Matt of Canada

We arrived at our guesthouse, Pension Haus Thies, which we booked on booking.com (without a credit card guarantee). After ringing the doorbell 5 times we were greeted by this crazy old man who speaks no English whatsoever.  He couldn’t even say hello. He let us inside, motioned at the breakfast room and pointed to the breakfast hours written on the door, and gave us our key and led us to our room. He never asked for ID or a credit card and I could leave tomorrow morning without paying if I wanted to. Since he speaks no English (and there are positive English reviews on booking.com) and doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing, I will assume that he is a friend of the real owner. Anyways our room is really nice and only 60 euros a night, so no complaints!

Day 5: Today is our one and only day to explore Cochem and its surroundings. We woke up and went to the breakfast buffet downstairs at the guesthouse, which consisted of bread, cheese, and some cold cuts. I had a little but my girlfriend is vegetarian so we decided to go out for breakfast instead. Our hosts seemed very concerned that we didn’t eat very much. Later we realized that we seem to be the only ones here and that we probably offended them.

Anyways, we walked along the river to the main part of the town (15 minute walk from us). Cochem is really beautiful – it looks like it is straight out of a fairy tale!

However, the internet didn’t warn me that very few people speak any English, so it’s been fun trying to fit in with the Germans (and see what non-English speakers have to deal with when they travel). The town itself is really nice and we had breakfast at Emily’s Wein Cafe where we sat outdoors in the nice square. The menu is all in German so we used some guessing and some google translate to choose what to order. The food and the atmosphere were both great, and it was only 10 euros for the two of us. After breakfast we walked around the town some more before walking back to our guesthouse.

We got in our car and drove down the Mosel to Beilstein, which is a very idyllic little town. We parked and walked around for a little before we decided to have lunch in the square. The restaurant had german-only menus but the waiter spoke English. There was also two Americans at another table, so this town seems to attract more non-Germans than Cochem does. For lunch we ordered “Hawaiian Toast” (toast with ham, cheese, and pineapple – it’s advertised everywhere in this region) and fried eggs, which were both very good. Afterwards we drove north along the Mosel and turned left towards Burg Eltz. We took a wrong turn and ended up taking the long way through some vineyards on very steep hills, which was quite scenic. Finally we arrived at the main parking lot (2 euros to park). We walked to the castle (1.3km) and took the shuttle back (2eur each). The castle was huge and really nice. We didn’t pay for a guided tour and instead walked around ourselves.

For dinner we went to Pizzeria Da Vinci in Cochem, which was very tasty and big portions. The waiter spoke English and was very friendly.

Day 6: After waking up and having a little breakfast at our guesthouse we drove to town (we walked all the previous trips) and found parking, which is only 20 cents for 30 minutes (much more expensive for longer time periods). We got some snacks at a bakery and then drove up to the castle. We didn’t get a tour but we walked around a little (most of the castle was closed) and got some nice views of the town.