Touring in Germany

In 1998 I had a few days free between two business trips to Germany.  So I took my bike and cycled from Rudesheim on the Rhine (fairly near to Frankfurt), up to Koblenz (Coblenz), then by train to Trier, cycling up river into Luxemburg (by about half a mile!!) - train back to Trier (to avoid some awful weather) then cycle down the length of the Mosel back to Koblenz.

I finished the short holiday by visiting friends in Düsseldorf - a city I know well as I lived there for 4 years.

Here are just a few pictures of the trip.

A statue to Bluecher in a village just north of Rudesheim.  He is the guy who arrived with his Prussian army just in time to finish off Napoleon and the French at the Battle of Waterloo.  The British claim the British under Wellington won the battle, the Germans say the Prussians under Bluecher did.  The truth is somewhere between - the Brits didn't loose all day and the Prussians arrived very late in the day to finish the French off.

The Porta Negra (Black Gate) at Trier - a Roman gate to the city still well preserved.

The Mosel

A view over the Mosel valley

Somewhere on the Mosel - sorry, record keeping failed here!

The Mosel is one of Germany's best wine growing areas.  Boy do these guys know how to celebrate the gathering of the harvest.  

View across the Rhine at Düsseldorf showing the massive Rhine barges and Oberkassel - a very good address - on the far bank.

The Rhine river bank at Düsseldorf.  The Roterturm (Red Tower) can be seen in the centre of the picture (the octagonal building) - one of the oldest buildings in Düsseldorf from where barge traffic on the Rhine was controlled. (Note: Düsseldorf was 95% destroyed by British and American bombing during WW2 - so there are not many 'old' buildings).