| Family Travels Mosel Valley |
| The Mosel Valley curves around the twisty and winding Mosel River. In this wine region, grapes cover the hillside for as far as the eye can see. Cute villages filled with timbered trimmed houses dot the river...but old crumbling fortresses rise high on the hilltops. We stopped in Trier without any plans and the local TI found us the bed and breakfast of our dreams... A 800 year old family winery. Breakfast was served daily in the rustic farmhouse with timbered ceiling and medieval artifacts (family heirlooms) Dinner was outside under the grape arbor with the locals who liked to visit and listen to music until midnight We spend the days sightseeing the villages, sampling the wine and exploring the castles. |
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| I remember going to this hotel that was very old. And when we were eating dinner, we couldn't read the menus. When we were done we asked the waiter what it was, and he told us it was deer. Erica said, "We're eating Bambi" Amanda, age 6 |
| The medieval decor of the breakfast room....there is also a banquet hall upstairs that is used to host medieval dinners. This is a huge local hangout. |
| Landshut Castle We climb through the vineyards to the 12th century castle |
| We start early one morning and begin our explorations of the Mosel Valley We spend all day visiting little villages like Bernkastel-Kues, Traben Trarbach, Zell and Cochem. We climb the hills to explore Landshut and Grevenburg Castles. We sample wine at the local cellars. We shop. We eat. And we take a lot of pictures |
| Traben Trarbach An 18th century fortified bridge. The girls went shopping while the boys climbed up to yet another castle |
| It was a tough choice.... shopping or climbing to the top of a mountain to see the ruins of the ancient Grevenberg castle. The girls chose shopping and Brent and I chose the castle. ----Dad |
| On our last day in the Mosel Valley, we visited Burg Eltz This is a completely furnished, perfectly preserved medieval castle....With good reason, the castle is still lived in by the family who has owned it for over 820 years. The outside will amaze you. It looks just like the way that you would think a German castle nestled in the forest should look. The inside is completely furnished with artifacts 500 years old. The only way to visit the castle is with a guided tour. |
| Zell Home of the Schwarze Katz (or Black Cat Winery) Winetasting is fun and for all ages! |
| My first trip to a real castle. I remember how excited I was to visit a piece of the Dark Ages. --Brent, age 10 Knight-Wanna-be |
| Bernkastel-Kues The town square |
| TRIER |
| Date Visited -- 2002 |
| Pension Alte Burg Franz Joseph Mertes Maximinstrass 39 Longuich, Mosel Tel 0 65 02/55 87 www.alteburg-longuich.de The TI found this wonderful little B&B in a 500 year bold winery. You may have to do some research to find it but it will be worth the effort |
| Dinner served outside under the grape arbor |
