Rhine Cruise Frankfort to Koblenz (#35) (C#17)

We had a day in Frankfort that we decided to use as a break from travel to plan the next leg of our trip. We were docked outside of Frankfurt in an industrial area. Apparently, having so many stops outside of city centers was new to the cruise line.

We skipped the bus tour to get caught up for the next leg of our travels.

We started down the Rhine River valley from Frankfort on a rather hot day.

We had spectactular views of the castles along the way. This section only took a couple of ours. However, I'm sure it would be a lovely cruise in the early morning or late evening as well.

We arrived in Koblenz to have a wonderful local guide.

She had us smell the brown flowers which had a chocolate scent.

We heard the storry of the Shangal "rascal" children who were from French soldiers. Once the French left, the children were left behind with mothers who had to work. The kids ran amuck and were named Shangal. The whole town claims relations to these Schangal children and the celebrate them in a water fountain statue and on all the manhole covers in the city.

During the French period between 1794 and 1814 and continuing afterward, a large number of children who were born to French and German parents were named Jean. The popular name later morphed into the Schang per the local dialect and then into Schängel, which became a moniker for the residents of the region. The most famous Schängel is a statue of a little prankster that periodically spits on unsuspecting tourists from his fountain perch on Willi-Hörter-Platz. The base of the fountain, built in 1941, contains bas reliefs of young boys engaged in other mischief, such as smoking, fighting, and mocking their elders. An inscription identifies the mischievous Schängel as the symbol of the town, and he graces manhole covers all across the town.

After our tour we visited a local Mosel winery that could be traced to Roman times. We tasted four wines with distictive tastes and the winemaker explained the difference based on the four soil types where the were grown on the same 3-4 hills.

The boy and girl Shangal children artwork were poised on the walls overlooking our boat.

The weather and night was spectactular as we left on our last cruise night.

We enjoyed a fun-filled card game with friends as a great way to end our European Cruise adventure.

We woke to a sunrise as the boat was docked in reverse. Time to prepare more of our journey on our own.

Koblenz

Pros: Rhine River Valley Cruise, vineyard, local tour of Koblenz, home visits for coffee

Cons: Lots packed into one day

5 stars