Page 8 - GC-Jan-Feb-2025

8 • The German Citizen • January - February 2025
Our Trip to the Fatherland - Rheinland-Pfalz

By Daniel Schwarz hol), and even a Martinator Yet, there was still more to see
Editor’s note: The following is Zwickel – Helles Starkbier (strong and experience on our trip.
a continuation of a travel article by beer, with 18.5% alcohol!). We In Rüdesheim am Rhein, we
Mr. Schwarz which began in the didn’t let our bus driver taste any of visited the Siegfrieds Mechanis-
November-December German Citi- these! ches Musikkabinett, claimed to be
zen. We have repeated the introduc- In Koblenz on the Rhine, our one of the largest collections in the
tion to provide context for the ship docked near the Seilbahn (ca- world of self-playing musical in-
story. ble car ride) station. Naturally we struments on display with some full
he title of this article is liter- could not resist taking the fantastic playing demonstrations. After this
Tally true, since my father 16-person cable car round-trip ride visit, we naturally needed to try one
Berthold Schwarz emigrated from from there to cross the Rhine to the of the most famous coffee drinks of
this southwestern area of Germany Festung Ehrenbreitstein (fort) on all of Germany, the Rüdesheimer
to the US as a young man in the the other side, as you can see in the Kaffee. It is prepared at your table,
1920s. Our trip was on a scenic photo. From the cable car return where the generous amount of the Rüdesheimer coffee.
river cruise aboard the S.S. Victo- ride, we were able to get a bird’s local Ashbach Uralt Brandy is
ria, a beautiful UNIWORLD ship. eye view of the famous Deutsches poured on top of a few sugar cubes Mannheim for a bus ride for a tour
My wife Louise and I were 2 of the Eck. This is perhaps the most fa- in a special shaped coffee mug, of the spa town Baden-Baden, with
110 passengers and 40 crew. This Bernkastel. mous sight of all Germany, a then hot coffee added, and topped its famous thermal baths, and the
9-day cruise was called “Magnifi- unique promontory memorial park, with nicely formed whipped cream Spielbank (casino). So much to see
cent Moselle & Rhine” where the see in the photo. I even bought a where the Moselle River joins the and chocolate shavings. It was fun and do, yet with this cruise there
cruise sailed from Mainz am Rhein, souvenir hat pin showing one of Rhine River. There sits the large, to see it being made and was a very were always opportunities and
the capital city of the German state these buildings for my German monumental statue of Kaiser Wil- tasty and comforting drink. choices to just sit back and enjoy
of Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland- Trachten type of hat. The Moselle helm I on horseback facing the tip The remaining trip included the ride. As UNIWORLD adver-
Palatinate in English), along the valley is best known for their Ries- of this land projection, commemo- the historical City of Speyer, its tises, it is a Boutique River Cruise,
Rhine River and on the Moselle ling wines, ranging from Trocken rating the 1871 unification of beautiful RC Speyer Cathedral and they certainly gave us many
River. (dry) to süss (sweet), which we Germany. listed as a UNESCO World Her- memorable cultural experiences
The itinerary included stops in tried here as well as aboard our itage Centre. Then off to Karlsruhe/ and great service.
Cochem; the historic city of Trier ship. Almost all the meals for this
and an optional bus to Luxem- cruise were on the ship and were
bourg; with full-day stops at culinary experiences of superb va-
Bernkastel; Boppard/Koblenz; riety incorporating local special-
Rüdesheim; Speyer; Karlsruhe/ ties, exquisite taste, artistic presen-
Mannheim and bus to Baden- tations, and exceptionally great
Baden. The cruise ended in Frank- service.
furt am Main, where our flight orig- Another highlight of the trip
inally arrived from our Toronto, was reaching the City of Koblenz,
Canada international airport, that is on the banks of the Rhine and the
most convenient for us from our Moselle. There we took an excur-
Buffalo, NY home. sion to the LahnSteiner brewery for
beer tasting. We tried and enjoyed
ur next stop was in beauti- so many different types of their
Oful Bernkastel, where we craft beers, including: Helles Bier,
enjoyed a wine-tasting excursion. Rauchbier (smokey beer, 12% al-
After this we strolled through the cohol), and perhaps one of the most
maze of cobblestoned walkways popular for locals is their Zwickel
and enjoyed seeing the many Naturtrübes Vollbier (unfiltered
wood-framed buildings, as you can full bodied natural beer, 4.9% alco- Cable car at Koblenz.