Rothenburg odt, Bavaria by 'little car'

Monday 8th Sept - We had a last super breakfast at the hotel Gerberhaus (car boot is utterly stuffed, I'm really surprised it all went back in), we then said our goodbyes

Lovely lady from reception with Judy
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We're heading to Cochem via the Rhine valley today, it's only 200 miles, first bits all motorway so pretty boring except for the motorway madness that sometimes occurs (but at higher speed than in the UK). An accident somewhere up the road stopped all the traffic, so the fast boys raced down the hard shoulder for the exit ramp. That is till one of them finds it a bit tight and hits a lorry, what a mess, and it will take some explaining too I'd guess. We took the slip road off after our local accident and drove round.

Arrived on the East side of the Rhine and enjoyed the drive up past the castles and vineyards, Judy very impressed. Pictures taken from little cars windows haven't really turned out that well :(
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We stopped for the usual refreshments at a cafe by the ferry crossing N50.08561 E7.76514
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Then 100yds to the ferry slipway, I'm allowed the roof down for this bit :D
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After driving off the ferry it was only another mile or so and we're driving up in to the hills between the Rhine vally and the Mosel valley. The K100 road lifts us out of the Rhine valley, the A61 takes us North a bit, then the K119 drops us into the Mosel valley. Its a great drive and I'm sure I've ridden it before on the 1200RT some time.

Next stop was a little viewing point overlooking the Mosel. Car load of Americans here, bloody tourists :mad: :D
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It's quite a hairy drive down from here with lots of very tight hairpins, me and little car loved it :thumb2
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Not far to Cochem now, just a short drive down the side of the Mosel and we're there. Except, were not staying in Cochem itself, I couldn't seem to find anything that suited me here, so we're staying in Cochem-Sehl, half a mile further down N50.13847 E7.17465

Our super contemporary bedroom in the Park Hotel, quite a change from the previous two places, also the first place on the entire trip that has working WiFi in the room, WooHoo! :bow
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Judy outside the Park Hotel
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Its quite late in the afternoon so we're hot-footing it back into Cochem before the shops close

Castle overlooking Cochem
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Plenty of shops!
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The old town square, btw, nice set of chiming bells here, top left of the picture hidden in the dark woodwork, listen out for them
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And finally, something to moan about, don't bother going to the Landslkecht restaurant that overlooks the river, dry crispy over cooked schnitzel and same for the chips, beer was also tasteless and disappointing from what I'd previously enjoyed. Wife told one of the waitresses what she though of it, I don't think they're used to that :D
P.S. Just looked on Tripadvisor, poor reviews...

Anyway, we managed another race around the shops before finally walking back to the Park hotel. Judy found BBC World News on the TV and I had the pad, we're both made up!

Tomorrow we head back for the ferry home...

More tomorrow!
 
Splendid report :thumb Do love that part of the world, riding along by the Mosel brings back great memories, sure it's actually probably just as good in the MX5 :)
 
Tuesday 9th Sept

Great breakfast at the Park Hotel this morning, very modern in style and atmosphere, first toaster of the trip and outside seating if you want it. I'd certainly recommend this place, so long as you want that modern, almost corporate feel.

Park Hotel panorama, we had a room in the annex on the left, main building and outside seating in the center, little car looking very little on the right :thumb2
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Its our last leg back to Zeebrugge today for the ferry home, 238 miles, about one third of which is A roads or less. I'd really like to go straight for the ferry but I don't think Judy would be too thrilled, so we're calling in at Monschau for a short visit.

Great run in to Monschau, terrific roads.
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Parked up in Monschau easily N50.55294 E6.23880, its fairly early so loads of parking available, then walked in to town

The old town Square
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Another view
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Cafe just on the corner of the town square, this could well be the last coffee and cake :(
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Back to the car now for the last bit, 165 miles. only stopping now to pick up chocolates at the filling station just onto the E40 after leaving Brussels RO ring road N50.88105 E4.25526

Back in Zeebrugge with a good hour to spare before before boarding closes :thumb
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I'll leave it here, the crossing was fine and the food as usual, great. Judy said it's the best holiday she's ever had!! this could be a very hard act to follow... Thank for reading this to the end :)

If you want my original routes and waypoints for your own use, there here, enjoy
 
Nice report thanks for posting :beerjug: . Planning a trip to Calpe Spain next year using an A4 convertible (roof down all the way fingers crossed). SWMBO is well chuffed she thinks she can take more of everything :blast
 
Cheers guys, good luck with roof down all the way, tek yer earplugs :thumb
 
It's always nice to see what GS folk get up to when not on two wheels. I've been giving it some thought and reckon my future self will be driving a camper van when not on the bike, the reason being that it offers some degree of freedom and spontaneity but is waterproof with air conditioning. We hired one for a week and were left mightily impressed!

http://www.muppix.net/lapping-britain-in-a-vw-california/

Enjoyed that, thanks for sharing Ebbo.
 
Excellent!

The Missus has just bought one of those and she is not as keen on the bikes as she used to be.......I can see us both really enjoying a trip like that!!:clap
 
Open top car, beautiful places and cake. What's not to like.... :beerjug:
 


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