Some views of the town of Cochem. To the left is the main town square. Below, two narrow market streets, the one on the right down a small ally. How they get any business is beyond me... but they do. It is narrow allyways like these that make Germany such a special place to visit and explore.
To the left, a small restaurant at the junction of the river road, Route 49, and the road towards Kaisers Esch.
Below and left, Rick and Mijke (pronounced My-kah) and their Gastezimmer. I met this Dutch couple while exploring Cochem during the evening. They were unloading tons of garbarge from the two buildings they had just purchased, gutting them so as to remodel them as a hotel. Their English was quite good, especially Mijke's as she had worked as a guide on an American cruise ship for awhile. They opened in mid-2005, but apparently had some difficulties with gaining financial support. They are now unfortunately closed, and as of August 2008 there are weeds growing up through the concrete at their former place. Their website is still up and running, and so you can see what they once had. It was a nice place... oh well.
The photo to the lower left is within the restaruant part with my wife talking to Mijke. This was in August 2007.
Outside of Cochem I ran into some great examples of the small garden plots many Germans keep. Land is at a premium in Germany, and many Germans live in tight quarters in small towns. They have two primary getaways... first are the campgrounds, where many keep small campers year round for weekend "urlauben" (vacations), and second are their small garden plots, where they go to relax and grow vegetables and other goodies for the dinner table!
And despite the end of the Cold War, the German Luftwaffe continues to train in the skies overhead. I caught this Panavia Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) Tornado stunting overhead. Later I would see a pair stunting over Trifels castle, but was too late to get a good photo of them, even as I managed to catch a quick glimpse of them doing rolls through a valley at about 2,000 feet of altitude!
