Today was the day – the best sailing day of our trip. We are going to be cruising through the Rhine Gorge, a Unesco Heritage Site. It is a seventeen kilometre canyon that was carved by the Rhine River. We learned last night that we would start sailing around 8:30am. Therefore Nana and I went for breakfast just before 8:00am. Once we finished, Nana went back to the cabin while I headed to the Sun Deck.
We were so lucky to be blessed with perfect weather – sunshine, blue skies and no rain. The next four hours was spent leisurely sailing down the Rhine River. Using the QVtoGO app, we were able to get details on what we were seeing. We sat back, relaxed and admired the breathtaking views. From the steep cliffs to the small towns to the endless castles, it was picturesque.
After winding our way, we arrived in Koblenz, Germany just before 12;30pm. We were fortunate enough to see how the Captain parks the ship when there is another already there. I have trouble parallel parking but the Captain made this look easy. We headed down for lunch to enjoy a proper German feast from sausage to sauerkraut to potatoes and pretzels. Once we got fuelled up, it was off to explore Koblenz on our own instead of with the walking tour we were originally going to do. This was the first stop on the cruise where we did not need transportation to get to the town.
Karen, Nana and I slowly made our way into Koblenz. We stopped at Basilica of St. Castor before making our way to Schangelplatz, a square in the heart of Koblenz. Just outside of the square, we found Schangel Fountain which is a bronze statue of a boy blowing water.
We managed to find a mall and did some shopping. One store that we all found interesting was the local dollar store called Tedi. Just like Dollarama, they had everything. By this point, Nana was feeling tired so I took her back to the ship.
It was only 3:00pm so I went back out and met up with Karen and Marie to do more exploring and shopping. Around 5:00pm, I decided to head back to the ship and enjoy a beverage and some snacks in the Lounge.
At around 5:45pm, I get a message from Karen asking if Nana and I wanted to do the Koblenz Cable Car. Since it was only a five minute walk from the ship, we said yes. After purchasing our tickets (14.90 Euros / adult, 14.00 Euros / senior), we hopped into a gondola. The ride up to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress was just under five minutes and we were treated to a stunning panorama view of Koblenz and the Rhine River. We did not stay too long up there since it was getting dark.
Dinner was not scheduled until 7:30pm and we were all tired. Karen and Marie came up with the brilliant idea to order room service. We called the butler and a short while later, our delicious dinner was delivered. It was a relaxing way to finish up our day.
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