digging into a couple of Bratwurst (do not miss out on these bad boys).

From Koblenz we ventured south along the western side of the Rhine (if you take the train on the Eastern side, you get to Mainz faster, but you miss the entire "oh there's a Castle, and oh there's another one, and ooo another..." Aside from the great sites and amazing landscape that makes up the Rhine's picturesq back drop, we got to ride the train with a group of german high school kids doing sing-along to Limp Bizkit, Sum 41, and the Offspring; they were quite good.

Mainz has been similar to Koblenz with an Old Town, that we explored extensively (this means they had narrower streets and we got lost more often), but it is definitely a different Rhine city.

This trip through the Rhine has been very relaxing. Neil and I have decided that the landscape is similar to an interior BC with the humidity of southern Ontario (30 degrees today, I'm not built for this, but comparing it to snow in Calgary... okay I won't go there). Training it through the area has been a great way to see a completely unique region.

Eating... eating?, no worries mom, we have been eating... sort of. Our routine has been to have 2 meals, with a mid day snack. This has heavily relied on the Included breakfast at the hostels and hotels (buffets, I mean Neil and I really take care of business here, and we're pretty much good until dinner... this is also why it has been good to only stay at each place for a couple of days, they start to recognize us as 'those guys' who eat Everything!)

Next stop is Berlin. We will leave the comfort and privacy of the Hotel scene, and return to the dorms. Will we meet the next Dean Moriarty? I'm sure. Will we repeat the Hostel (the movie) experience? If I post again we are still around.

We may have also made a movie in the dark tunnels of the Fortress in Koblenz, but that's Neil's scene.

Oh and also, the Spanish Inquisition have new competition, as Koblenz introduced us to the crazy-old-German-who-does-what-ever-the-f&%k-he-wants. The guy would actually just bang the door of his locker for up to 3 minutes (3 minutes is a long time to listen to a crazy German bang a locker door)... oh and this letter ß, this has been fun.