Germany

Day 2 - Monday 13 Sept
After a typical huge European breakfast we headed out of Hague in very busy traffic.  We passed the out skirts of the commercial cities Utrecht and Arnheim where war battles happened, pushing the troops back into German territory.

Our next stop was at Cologne where we stopped to view the amazing 600+ year old Kohl Cathedral.  It was built in the Gothic era and parts are still black from the bombings and fires during the war.  The Cathedral should be white and is currently undertaking a huge clean-up project to restore it to its original state.  We were luck to be able to enter the cathedral and see the beautiful architecture and stained glass windows.

Simon was rather anxious to get moving as a permit is necessary to visit may places in Europe and there were wardens checking the tourist buses but we all boarded quickly and back on the main highway heading down the western side of Germany.  After awhile we went off the highway and drove along the 16th century 'Romantic Drive' in the dark Black Forest.  the roads were extremely narrow through this area and at one point the driver got in an awkward situation with traffic trying to get through, coming from the opposite direction. But Eric, our driver, did extremely well and the traffic managed to squeeze past our enormous bus.

The Black Forest follows along the Rhine River which begins in the Rheinwaldrorn in the Swiss Alps and flows 1320 kms north through Germany, finishing in the Netherlands.  The mouth of the Rhine River is close to Rotterdam, Netherlands leading commercial port.  The Black Forest is known as the 'forest of out-laws, unpaid soldiers and dangerous animals.  It is the setting a many well known stories such as 'Robin Hood & William Tell'.

We arrived at the lovely riverside resort Boppard where we boarded a boat for a cruise down the River Rhine.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful with 16 & 17th century houses and castles, which were built high on the hillsides to protect the villages, scattered all the way down our journey.  The train tunnel entrances were built like buildings in hopes that it would protect them from being bombed.

Our Rhine (Alphine) River Cruise finished in St Goar, named after an Irish Saint or Monk.  We continued a little further along the Romantic Drive, stopping to view at a 10th century castle overlooking a 16th century castle which is now also a 5* hotel on the banks of the Rhine. It was designed by a person called Engelsburg.

We then continued driving up the Romantic Drive before returning to the main Highway and arriving in the German city of Mannheim.  This city is very clean, planned and rebuilt after the war.  The streets are named by letters and numbers, which was a little confusing.  We checked into the Mecure Hotel , had a lovely meal sitting with the South African couple and a young Australian couple.  After dinner we went for a walk around the central part of Mannheim before crashing out after another long, busy day.