Cruising the Moselle: from Luxembourg to Cochem

You have no idea how gorgeous the Moselle River is: lined with steep-slope Riesling vineyards as it curves through gorges, winding past cliff top castles and picturesque villages. Although cruises are offered along the Moselle, those on the Rhine are more publicized. You are missing something special if you just go with the flow. If you have your own boat, don’t miss this river. The Moselle takes you to the Rhine so you can enjoy both. I will share our experience in our own boat, a 12 meter steel Dutch built boat.

Below: see our route

We shared the river with few pleasure craft in late June to mid-July. Mostly we encountered huge commercial barges and cruise ships. The Moselle has plenty of depth and width so we had no problems with these ships, and with just one exception we were able to moor without getting pounded by the wash. Furthermore we never felt at risk from vandals nor thieves. Finding moorings sometimes took quite a while – this was our biggest problem. Most moorings are for the day cruise ships but most docks are unmarked.

In the German portion of the Moselle there are two types of cruise ships plying these waters. One is the hotel ship, up to 110 meters/325’ in length with 4 or 5 decks. People sit on the deck in the sun or under umbrellas. There are huge windows on the middle decks, and tiny portholes at water level. A week on one of these costs thousands. Then there are the day or dinner cruisers. These are much smaller. Thousands join both types every day in the season. This year, along with us they are enjoying the mostly sunny yet cool weather.

Visits and moorings

After departing the small town of Toul, France we visited Metz. There we faced a challenging docking. The wind was up. There are only small perpendicular finger peers. The only spot left in fact had no finger peer at all, just a space between two boats. As we backed in several other boaters came out to help us. They tied us to a pier on the other side of the boat to our left and the boat next to our right, plus the dock behind.

Port Allemands in Metz
Port Allemands in Metz, watercolor

Walking through Metz’s medieval section, we found the its excellent history museum. It is built upon a Roman cistern discovered as the excavated for the museum. The cathedral is magnificent. Read more https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/metz-france-a-site-for-soar-eyes/

We moved on from Metz, mooring first in Uckange on the left bank, then in Bechkleinmacher where there is a small museum which is a visit of two medieval houses. Later we went to the winery up the hill which offers the local product. You pay for the tasting, which revealed wines that are drinkable if otherwise unremarkable.

Port Allemands, Metz (abstract)

Schengen is further along the river. You “melden” at the dock on the river. Then someone brought us to a spot along the entrance, but first making us wait for a barge to pass. He said barge wash can make boats hard to handle in the marina. I learned that you can get fresh baguettes from a machine near the marina office. Overcoming my skepticism, I bought one. It was very good!

Did you know Schengen is in Luxembourg? It is the where the Schengen zone treaty was negotiated. The treaty allows members of the 27 signatory countries to pass freely between borders. It has the only marina in the country. Fuel prices are low in Luxembourg. Uniquely in the country you can fill up at the dock. See HEREE

Public transport is free everywhere in Luxembourg. The word is that the government determined that the cost of collection fares was almost as much as the fare revenue. So they increased by transportation budget by 10% and made all public transport free throughout the country – that means trains and buses. We used the excellent and extensive system to visit Luxembourg (the capital) and the Musee Bataille Des Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) located in the castle in Wiltz,on the other side of the country. As a base we used the moorings in Grevenmacher and Wasserbillig. From those two free moorings the bus and train connections are a short walk away. More on Luxembourg https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/luxembourg-so-fabulous-that-the-whole-city-is-a-world-heritage-site/

We spent several days shuttling between these two moorings. Both docks are shared with river cruise vessels. There is an electronic sign which advises when they will be there, normally about 20 minutes each time. To comply we had to leave Wassbillig. At Grevenmacher there is room for one boat along with a cruise ship. The small boat space is clearly designated. We docked while a ship was already in place. Someone from the ship watched to see we had room, as their line was tied to the dock just in front of our bow.

In the 8 days we were at these docks only two other boats shared the dock. One was communicative so for the first time since we left Toul we had someone else to talk to. The Danish couple is traveling in their de-masted sailboat. They have a place in Spain and have decided to move their boat there. However they can not get through the now closed French canals, which are plagued by lack of water and weed growth. We helped them by contacting some French marinas who might help with the arrangements. A week later they managed to find a trucker to transfer the boat in Saint-Jean-de-Losne and set it down into the Rhone.

With a heat wave nearly upon us, we moved on to Watersport Club Konz. We were welcomed by a woman who lives alone on her small modern power boat. She walked the dock to where she wanted us to moor as we proceeded on the ample fairway.

Trier Cathedral

They have a clubhouse with a small bar and kitchen. The friendly club members meet for drinks and meals at seriously discounted prices. Some spoke English, at least one also spoke French. We had dinner one night with them. They served up sausage with potato salad, typical of the meals they serve. We ate that sausage dinner with several talkative folks, including the woman who guided us in. She later took me to the gas station nearby to fill up the fuel containers. She made our stay!

Alf from Bullay

They told us about the lock ahead that was closed, damaged by a hotel boat, which we first learned about from our Dutch friend John, who was on his boat in Belgium at the time. We passed through that lock, having to wait an hour and a half due to the delicate condition of one of the gates.

The train station is very close by. The entrance isn’t marked so we encountered a bit of confusion, but if you look up as you reach the street you can see the track and navigate easily to it. To escape the imminent heatwave we took the train to Frankfurt the morning after our arrival. Given the heatwave we left the boat’s doors open. We returned to find that no one robbed us. The gates are kept locked and there are folks around 24/7. Read about Frankfurt https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/hot-dog-theyre-frankfurturers/

Once on the German Mosel, we had to deal with the difficulty of finding moorings,. Here is what we had to do to find the next one. Each time we saw a possibility we had to check it out without being able to tell from the river that it was for the general public, as they do not usually put signs on the river side. Schweich has a small dock just past the marina. It wasn’t marked as public so we called the city after we moored. They did not know anything about it and told us to call the marina. The woman at the marina said we could dock there but tried to sell us a night in the marina.

There were small groups sitting on the nearby benches, otherwise we saw no one. All this calling around would not have been necessary if they had simply put a sign up on the dock that the boaters could see from the river side.

Berncastke-Kues is a picturesque village. There’s one dock for boats our size. We’d read that you could stay there for free if you had a meal at the restaurant in Cafe Hotel Risi. The dock is easily accessed, even offering a bit of shade which we welcomed in this hot weather. As usual the dock was unmarked so there would be no reason to think there would be a fee so we would not have known had we not run across this bit about the restaurant.

Alf

The mooring was quiet and safe. As usual with these free spots there are no services. There are grocery and other stores nearby. We enjoyed a lovely meal at the Cafe Hotel Risi, whose lovely traditional offerings run about €25-30 with wine.

Merl has a public dock on the right bank per our book and reports from friends. The outer position is long enough for us, but it was occupied. We motored over to the bank. There we could see that the inner piers are short and we were left uncertain about the depth, so we tried the wall clear on the other side of the river. There a helpful boater moored waved us in as we were leaving. There are small loops on the dock that you can not easily see from the boat, so we were not going to moor there, thinking there was no way to tie up.

Unfortunately just a few minutes after we were moored, assisted by the other boater, a barge came by, seriously rocking the boat. This was unlike anything we’d ever seen in 15 years of boating. We got up and left, in a huff.

Just down the river there was supposed to be another dock at a restaurant. We’d grown quite skeptical by this point, and were tired about many hours on the move, but then we saw someone standing on the dock as we approached. He did not wave us off right off the bat, and then waved us in, and he even tied our lines off. We could see he’d done this many times. It turned out that he is the owner. Normally his karaoke boat docks in this spot but it fits on the inside as well. He gave us a small ladder so I could reach the electricity. Finally, other than a bit of wash from a passing hotel boat, which he said always goes too fast, we just had mild wash. In the end it was another quiet night, not free but for an €18 payment.

Scenery along the German Mosel is even more magnificent. Sporting as much as a 65% incline, the hillsides are lined with row after row of mostly Riesling grape vineyards. Between the rows you can sometimes see mechanisms used to transport the harvest. Occasionally there is machinery or workers in the fields. Some areas are terraced, with stone tracery decorating the slopes. The trains run along the river’s edge below. It’s one magnificent scene after another for days and days, ending in Koblenz.

Alf from Bullay II

Bullay has a public dock just like the one in Merl. We translated the sign, which says you can “melden,” providing two phone numbers you used to comply. We called the weekday number. The person answering did not know anything, passing us to another who said the dock was new (the sign wasn’t!). The fee is €2 per meter per night we learned. There are no services. We were to pay by bank draft, but there was no rush, he said, and would send us their bank information and payment instructions. No bank information has arrived yet and it’s been a few weeks.

We stayed for three days, with no issues whatsoever. Since we are in the middle of the wine region we looked for places to taste the local wine. We found a small producer just two minutes away on foot. It’s a small, family run winery. When we entered, the whole family posed for us, wife, husband, and two young children who were holding the wine tasting tray. It was almost unbearably cute!

They produce an amazing number of wines for such a small operation. There are six whites plus two fizzy wines. In these there are no visible bubbles as in champagne, cava or prosecco, just a bit of carbonation. In addition there are 5 or 6 reds.

Their wines suffer from the common problem here – most are either sweet or, if not, they have somewhere between little and no character. We talked to the vintner/owner of this small winery and bar. He said he tries to make balanced wines. Unfortunately he balances the character right out of them. I believe that between the sugar added to the cheapest wines, allowed by law, and this balancing act, German wines are nothing to write home about. Fortunately you can get French, Italian and Spanish wines in the grocery stores. There’s an excellent grocery store up the hill, about a one kilometer walk.

To get to Alf, the town on the left bank, you take the ferry. The captain starts running at 0700h and ends at 1800h. The crossing takes about two minutes for a fare of €2 per person. He comes to the Bullay side when he sees someone waiting. His engine is tiny so he has to be cognizant of barge traffic. Strangely enough, although the ferry is no more than 20 feet long, there is a first class section, with tables and doilies on the windows.

Alf has neat old houses, a church and vineyards on the steep hillside. Throughout the area, tourist revenue adds to the economy of wine production, as you can tell by the number of hotels and ‘Zimmer frei’ signs.

Down the river further, Cochem is the mother of all tourist spots on the Moselle. There are at least a half dozen river cruisers who base there. On Friday and Saturday summer nights one of the ships hires a band which they connect to humongous speakers that can be heard for kilometers around. Mostly they played American songs from the late 60’s and 70’s such as Clearance Clearwater Revival, with an occasional German language pop song thrown in. The band did a decent job of it. There’s a dance floor and a few dozen heads bobbed up and down to the beat. The ship departed at 1900h, at full band blast, and returned around 2200h still on full blast. Before docking the captain spun the large ship around a few times just in front of us. And the band played on for another half hour at the dock.

An ancient castle looks over the town, remodeled into the fairyland architectual style called German Romanticism, sort of neo-Gothic. The most famous such castle is Neuchweinstein Castle, built by the mad king Ludwig II. The magnificent one in Cochem was done up by a wealthy man in the mid 1800’s. It’s about a half hour walk up the steep streets. I did the walk. I can attest to its steepness. I went without having to stop. An overweight woman was stuck about half way. There is a bus to take you there if you are not into the hike. The views from the top are lovely.

The town is chock full of half-timber buildings. The lower floors contain restaurants, bars, fast food shops and tourist trap stuff. You can take a chair lift to a fine overlook and enjoy an over-priced beverage and meal. We shared a table with a young woman with two young children. She spoke to us after a bit. She’s Dutch, we learned, so her English is very good. They come here camping in summers. The campgrounds are crowded, she says. We had already noticed many along the river, most jam-packed.

We had lunch at a schnitzel house. There were a half dozen or so sauces you can choose from. Mushroom, curry and others came with either fries or potato salad. You could select a regular portion or a seniors/child. The latter is plenty for most people. You can also just get a sausage, less than half the price of a schnitzel, with only bread and mustard. Their dry white wine isn’t dry nor is it particularly cheap at around €7 for a good pour. I had a small beer for €4.

The public marina’s dock is covered with goose poop so we decided to risk getting knocked around a bit, so we moored on the outside wall. Over the four days we were on the wall, aside from a small boat going too fast, we were only rocked once from a passing barge,

A few others moored by us, including two or three small boats, an old-fashioned hotel barge with a smoke stack from the steam engine era, and another luxurious small hotel barge operated by an American. He docked just in front of us in early evening, then came by to visit after our dinner guests, a mid-40’s couple, left for their campsite.

The American hotel barge owner bought this early 2000’s barge four years ago. He was looking for things to do now that he’d retired. He had been looking to buy an estate that included a nearby fixer upper, first in Italy and then in France. After losing out on a deal in the Dordogne, he happened upon the idea of buying and operating a hotel barge in Europe after noticing how much waterway there is over here. He found this purpose built barge, redone in 2018: new engines, generator, complete interior refit except the Escher teak floor. By way of experience, he captained a salmon fishing vessel in his youth. A year of those waves was enough for him. He then became an engineer and architect, along the way gaining some experience in the hospitality industry.

He and his wife set up what he says is one of the two most luxurious hotel barges on the European waterways. They have a Dutch pilot as required since the owner does not have his full license yet. There are chefs, maids and I think someone who drives a chase vehicle. Captain and spouse do not have to be on the ship for it to operate.

They stop here in Cochem coming from the Netherlands on a regular basis, on their way to their Alsace cruise. A separate pilot is required on the Rhine portions. The Alsace is his favorite cruising region. The home port of the Nouvelle Etoile is Zartsluis. He can do a lot of the work himself, with his background in electricity, plumbing and so on. Their ship has the only on-board elevator on any European river hotel barge. It connects to a fully handicap accessible suite, which like the others has a king size bed, bathroom with shower and other upscale amenities including air conditioning.

You need to plunk down about a €1000 a night per person to pay for all this, which includes super quiet 24/7 generators and suppressed engine exhaust noise.

As for the Dutch couple who joined us for dinner, they are both teachers. We met them at a weinstube (wine bar) at Schlossstrasse 6, a charming ‘skellar’ (cellar) dug out of the rock. We tried a bunch of too sweet and characterless wines, but with the large pours, we found it easy to talk to the two in the next table, and invited ourselves over.

She teaches immigrants level one skills. At that level the students’ ability with Dutch is minimal to non-existent. Most of the students are from the Middle East. He teaches level four groups landscaping skills so they can find work. She has three children from a previous marriage to someone with whom she enjoys a good relationship. She found she could just not live with hypochondria. He has two children he cares every other weekend. They have been together for two years. They have a mini-van they use for camping. Right now it is just the two of them. They have time together without kids, who are all teenagers, on what I gathered to be a fairly regular basis. For dinner I threw together a pesto dish, a bit of zucchini with onion, garlic and tomato paste, and a salad. The lady guest had no trouble keeping the conversation going, one-sided and repetitive as it largely was.

The wind was up and the rain falling as we tried to dock in Koblenz. Facing into the wind got us under control. There are just clubs in Koblenz, so they open in the late afternoon. Someone finally showed up and we paid the €2 per meter charge, all inclusive. The next morning we made our way to a shopping center using the public buses. This was a bit of a challenge, as there is no information in English. We had to change buses. The first bus driver was very helpful. He took us to the stop where we had to change, as we could tell from the bus system’s app. The next driver was no help at all, but per the app we just needed to go one stop. It’s just a short walk from the bus stop back to our mooring.

We are ready to enter the Rhine, going south six kilometers to the Lahn river, with some 60 kilometers of quiet cruising and small towns. The navigable Lahn ends after 75 kilometers at Limburg.

Hot dog! They’re Frankfurturers!

Today’s Frankfurters boast about the 31 museums in the old center of their ancient city. They are concentrated in a zone called the Museumsufer. The Museumsufer includes the Studel (art), the History Museum and the Archaeological Museum. And of course Frankfurters can enjoy frankfurters every day of the week.

Beyond the purview of the those on holiday, Frankfurt is the EU’s largest and most important financial center. It is one of four European capitals, with a skyscraper fan’s skyline. There are multiple universities and graduate schools. Frankfurt sits on the Main River, an important shipping and sightseeing route with its easy connection to the Rhine. It’s a huge rail and air hub . With its many green spaces, entertainment venues and extensive public transport, it’s a better place to live than visit as a tourist, aside from the museums.

Frankfurt was the object of fourteen major bombing attacks during WWII. At least 1500 Frankfurters died. Only the Cathedral remained intact in the center. Unlike Warsaw, which completely rebuilt its old town center, here they rebuilt just a mere handful of the half-timber buildings that once lined the streets.

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Some of the rebuilt half timbers
Frankfurt's old town after WW2.
Frankfurt’s old town after WW2. Only the DOM remains intact

Frankfurt’s name comes from the Franks, the Germanic people who occupy the country we know as France. ‘Furt’ in its name means ‘ford.’ Frankfurt was the location on the River Main where the Franks could ford that river. Thus the name in effect means “Where the Franks ford the river.”

Since 1356 emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were elected in the Dom (Dome), aka Frankfurt Cathedral. Although not a cathedral, emperors-elect were crowned here from 1562 to 1792. In 1848 German democracy took its first steps in St. Paul’s church. At the first National Assembly five hundred elected representatives met in the expansive church. Democracy lasted just a year. However the constitution enacted became the basis of today’s German government.

Coronation of Archduke Joseph as King of the Romans in Frankfurt Cathedral, 1764 (Wiki)

Archäologisches Museum features an extensive and unusual collection of sculpture from the cult of Mithra, a major figure of the Zoroastrian religion. The Zoroastrian religion was of Persian origin, becoming popular among Roman soldiers. A core myth is about Sol finally allowing his totally incompetent son Phaeton to take the reins of the chariot that transports the sun across the sky each day. Phaeton crashed the chariot, causing mayhem on earth. Jupiter then created Mithra, who fixes the problem by sacrificing a bull. Sol is angered by Mithra’s actions but the matter is resolved. The sun continues its journey across the sky. Phew! We ducked a bullet, didn’t we!

This is not a huge museum so I do not understand why they did not bother to offer English translations. English is used by most everyone who does not speak German, not just native English speakers.

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Mithras saves the sun by sacrificing the bull

Historisches Museum is as excellent and in English as well. It is extensive, spread over multiple floors in two buildings. One exhibit tells of the largest legal actions by Germany against former Nazis that took place in Frankfurt from 1963-65. The main trial concerned 22 defendants. Six were sentenced to life for murder. Another 11 were sentenced to varying terms. The display shows the huge card catalogs used by the prosecution.

There are several large and detailed models of the old center. You can check out the Staufer, the 12th century ancient castle, all the way to the basement. It was the residence of the Hohenstaufen kings. There are also elements of the ancient harbor. You wind your way over to the old Toll Tower’s circular stone staircase for a view over the river and the old town.

Frankfurters – the sausages – were born here. The granddaddy is the Frankfurter Würstchen, a thin, parboiled sausage made with pork cased in sheep intestine. It is longer and thinner than an American hot dog, lightly smoked at a low-temperature. The good old American hot dog, also often called a frankfurter, is just one of several variations, such as the Vienna sausage. The Frankfurters enjoy their frankfurters with potato salad and a beer. Or maybe some fries – fritz in German.

The locals love Frankfurt’s famous Green Sauce, topping boiled eggs, potatoes, and brisket. I had it on fish. I am not normally a big fan of white sauces like this but this is an exception. The herbs are not easy to come by so I don’t think we will be able to make this sauce on our own. For a another bite at the cuisine, see https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/7-foods-you-need-to-try-when-youre-in-frankfurt

Trier: Capital of the Franks

The oldest city in Germany, Trier was created by the Romans in the late 1st century BC, calling it Agusta Treverorum, the city of Augustus among the Celtic Belgian group the Treveri. It was the capital of the Gauls (Celts), serving much of the Roman Empire and becoming one of the emperors’ residence. The Franks conquered Trier in 496 CE. There were witch trials between 1581 and 1593 – nearly 400 women were murdered. During WWII the city served as the staging area for British troops captured at Dunkirk.

It has one mighty big Roman gate, Porta Negra, circa 300 CE, built when it was one of four capitals of the Roman Empire in the late third century. You stand there looking at it wondering why it is so dirty. It’s not. The blackened stone is in its natural state. Adjacent is a confusing city museum which totally lacks narrative, just a bunch of objects on display.

Here there are also the 4th-century Roman baths, the amphitheater from c. 100 C.E., and the cavernous basilica. The basilica is now a Protestant church. It has the throne room of the emperors.

There’s an intricately designed set of churches whose spires stand above where Constantine built four. One is the Cathedral, the oldest church in Germany. Basically Romanesque, it dates from the early 4th century. It was rebuilt in about 550, and enlarged in the 11th – 13th centuries. It stands next to another spire-laden house of worship.

Trier Cathedral,ink 21 x 29cm/8.3 x 11.7″
Trier_Dom_BW_1
Trier’s Cathedral
Trier_-_Dom,_Westkuppel_2007-10-14
Trier’s Cathedral

The Roman monuments, the Cathedral, and the Church of Our Lady were designated a World Heritage site in 1986.

When it comes to street food, the local favorite is Weck, Worscht un Woi. This features a soft bread roll (Weck), savory sausage (Worscht), and a glass of local wine (Woi). Can’t get more German than that, can you? Likewise with the local artisan breads made from rye and whole wheat. Trierer Schwarzbrot is a dark rye bread ,dense and slightly tangy. We’ve tried a cream topped strawberry tarts (and there are other fruit toppings). Out of this world!

There’s a huge white wine production in the region,ranging from dry to very sweet. The main grape is Riesling. There is also including some bubbly, called Sekt. Sommeliers and other experts praise the better Rieslings for their complexity, expressiveness and how well they age. Pinot Noir and other varieties are on the upswing. That view runs counter to those of many.

Germany is a beer culture. On our last trip here I was quite disappointed. The long slow pours resulting in a head you could sit on are a thing of the past. I remember watching a woman pouring a glass for me. It must have taken ten minutes to get it just so. I do not see that any more. Not that there aren’t any good beers left. More of this anon.

Trier Cathedral II, watercolor
Trier Cathedral II, watercolor 21 x 30cm/8.3 x 11.7 cm

Luxembourg: So fabulous that the whole city is a World Heritage site

The capital setting is dramatic, siting as it does on cliffs above a winding gorge and the rivers that snake through. It’s medieval architecture is among the finest. Thus Luxembourg’s is designated as a World Heritage City. The rest of the country is another sort of beauty, rural, heavily forested and otherwise largely agricultural. There are no other cities whatsoever, just many lovely views.

The Fortress of Luxembourg is a big part of the impressive cliff that marks the entrance to the city. The fort was once important for controlling the left bank of the Rhine, the Low Countries and the border between France and Germany. The center of much warfare over the centuries since its inception in the 10th century, it was largely disassembled by treaty in 1867. Over the centuries it had been controlled by the Burgundy, the French, Austrian and Spanish Hapsburgs, and the Prussians.

lux view of fort
View of the Fort. The Alzette and Petrusse rivers flow through the gullies.

The capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is called Luxembourg, not Luxembourg City, just Luxembourg. As a result many do not realize that the capital is just a tiny part of the country of this itsy bitsy country. Of its mere 682,000 residents only 135,000 live in Luxembourg.

ducalpalace
Ducal Palace. The Duke is the titular head of government.

Luxembourgian is the national language. It is in the same family as German and Dutch. French is the official language of government so many speak it as well. The capital is 60%+ foreign, so you can find many other languages in common usage there. Luxembourg is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, with a per capital income of $140k/year, so you might find it frightfully expensive. Fortunately wine production is enormous, so that product at least is reasonably priced, albeit it is mostly white.

Luxembourg is one of the four ‘capitals’ of the EU, together with Brussels, Strasbourg and Frankfurt. Here you find the Court of Justice of the EU, the EU Court of Auditors, the Secretariat of the EU Parliament and the Public Prosecutor, the EU Investment Bank, the Investment Fund and more. The Council of the EU meets here for three months annually.

Luxembourg is a busy place, with foot traffic galore in the pedestrian only center. Both boutique and chain upscale stores occupy the street level of old and newer buildings alike. In this weather (June) people sit outdoors at bars and eateries, although there is plenty of street food. We found one such which provided a light lunch for two for €22, including a shared Quiche Loraine, a popular item.

There is a wide variety in the cuisine, reflecting the diversity of the population. We had lunch in a Portuguese restaurant. Bacalao (cod) is popular in Portugal and several versions were on offer. One was shredded cod, potato sticks (!) and an egg, combined and then baked. Another has shredded cod covered with olive oil and then baked. Mine was a sauteed red and green pepper topping over a thick corn battered filet, with freshly made potato chips (crisps for you English).

All public transport in the country is free as part of the effort to reduce traffic. From our mooring on the Moselle we went to the city by train on one occasion and by bus on another, visited a museum in Wiltz on a third, and Trier, Germany on a fourth- you have to buy a ticket for any travel outside the country. In the city there is tram as well as bus transport. Many of the buses are electric, even in the countryside.

Musee Bataille Des Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge) is occupies the castle in Wiltz. WWII is a big deal in the country and especially in Wiltz. The Nazis occupied the country and used brutality to control the population. Luxembourghish was banned and children were indoctrinated. In Wiltz and elsewhere members of the resistance were tortured and killed. Others were sent to concentration camps and into forced labor.

The Museum highlights the American soldiers of the 28th Infantry Division who liberated the town. The 28th still serves as the Pennsylvania National Guard. There are plaques to soldiers who died in battle as the German army approached, including the division dentist and some musicians. On the lighter side, one soldier played Santa Claus for the village children. The Museum committee went to considerable trouble to track down him down many years after the war. They brought Santa aka Frank McClelland for a visit to the village. Also, on his way towards the front, Eisenhower stopped here. The photographed is displayed.

This museum is a bit unusual as together with the WWII displays there is a section about brewing and leather production. The town at one point had several brewers and tanners. The price of admission includes your choice of among several locally made brews!

If you visit by public transport, go by bus as it gets you close to the museum. The train is a steep climb to the museum. Returning by train is easier as it’s all downhill, but still it is quite a bit farther than the bus stop.

Metz, France: a site for soar eyes

Metz sits at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers. The Cathedral’s height and extensive stained glass dwarf the slack jawed visitor. The town boasts cream colored stone architecture from the Middle Ages. Part of Germany from 1870 to the end of WWI I, it sits near the border of Germany and Luxembourg.

Metz has a rich 3,000-year history, starting with a Celtic oppidum, an iron age fortified town. During the Roman period it had a population of 40,000. It was the Merovingian capital of Austrasia (the northeastern Frankish kingdom), from the 6th to the 8th century. The Carolingian dynasty started by Charles Mantel (Charlemagne was his grandson) began here. It was a republic from the 12th to the 13th century.

Cathédrale Saint-Étienne (Stephen) is a superb example of High Gothic architecture. The nave is 41 meters in height. It has more stained glass than any other building in the world, with works by Gothic and Renaissance glass masters as well as Jacques Villon’s cubism and several by Chagall. It sits where there there has been a church since the 6th century.

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Chagall’s stained glass
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Metz center

We visited the Museum of La Cour d’Or, Metz, the city history museum. You descend several flights to the Roman cistern, discovered when construction began on the current building. There is an unusual and extensive collection of Celtic Roman era sarcophagi and gravestones. The artwork is crude compared to most Roman era carving. There is also a rare and large collection of painted wooden ceilings.

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Port Allemands, Metz watercolor 21 x 30cm/11.7 x 8.3″
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Roman era cistern at the Museum of La Cour d’Or, Metz
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Among the collection of painted wood ceilings in the museum

This is a fun city to walk around. The stone construction glows in the sun. There are lots of people about but you don’t feel crowded. There are many side streets and alleys if you get tired of all the upscale shopping on the main street. Plenty of places to stop for refreshment. Quiche Loraine is a big deal. No reason why you couldn’t pair it with one of the many Moselle white wines.

The main grapes are Auxerrois, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot grigio. They also grow Müller-Thurgau, Pinot blanc, Riesling, Gamay and Gewürztraminer. You might also try the rosés, made from Pinot noir and Gamay. See the tourist bureau site for more information https://www.tourisme-metz.com/en/discover-metz-metropole/gastronomy-and-mirabelle-plums

Sicily: The Leopard to Serpotta

Sicily was ruled by Spain’s Bourbon dynasty. The Spanish lost this kingdom when The Leopard leaped.

Sicily was once ruled by the Bourbons, who held the Spanish throne. The country the Bourbons ruled came to be called The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Why two? It was formed when the Bourbons united two kingdoms both called Sicily. The northern half, formally called the Kingdom of Naples but commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Sicily, ranged from Naples all the way south on mainland Italy. This area today is called the Mezzogiorno. In 1816 this Kingdom of Naples merged with the Kingdom of Sicily (the island) under the Bourbons forming the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Leaping Leopards!

In 1957 Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa wrote The Leopard, a novel about the unification of Sicily with the then recently established country we now call Italy. Tomasi was the last in a line of minor princes. The main character of the book is his great-grandfather, Don Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi, the Prince of Lampedusa. Lampedusa is an island. Tomasi died before the book was published. The Leopard became the top selling novel in Italian history, while winning prestigious awards. In 1959 it was made into a movie, and there is now a series on Netflix.

Before the unification (the Risorgimento), Italy was divided into city states. The Pope, for example, ruled Rome and the area around it and south to Naples. The Leopard is about how Sicily became part of the new country with the “invasion” of Garibaldi, leading a mere 1000 soldiers. Clearly there wasn’t much resistance.

The Circle Trip

So here I am now in modern Sicily formed by the Leaping Leopard. And what did I come to see yet again? Ancient Sicily, and there’s a lot of it. You land in Palermo or Catania, join a tour or rent a car and do your own, as I do. Driving is not too difficult if you don’t mind sharing the road with the Italians, who have a rather aggressive driving style.

I started in Catania. There is a neat old Basilica Cattedrale Sant’Agata (1078 though rebuilt after earthquakes), the nearby Roman amphitheater, the Monastero dei Benedettini (16th c), and Ursino Castle from the 13th century, which houses the Civic Museum of Catania. Il Museo Arte Contemporanea Sicilia is small but worth a visit. A walk through the old town displays its ancient character. While Catania is generally unkempt and unattractive, it’s better in the old center.

Mt Etna smokes just an hour’s drive uphill. As usual in Italy there will be some Mario Andretti on your behind, until he finds a bit of a stretch so he can zoom past. Etna is no joke. She erupted again on June 2, just two days after we drove to the southern peak. You’d appreciate the fast drivers if the eruption occurred while you were up there.

From Catania you can go south along the coast to Siracusa (Syracuse in English). It was founded by Greeks circa 733 BCE, becoming the most important city of Magna Grecia, the area comprising southern Italy . There are two main reasons for going to Siracusa. The island of Ortigia is one. The oldest part of the city, it contains the Cattedrale Metropolitana della Natività di Maria Santissima, a UNESCO site. The stately Cathedral dates from the 7th century, with Roman era columns still holding up the roof. Further along through ancient narrow streets and allies there’s the old castle guarding the harbor.

The second main attraction is https://parchiarcheologici.regione.sicilia.it/en/parco-archeologico-di-siracusa-eloro-villa-del-tellaro-e-akrai/ It has a Greek and Roman amphitheater and some mighty big caves. Somewhere I read that the caves were used by the local oracles to deliver their vague premonitions. There are ancient bronze statues (copies) here and there on the expansive grounds There are catacombs nearby.

Sicily has more Greek temples than Greece. From Siracusa you zoom around the coast to the valley of the Temples in Agrigento, a bit inland. Concordia is the most intact. Selinunte, an even larger collection of temples residing on the beautiful coast, is not terribly far. Founded around 628 BCE, Selinunte was one of the most important Greek colonies on the island.

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Selinunte Beach, watercolor 10 x 15cm/4 x 6″ If you walk the length of the park you have this view
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Frieze from Selinunte in the archaeology museum in Palermo
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Temple of Hercules, Selinunte
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Tempio della Concordia, Agrigento
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Ruins of Selinunte
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Temple of Juno, Agrigento

After Selinunte I made a side trip with my daughter and family to Partanna. My grandfather was born there and my grandmother not far away in Santa Ninfa. The drive through the countryside reveals the intensity of its agriculture, and just as you arrive in Partanna there are huge olive oil and wine storage tanks along the main road.

You get a sense of where you come from when you visit your roots. We don’t just pop out of nowhere. There’s a long history behind us, many stories to be told, many we will never uncover. I have one of my own: to this day I do not know who was the father of my uncle Matteo, born to my grandmother. His birth certificate is silent on the matter.

We continued on to Erice, a small town perched on the top of a mountain. You climb to the top via numerous tight and often very steep switchbacks. The stone village has fabulous views of the sea on one side, Trapani on another with its salt drying ponds sparkling under the sun, and extensive agricultural lands elsewhere. We stayed in Villa San Giovanni. The old building is fun to be in. The rooms are a bit dated and basic, but it’s tough to beat the views.

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View from our hotel in Erice
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Real Duomo (Chiesa Madre di Erice)
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Castello Pepoli
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More on Erice from my previous visit is here http://garyjkirkpatrick.com/erice-ancient-mountain-top-village-on-the-coast/

There are great views as you drive along the coast to Palermo, with mountains on one side and the coast on the other. We stopped for one night at a beach apartment, the sandy beach just a five minute walk.

Palermo was settled by the Phoenicians in 734 BCE. The fabulous decorations of the Greek temples in Selinunte Archaeological Park is in the https://www.regione.sicilia.it/beniculturali/salinas/. You’ll be floored by what’s on the walls there. Otherwise Palermo is about the churches and the fabulous art within.

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Palermo’s Cathedral at night

For many the highlight of a visit to Palermo, aside from the cuisine of course, is the church art of Giacomo Serpotta, 1656 –1732. His stucco (plaster) sculpture in the Rococco style will stun even the most casual visitor. His was a self-taught master of this highly detailed realism. According to the free of charge guide he added marble dust to the plaster for sparkle and added strength. His brother and son were also in the church decoration business.

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The work of Serputta in the Oratorio of San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo martyrdom is depicted

Church architecture in Palermo runs the gamut, from Norman to Baroque. The must see Arab -Norman Palace (11th) dates from Norman times but was built over centuries so you get them all. The Palermo Cathedral is huge, with 17th century paintings and a great painting in the aspe ceiling.

The Duomo of Monreale, which you get to by bus or car, is loaded with Byzantine style mosaics. Just superb! It was built by the Norman kings William II, 1166-89. Who woulda thunk it? Probably not even my blond, blue-eyed Zio Matteo. From the village there are great views of Palermo.

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The Duomo of Monreale

Palermo’s main street downtown is a pedestrian zone. It is lined with upscale shops and restaurants, with perhaps a tavola calda or two. In this part of Italy a tavola calda has arancini, risotto rice shaped into balls coated with corn meal, then deep fried. They have an orange tint so together with the shape and the orange color they came to be called arancini, little oranges. There are other shapes. The round ones are stuffed with ragu. The other shapes have different ingredients, including pistachio sauces.

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Via Ruggero Settimo in Palermo on a Friday night

Follow this street on down and you come to Quattro Canti, an intersection with four effusively decorated facades, one on each corner. Turn right and you find the Cathedral and a but further on the Palazzo dei Normanni.

For good itineraries in Palermo, check out https://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/blog/the-best-things-to-do-in-palermo-itineraries

Toul, France

Not Toulouse, not Toulon, just plain Toul: its a moat encircled ancient town located on the Moselle River with impressive late 1700’s stone ramparts, ranging to 5 meters in height. There are two locks within 100 meters of one another protecting the population, connecting the Moselle River and the Canal du Marne au Rhin. Known as Tullum Leucorum by the Romans, Toul did not become part of France in until 1552 after having been a Catholic diocese since the 4th century.

The fortress within the ramparts was last used during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Surrender to the Prussians came in less than a day after a 2300 shell bombardment. In WWI it served as a base for the incipient US Air Force. The stone ramparts date from 1698. The area produces the Cote de Toul AOC protected wine, most notably the Gris de Toul.

There’s a cut in the ancient wall that these days allows cars into the old town. Follow the streets around to the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toul, built in flamboyant Gothic style. Construction began in the 12th century and completed by 1496, with some later additions. The towers rise to 65 meters/ 213,’ the nave is 100 meters/328′ in length. It has a large cloister. “With a Romanesque plan and Gothic construction, this building is a symbol of the city’s rich episcopal past and an emblem for a whole territory. Remarkable by its dimensions as well as by its beauty, the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne attracts several tens of thousands of visitors every year.” https://toul.fr/cathedrale800ans/

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Joan of Arc
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toul
Nave of Toul’s Cathedral

The 139 statues of the portico were destroyed during the French Revolution. The roof and the south tower sustained damaged in WW2. They were restored in the 1980s.

Messina: A Surprising Pleasure

It takes a half hour on a fast ferry from Reggio de Calabria to arrive in Messina, crossing the Strait of Messina. The large port is home to numerous ferries, commercial vessels as well as military ships. The city center of the small city of 215,000 is about 12 kilometers from the entrance to the Strait. The lovely City Hall sits along the harbor. The city, wracked by a major earthquake in 1908 leading to a devastating tsunami, backs up against hills to the west.

The Greeks liked this location, settling the area in the 8th BCE. Artifacts in the Museo Interdisciplinare Regionale (the Regional Museum) bear witness, but there is much more. The 1908 earthquake produced such vast devastation that many buildings were not rebuilt. Their decorations, paintings and other valuables were placed in the Museum. Capitols and a wide variety of other carvings sit in a special exhibit. An exuberant hostess showed us around and helped us with their 3-D glasses. These give you a 360 degree perspective, providing context for the objects upon which the presentation focused.

North end of Messina's harbor
North end of Messina’s harbor

A room of the special exhibit simulates the deafening sounds of the earthquake. Beyond lies a huge collection of religious art with countless figuring staring into the clouds, as was common in that era. There is a collection of the works of Antonello da Messina, a well known painter of the early Renaissance. His works are much above average for the time. There are several Caravaggio paintings. He stopped here on his way to an early death near Napoli from the wounds he suffered in the last of his many street fights.

Caravaggio's Adoration of the Shepherds
Caravaggio’s Adoration of the Shepherds

Reggio de Calabria, then and now

The comparative few who give previous thought to this small city in southern Italy wonder at its name. “Reggio’ comes from the ancient Greek for ‘region.’ There’s a Reggio elsewhere in Italy so ‘de Calabria’ distinguishes the two.

Despite its present day obscurity Reggio de Calabria was home to a perhaps legendary early king named Italus, whence ‘Italia.’ Italia initially referred to the general area surrounding Calabria before becoming the name of the whole peninsula circa third century BCE. This suggests a significant level of influence.

Reggio de Calabria is among the 100 largest cities in Europe, home to 500,000 plus. It was heavily damaged by the 7.1 earthquake of 1908, giving rise to much modernization. I’ll tell you a bit more about that quake in the upcoming post on Messina, whose municipal museum has extensive exhibits on the topic.

Calabria itself is not that well known. It is the toe of the boot of Italy. The other side way down here is the heel- that’s Puglia. I wrote about that lovely yet also less visited region a couple of years back. See http://garyjkirkpatrick.com/puglia-italian-cuisine-youve-never-met/ and http://garyjkirkpatrick.com/puglia-slide-show-set-to-a-famous-song/

Reggio sits near the entrance to the Straights of Messina, across from its buddy city Messina. Reggio was a major stopping point for ships bound for Rome, often carrying wheat from Egypt. Much earlier it was a major city in Magna Grecia, the Greek speaking area which includes today’s southern Italy: Puglia, Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata and Campania.

Reggio de Calabria view of the Strait
Reggio de Calabria, view of the Strait

The famous Riace bronzes are in the town’s important Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia. It is protected by an antechamber that seals off the temperature and humidity of the rest of the museum. They are magnificent life size works, with a height of 199 cm/6’6″. Few of these bronze statues remain. These two were found about 200 meters from the shore in nearby Riace either by a diver or four young boys. One of the figures may have been holding a spear and shield, with one sporting a helmet. Restored at the museum over almost a decade after their 1972 discovery and again in 2011, the sculptures date to the 5th century BCE.

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One of the Riace bronzes

Reggio de Calabria has a long (1 kilometer) pedestrian zone. It is the main shopping street, running parallel to the coast. Via Garibaldi is lined with magnolia and exotic palm trees. The city is laid out on a steep hill(s) but the pedestrian zone is on the flat. The train station is one level down, just above the sea. Opposite the station it is a tiny shop selling 30 varieties of arancini.

Arancini are the street food of choice for Sicilians. Cooked risotto is formed into various shapes. Then things like mozzarella, fungi (mushrooms), shredded beef and other meats, bits of eggplant and so on are added. The attractive middle aged woman who runs the place across from the station came up with many variations. There was even one with spada – swordfish.

arancini shop in Reggio de Calabria
30 varieties of arancini

Once formed into the desired shape, the sticky rice and its other contents are rolled in corn flour, then deep fried. They end up with a nice crunch and an orange color, thus the term ‘arancini’ – oranges. And please try not to refer to the singular in the same manner. If there is only one then the word is orancino.

Back to swordfish. They are in these waters apparently in large numbers judging by their predominance on the menus. There are several variations in their use in the restaurants. Aside from grilled, it is added to various pasta dishes. Pasta Norma is one such. On its own Pasta Norma is a thick short noodle with tomato sauce and grated ricotta salata, a bone dry and very salty version of the otherwise soft, creamy cheese.

Pasta Norma and Caponata, Reggio de Calabria
Ricotta salata in foreground. Caponata is on most menus

In the old days ricotta was made by reheating the whey and then adding lemon or some other acid causing the milk elements to congeal. Thus the term ‘ricotta,’ re-cooked.’ Dry it out and salt it up and you have ‘ricotta salata.’ It all makes sense once you understand the language a bit.

Abruzo- the mountainous home of the wines of Montepulciano

From Pisa we drove some 500k/300m to the Abruzo region, staying in the tiny town of Caprociano. This town is home to 100 people. It is nestled on a rocky hillside. Our rustic residence was in part dug out of the rock by our host Gaetano, a friendly sixty something jolly good fellow. The pellet stove we used for heat was smoking us out without warming us very well. Our Italian was barely adequate to deal with this issue but his good nature helped get us through. He moved us to his own gorgeous summer house just a two minute walk away.

The area is made for hiking, which is why our travel companions chose the location. Off they went on several occasions, following village to village trails. It was cold and rainy during our short stay but our trekkers did not hold back.

Nearly each little town has a castle, many in ruins but some rebuilt or repaired. We toured the Castello di Pacentro, resting on a steep slope overlooking the valley. I climbed the tower for the fabulous views. It’s a puffer of some 6 stories, its steep stairs posing a challenge for those who never exercise.

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Pacentro, pen and ink, 21 x 39cm/8.3×11.7″

We arranged for a wine tasting in tiny Vitorrito. Mariapaola greeted us at their winery. See http://www.vinidicato.it. This is a father/daughter operation making about 6000 bottles a year of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo without pesticides or fertilizers. The main grape is Montepulciano. One bottle she served was the typical mildly tannic red you find everywhere. Another was slightly carbonic, giving a slight fizz. They make a golden hued white from another grape.

Mariapaola showed us their small bottle filler and sealer. They can do four bottles at a time. There is also a corker. They put the labels on by hand. The newspaper Correre della Sera’s book “One Hundred best Italian Wines” names this winery as number 91 of 100, amazing considering its size and the thousands of wineries there are to choose between.

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Snow covered Apennines seen from near the winery

In addition to homemade bread sticks and two homemade sausages (salchichas seches, dry sausages), MariaPaoloa then brought out cake and other sweets. We left some uneaten and she worried aloud in her charming manner if we did not like them.

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Mariapaola serves bread sticks and crackers

Another day we went to Pescara, a beach town noted for seafood. For 150 euros for four we enjoyed fine dining and two bottles of wine in an attractive setting. The menu of the day was 25 euros (beverages not included). I had a seafood soup with some thick pasta and lots of shrimp and clams for a mere 13 euros.

Abruzo runs from this mountainous area down to the coast. It lies roughly in the center of the country but strangely considered culturally part of the south. Historically it’s been highly agricultural but from the early 50’s to the mid-90’s, it’s become more industrial. Mechanic engineering, transportation equipment, telecommunications and tourism have become important to its economy. There are boar running around the mountains, hawks and other wildlife.

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View of the Apennines from our car window.