Magic of the Rivers – Mosel, Rhine and Lahn

Rhens main center with the Town Hall on the extreme right.

We left the Mosel ( Moselle) region and moved to the Rhineland side of the river.  Our place of choice was Rhens, which is 10 minutes by bus from Koblenz.   When we made the decision to book our apartment in Rhens, we had no idea of what the town would be like.   We booked the apartment almost 8 months in advance.  We took the train from Cochem, had to change the train in Koblenz and arrived in Rhens train station as planned.  Only two other people got off at Rhens with us and before we could check where the exit was they disappeared.  The main building of the train station was closed.  Almost all small stations are not economical to run and hence Deutsche Bahn has no staffing in these stations.  You can purchase your tickets at an automatic ticket machine.  There is no information window to check where to go.  So, we dragged our bags went around one end of the station and asked a young lady sitting on a bench for directions.  She told us to go up the road and turn left and keep going till we see number 13.  With her directions, we dragged our small carry on bags and arrived at No 13. Happy to see a name we recognized on the door bell we push the button.  A tall man answered the door and said he was waiting for us.  He introduced himself as the owner of the apartment and showed us in.  He was very friendly and with a lot of enthusiasm showed us how the various items work in the apartment. Our next agenda item is always to find the nearest grocery store so that we can stock up the fridge and get all the necessary items like milk, tea etc and not have to wake up early on the first morning to run to get it. We were told how to get to the 3 supermarkets in town. They were about 500 meters from the apartment. Very handy and easy to find.  Once our grocery items were home we settle down for the evening.

We had researched before we arrived in Rhens that we would have to buy the VRM 3 day mini group tickets to travel around and see the region. The VRM 3 day ticket for 2 people costs euro 43.50, and you have to use it in 3 consecutive days.  The area map gives you the train lines and bus lines that can be used and the stations it covers.   Almost all  who come to this region see the main towns on the Rhine i.e. Boppard, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Mainz etc.  We touched most of these places briefly and they were all picture postcard perfect with tourists and large boats bringing in floating hotels for more people to enjoy the locale.

Let me tell you a bit about Rhens. A small town population of 2800.  3 supermarkets. No gas station. 2 hairdressers. 1 information office (open only half a day). 2 fast food Donor Kabap and Pizza joints.  2 Pubs. We came across 2 restaurants. Roter Ochse and Rathousechenke (half chicken only restaurant).  Now you will laugh at the second, but it's true. The place only serves half a chicken with bread and nothing else by way of food. Not my kind of place as I am a vegetarian. But the locals love it and it's busy every evening.

As for the Roter Ochse, it is historical, http://www.roter-ochse.de/restaurant/ .  Opened in 1935 by Herr Rudolf Kochhaeuser, succeeded by his son and currently run by  the grandson Herr Werner Kochhaueu.  The owner told us that his father (Herr Horst Kochhaeuser) hunts and he cooks the game and serves it in his restaurant.  So it could be Wild boar or Venison because that is what his father hunts. People in Rhens are of an older school of thought.  We went to dinner and Der Werner made a special dish for me, and Hemant had a feast of a variety of meats from wild boar to venison.  Visiting this restaurant gave us a different experience with very personal service.

It's been rather unfortunate that the few businesses that were here have had to close down. The culprit is the closeness of Koblenz and the locals patronizing the businesses there.  Also they seem to have a resisstance to change of any sort.   One main street runs through the town.  There is an old city wall that dates back to 1700 and the old town has been declared a UNESCO heritage site. There is still a partial old wall that stands around the old city.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Limburg was actually not on our itinerary for a visit.  But on the last day we decided to make the trip, and we were very happy to have come here.  The St. Georges Cathedral or Limburger Dom as they called it in Germany sits on top of a hill and is visible from far away.  The Limberger Schloss is behind the Cathedral.  The preserved wall is seen from its courtyard.  In the old town, narrow streets have well-preserved partial timber buildings. Some tilting so much that it's a wonder that they are still standing. 4. Remagen

We crossed over in a ferry from Erpel after our visit to Linze.  A 5-minute ferry trip took us to the west bank of the Rhine to Remagen. Remagen has a long promenade along the Rhine, and is steeped in WWII history as the Remagen bridge was an important crossing for the allied forces.  Several attempts were made by the Germans to destroy the bridge.  Several attemps by the Germans to blow up the bridge had failed and the allies captured it and were able to move men and equipment across the Rhine.  However, the weakend bridge did not survive for long and ultimately collapsed, resulting in the death of 6 american soilders.  The two towers on either side of the Rhine still stand as a memory of the advance that was made during WWII.  The tower on the Remagen side is now a peace museum with the complete history of what happened there during the war.  Remagen was also home to 250,000 German prisoners at the end of the war.