Happily, we both finished today free of the injury concerns that brought a premature end to yesterday's walk.
This morning's walk was a pure joy, along the grassy banks of the Rhine, away from roads and train-lines. We romped along, pausing to admire buildings such as the one below, completing the 12 Km into the middle of Koblenz by midday.
This building dates from 1566 and was extended in 1717. Although it is a particularly good example of its type, this sort of building is a common sight in every town and village that we pass through. Some villages seem to have almost more of these types of buildings than modern structures.
I am fascinated that they are so well maintained and used as homes and offices, rather than preserved as historic monuments. I am also fascinated by seeing so much structure on show. To be frank, I don't know whether some buildings such as the Gasthof where we stayed last night, below, are originals or “reproductions” but somehow it doesn't matter. There is something nice about not roping off history but having a continuous line of use into the present - living buildings rather than fossils.
Unfortunately, our camera battery went flat, so I didn't manage to capture any of Koblenz's magnificent mansions along the rivers Rhine and Mosel that usher you gently into the city, from the south. I did, however take a picture of a particularly fine Burgs (or castles) just up from where we stayed. This one dates from the 13-15th Century and is the only hilltop Castle on the Rhine to have never been destroyed. One sees similar Burgs at regular intervals, at strategic positions, all along the Rhine – it's easy to see where Walt Disney got a lot of his inspiration for his fairytale castles.
But then for me, after Koblenz, at least for the time being, the character of the Rhine changed. The high hills, with their vineyards and forests, way above the river, gave way to less grand and less rugged proportions, with industry beginning to replace the resorts and wine merchants.
We lingered in the middle of Koblenz, debating whether to take a short train ride north, to try to skip the industry and the largely characterless towns that run into each other. In the end we decided that we would walk rather than ride, our only concession being a short bus ride to the outside of Koblenz, to avoid the pavement slogging that we both find so dispiriting.
As it turned out, most of the afternoon was pavement slogging but in slightly smaller places than Koblenz, Nonetheless, we walked almost to the point where we would have gotten off of the train, had we succumbed to the siren voices trying to tempt us away from our chosen mode of transport.
And we were pleased with ourselves that we did it. The integrity of our journey, in that we walk not ride, has become very important to us. I will, however, always reserve the right to ride rather than walk across big cities because to do otherwise is so depressing. But anyway, it should not be a problem again until Aachen.
Tomorrow, we will try to continue to pursue our journey along the Rhine, hoping that the industry does not push us too far from its reassuring banks. I have no problem with the industry as such – we are reminded constantly that this is a working river. Huge cargo barges pass each other like cars on a busy street. It will be interesting to see whether industry replaces holiday resorts for the remainder of our friendship with the Rhine, up to Bonn, but I suspect that this river is so big that trees will always be the predominant architectural feature – I'll let you know.
Today's musical choice: Bruce Springsteen's “The River”.
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