Destination 5 – Koblenz and Westerburg, Germany
Where? Schangel Apartment at Ferienwohnung Koblenz Alstadt and Julia and Kai’s place in Westerburg
When? Thursday 4 June – Monday 8 June
Official language? German
Interesting facts I’ve learnt about Koblenz:
- This charming city is 2013 years young, making it one of Germany’s oldest towns!
- The name ‘Koblenz’ originates from the Latin word ‘confluentes’ meaning ‘at the merging of rivers’.
- Koblenz is located where the Rhine and Moselle rivers meet. The point where the rivers merge is known as ‘Deutsches Eck’ or ‘German Corner’.
- There are just over 100,000 people living in Koblenz, a little less than Munich’s 1.3 million!
- Koblenz is a well-known wine making region, particularly for dry white wine. Vineyards here can be seen from the rivers, somehow gripping hold of the steep downward slopping hills above.
Deutsches Eck (German Corner)
Sloping vineyards on the Moselle River
A snapshot of thoughts and insights I have gained over the past few days in Koblenz:
- I feel that I know and appreciate this city and the surrounding towns better than any others we’ve seen so far because we have been lucky enough to have two local expert guides, our friends Julia and Kai!
- Koblenz is home to some seriously yummy fresh sushi. Again, a place with no nearby ocean somehow surprises us!
- While it’s nice to explore a new city by foot, as we have done in each place we’ve visited, it’s such a treat to see a bit further afield in a car! Julia and Kai have driven us out to spots we would have never otherwise seen.
- We bought vitamins here (trying to keep the immune systems strong!) for 45 Euro cents! To think what we pay in Aus for vitamins!
- Sparkling water, in Koblenz, and in most cities we have been to so far in Switzerland and Germany, is almost more normal than ‘natural’ water and nearly just as cheap in bottle form. In fact, it’s considered rude to request tap water at a restaurant. It’s just assumed you will have sparkling water.
- John and I want to bring the café franchise, ‘Vapiano’ to Perth! The chefs make your pasta, just as you want it, right in front of you. Nothing beats the smell of garlic and onion sizzling in the pan!
Traveling to Koblenz, I was a mixed bag of nerves and excitement. Not only were John and I here to take in the sights, but we were also meeting up with Julia and Kai, people we’d never actually met before! Saying that, Julia and I have sent each other emails for 4 odd years, as two people that work in partner universities, me at Curtin in Australia and Julia at WHU in Germany. What began as emails about students somehow became emails about our families, friends, travel wish lists, ambitions and the highs and lows of everyday life. Over the years we have evolved from co-workers to great friends, all via email! Thank you modern technology. We know more about each other than some of our friends, living in the same country, know about us!
So when planning our trip, I couldn’t help but include Koblenz so Julia and I could meet at long last! There’s a bit of pressure meeting up though. It’s almost like a first date! Will I be what she expects? Will I act, talk and look like the Sam she imagined me to be?
Our time in Koblenz begins with a bit of a stumbling block. We arrive at the front of our apartment in the early evening only to realise that both access doors are locked. We ring the buzzers – no answer. Here we are, standing out the front of a building with our suitcases, in a new city, not knowing any German beyond the bare basics, feeling pretty hopeless! We try the numbers that I have printed out on the booking confirmation. Not available. Oh ohhh. It’s a public holiday here too so maybe the owners are out of town?
My usual, happy to go-with-the-flow self, starts to panic. Well, my brain is wrestling with a few mixed thoughts. It’s horrible to feel stranded but it’s also part and parcel of the travel experience. It’s an adventure. Not everything is going to go to plan all the time. I tell myself that this is just a hiccup and one that will make for a good story down the track. Before my imagination runs away with me, a young girl cycles passed us and presses the buzzer. We find out she’s the friend of the apartment owner’s daughter! Hooray! After explaining the situation to the owner’s daughter, Stephanie, she rushes off to get the apartment keys for us and lets us in. Phewff!
Inside our Koblenz apartment
The next day, it’s time to meet Julia and her boyfriend, Kai. Julia is working but Kai has managed to get the day off kindly offering to show us around until Julia can join us in the afternoon. We meet Kai in front of the Florinsmarkt (St Florin’s Market), just a 2 minute walk away from our apartment. We couldn’t get a better tour guide! We walk to the Deutsches Eck (German Corner), see the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal (Emperor William I) monument and take the cable car up to see the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.
Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal (Emperor William I) monument
Cable car to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress – One of many incredible photos taken by Kai
It’s a hot day, getting up to 38 degrees, so we take a break from the sightseeing for some lunch! We eat at Vapiano’s, the most amazing Italian café. I choose a pasta and have it prepared and cooked right in front of me! Kai tells us it’s a franchise that is dotted all over Germany. John and I joke that we should bring it to Perth. I can imagine it would do brilliantly. It has a really fresh, natural feel about it. There’s cute little mushroom lamps and pots of herbs on each table that give it a garden feel.
After an amazing lunch, we meet up with Julia to explore some more of Koblenz. Julia looks just as I expected. She has a warm friendly smile and is wearing a dress that I would absolutely love to own! I find out that she loves H&M. Yes, we are going to be friends for life.
We all walk along the river together and then head into the centre to find the Schangelbrunnen, a fountain of a little cheeky boy ‘Schangel’ that spits water every so often. Thankfully, Julia and Kai are kind to us and don’t put us in the firing line! The fountain is representative of the children that were born to French soldiers and local German women in WWII.
I know, as an Aussie, I’m meant to be used to the heat but it definitely takes me by surprise! At this point in the afternoon my face is beetroot red! So we decide it’s time for ice-cream! Raspberry and lemon sorbet for me. It goes down a treat as we take a seat on some nearby steps watching the world go by.
After a peaceful walk around a monastery and garden centre that Julia has been visiting since she was young and a tour around WHU uni campus where Julia works, we head back into Koblenz city centre for dinner. Nestled in a little nook of town is this amazing little sushi place. John and I would never have discovered this on our own! I’m so grateful to be eating something fresh and healthy actually. There’s only so much sausage and schnitzel you can eat!
The beautiful garden centre and monastery
We kick off the next day by visiting Marksburg Castle, the only castle in the Middle Rhine Valley region that hasn’t been destroyed. The English tour doesn’t start for a while so we choose to join the German tour and Julia kindly translates everything into English for us. How cool it would be to know another language! She also speaks French fluently! A little scruffy dog joins the tour with us. Dogs are just everywhere in Europe. I saw one sticking its head out of the change room in H&M the other day!
We walk through the castle seeing the cellar, the gardens, the kitchen, dining room, torture chamber (we hear some pretty horrific stories of what went on there!) and a bedroom. The four poster bed is quite small and the mattress is tilted up so that, whoever slept there, could sleep slightly upright. The reason being? Apparently lying flat was only for the dead!
Marksburg Castle
Later that day, after lunch at a cosy traditional German restaurant, we drive to Julia and Kai’s place in a small town called ‘Westerburg’ which translates to ‘western castle’. They live in a big top floor apartment that has a beautiful view out to giant bushy pine trees.
For some afternoon tea (we’re continuously eating!) we head to a local café for Belgian waffles. The café actually reminds me of the old Rose Heritage Café that’s up in the hills. Bursting with warmth and character.
So we don’t feel like complete sloths, we decide to take a walk through a forest called the ‘Holzbachschlucht’ which is just next to the café. The region we’re in is called ‘Westerwald’ or ‘western woods’ – how appropriate. This walk turns out to be one of my favourite experiences of the trip.
On our travels so far we’ve seen lots of cities and you become accustom to the hustle and bustle, the constant noise and the fast pace of inner city life. Walking through this forest, with trees towering above us with their lime green leaves swaying in the light breeze, I feel more relaxed than ever. The sounds of trains and horns and ticking pedestrian crossings are replaced with the peaceful sounds of trickling water, chirping birds and the crunching of dirt under our feet. How’s the serenity! We chat away as we’re walking along on the winding paths and over the bridges about all sorts of things. I discover big orange slugs called ‘naked snails’ that roll up into balls when they’re frightened!
Walking around the Wiedensee Lake having a laugh at the sheep and goats loudly ‘mehhing’!
That night we tuck into some homemade pizzas cooked on Kai’s new pizza stone and sip on local beer and wine while watching the Champions League final. We introduce Julia and Kai to Chet Faker and laugh when Julia says, so it’s ‘Chad Fucker?’ They introduce us to Gregory Porter, a jazz singer who has such a heavenly sounding voice. One to remember.
From easy listening jazz, we take it up a notch and start watching live footage from a local rock concert that’s taking place not too far away. We all sing along to a song called ‘Arbeit Nervt’ which means ‘work sucks’! At 2am, with John starting to snooze on the couch, Julia convinces Kai and I (excitable night owls that come alive at night!), that we need to head to bed!
We wake to a yummy German breakfast of soft-inside, crunchy-outside bread rolls with Nutella and an assortment of jams and real peppermint tea. We stroll around the local market and then drive to ‘Cochem’, a town on the Moselle River. The town is alive with a summer’s day fair. There’s a jazz band, lots of food stalls, laneways full of merry people taking happy snaps and enjoying ice-cream.
We finish off our time in Koblenz by sitting down to another tasty sushi dinner. This time, all-you-can-eat (always dangerous!) at a little family-owned spot. Stuffed with sushi, we each open a fortune cookie. After an amazing few days with the lovely Julia and Kai, my cookie message appropriately reads ‘You are guarded with love and friendship’. How sweet. John’s says ‘After a slow beginning you will be very wealthy’! Haha totally unrelated but nonetheless, here’s hoping that fortune comes true!
Koblenz and the surrounding Rhine region were made to feel like a home away from home because we were so warmly welcomed by Julia and Kai. We started our stay practically as strangers and now we’re the closest of friends. We can’t wait to welcome them to Aus next year! Don’t worry, we’ve already warned them about the drop bears.
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