From Koblenz to Lorelay

Dan and I got up today and couldn't believe our luck when we looked outside and saw the sun, blasting through morning sky.  It hasn't rained here in about a week, which is pretty amazing and quite uncommon for November. After a European breakfast of coffee and toast with butter and jam, we headed out with our bikes

on a train to Koblenz, where we caught up with the Rhein River trail
and biked all the way down to Lorelay, said to be one of the most beautiful if not the most beautiful point on the Rhein.

Koblenz to Lorelay is about 22 miles, may be about a 2 hour bike ride

on a pair of good bikes. We on the other hand took about 4 hours to get there on Hot Rod and Pinky.

The first leg of our trip took a little longer than we'd planned as we were desperately hungry and couldn't find a single small town with an open restaurant or supermarket.



We kept on taking detours off the bike trail with hopes of a bratwurst and fries or a sandwich, or gosh, even a slice of pizza, but for some reason (these are some SMALL towns) everything seemed to be closed.

We finally found food in a larger town called Boppard

at the Penny Market, where we bought the cheapest lunch ever. 5 Euros got us a loaf of bread, salami, cheese, cookies, two bananas, water, and a pudding cup (yum!).

After refueling our bodies we decided to do the last leg

of our trip, despite the imminent sunset and coming of night. We made it to St. Gaor just in time to see the Lorelay in the light.

10 minutes later we realized we'd been shooting pictures of the wrong mountain.

So with the last little bit of energy we had left, we biked down 10 more minutes and got a look at the "real" Lorelay.

Unfortunately the sun had already set and we didn't see too much.

We did take some pics. for proof we were there, and in the end we're happy we made it all the way down there.

I'll leave you with the poem Die Lorelay by Heinrich Heine.

Die Lorelay

I don't know what it may signify
That I am so sad;
There's a tale from ancient times
That I can't get out of my mind.

The air is cool and the twilight is falling
and the Rhine is flowing quietly by;
the top of the mountain is glittering
in the evening sun.

The loveliest maiden is sitting
Up there, wondrous to tell.
Her golden jewelry sparkles
as she combs her golden hair

She combs it with a golden comb
and sings a song as she does,
A song with a peculiar,
powerful melody.

It seizes upon the boatman in his small boat
With unrestrained woe;
He does not look below to the rocky shoals,
He only looks up at the heights.

If I'm not mistaken, the waters
Finally swallowed up fisher and boat;
And with her singing
The Lorelei did this.