Dragons in Worms

Berlin has its bears and Hamburg has Hans Hummel. Worms has it dragons. There are dozens of dragons around town. They are all painted differently. Here is one in the pedestrian zone. A dragon is one of the key players in the Niebelungen story that is partially set in Worms. I even noticed an item on a menu called "Siegfried's Bloodbath". The hero Siegfried bathes in the blood of a dragon and becomes invincible. Except where a leaf falls on his back. It doesn't end well.

First Day of School

This is a statue that Mrs D and I saw when we walked up a block from the river in Boppard. Mrs D didn't understand it. It's a mother or grandmother giving a package in the shape of a cone to the small child. It's a Schultuete. Parents or Grandparents present this to a child on the first day of school. It contains sweets (becoming less and less popular), toys and school supplies. It takes the edge off of a very stressful day. Someone even added real candy to the Oma's right hand.

Road Trip from Koblenz to Bingen

On Monday we got started after noon again. We took the autobahn up to Koblenz. It's the location of the confluence of the Mosel and Rhein rivers. There is a park and monument at the Deutsches Eck or the German Corner. We walked around and had a pop and coffee.

The first picture is a view from the Deutsches Eck toward the old part of Koblenz. Note all the river cruise boats. There were many additional docking stations.

The second picture is Mr & Mrs D at a cafe in Boppard. It was time for them to eat but there wasn't much open. We had a very nice open face sandwich with cheese, salami and ham that was similar to prosciutto but very smoky. The bread was wonderful. It was dark and probably rye. We had a great view of the river and all the traffic. The Rhein flows a lot faster in the valley than upstream at Worms where it's wider.

Here's the view we had of the local ferry. There are no bridges between Koblenz and Bingen. There are only two or three ferries that run.

I didn't get a get a picture of them but we were amazed by the vineyards going up the steep sides of the valley. Machines are out the question and Mrs D was even questioning the safety of the workers. I think if you fell you would get caught in the vines so you wouldn't go all the way down to the river.

Here's a picture of the famous Loreley. This is the narrowest spot on the Rhein between Switzerland and the North Sea. It's has been the scene of many wrecks. The myth is that there is a beautiful maiden who distracts the sailors with her beautiful song. It mostly ends badly.

Sorry for the bad spelling. The spell checker is looking for German so it all comes up as a problem.