my parents had a week off in february and they visited me of course, as they often do. on one of those days when i didn't have to work we headed to cochem, a small town by the river moselle. it was a rather gray day and upon our arrival we noticed that the moselle river was quite brimmed with water ( apparently it had been raining for days prior to our visit ). we climbed up to the reichsburg cochem but unfortunately it wasn't open in this season yet and so all we got was the view from up above the city down into the valley of the moselle river, which was great nonetheless. the city itself is quite nice with its winding little streets. due to the cold season, though, restaurants and shops weren't open. cochem is one of those cities that burst with life in spring and summer and sleeps in the colder months of the year.
we decided to walk around cochem and found a hiking trail that we chose to take. we ended up on the worst hiking trail i ever encountered. the trail was so narrow and steep we sometimes feared for our lives xD it was surely a trail for fearless and courageous people, and we were quite proud of ourselves to have managed this little walk safely. it made for a very interesting ending of our little trip.
there were a few buildings in cochem that had these interesting facades. i really like mosaics and tesselations so frankly i loved those facades, too! the history of cochem is depicted here,.
downtown with a view onto cochem castle.
well, you obviously couldn't walk your dogs on a leash by the river promenade anymore.
upon walking up to the castle we passed by this drinking fountain which was very steam-punk-ish.
when you are nearing the castle one thing that's striking you first is the mosaic of saint christopher. it's a modern age mosaic, though, but it's still something that stands out as castles normally don't have mosaics on the outside like that.
he's carrying little jesus.
situated on a solitary vineyard mountain the castle can be seen from many places all around the city.
i loved those snake/dragon handrails. cheeky!
on the way up.
the main gate.
better picture of the mosaic. the yellow stones were actually golden!
and finally, we had the best view over the city. i can only wonder how beautiful it must be in spring and summer, it's breathtaking.
we were a bit sad that the castle wasn't open as it was the main reason why we visited this town, but i guess that's life, huh? we didn't let this interrupt our day, though.
another ( almost identical ) vista picture.
i couldn't get enough of the handrails. eating their own tails!
the sun peeked for a few moments.
we made a little city walk after that. creepy little huts make my day shine brighter!
city square. the best things about river cities are the narrow & tight-fitting buildings. there is so little room next to the mountains that they just didn't have a different choice to build solitary houses and instead crammed one house next to the other. i adore this architecture so much.
overflown passages.
the old mustard mill.
another mosaic house!
i shot this picture from the other side of the river, in the cond quarter. it's quite a beautiful sight, those bright coloured houses, standing side by side.
underwater cat! probably hates the constant floods, that's why she holds the no sign and looks rather grim, haha. by the way, the floodings of the moselle river are not extraordinary. apparently every winter and early spring it overflows and people are actually pretty accustomed to that happening.
narrow streets. 'whatever everyone wants to wish upon me, god give them even more.'
'god protect this house from storm and fire, from bureaucracy, strategies & taxes.'
a mountain cross we didn't hike up to.
the aforementioned hiking trail we took at the end.
but the view made up for the little discomforts.
and finally the path got a little better. this was the last picture i shot that day.
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