Birthday on the Mosel – Wednesday 10 July

Birthday on the Mosel – Wednesday 10 July

We were lucky to reach the beautiful Mosel river in time to celebrate Kris’s birthday. We have toured through the Mosel river valley before, in 2015, and always vowed to return. This was Esther’s first visit and we enjoyed sharing it with her.

The day’s ride was just 55 km to Treis-Karen, the weather was sunny and we took a very relaxed pace. The first stretch was really easy – down the big hill we had climbed the night before and then into Koblenz, where we had a look around.

A highlight of Koblenz is the Deutsches Eck (German corner). This is the confluence of the Rhine and the Mosel rivers. There is a huge statue and paved promenade, a cable car and a castle on the other side of the Rhine. A busker was playing the accordion as we enjoyed the scenery while riding around in circles on our bikes.

The rest of the ride along the Mosel was idylic, as can be seen from the pictures below. The Mosel has the steepest vineyards in the world and is also dotted with castles and ruins. I tried to take a picture of each one.

It became quite hot and we noticed a trend among male cyclists, namely cycling topless. Kris threw caution to the winds and followed their example – although he kept his helmet on!

Bike path, steep vines, high bridge
Thurant castle above Alken
Another castle

Treis-Karden (our destination) is a neat small town on the river. Our accommodation was in a Pension right on the central square – above a bakery. Our rooms had a shared balcony looking out on the square.

We had a walk around town and a beer at the beer garden down by the river. We decided to eat at Oscar’s burger cafe – next door to our Pension and owned by the same people. Here we also enjoyed some Riesling from the nearby Otto Knaup Vineyard. The burgers were special and the Riesling was wonderful.

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