Music and the Moselle

Frank, whose favorite activity is playing the violin, has talked for years now about taking part in a music workshop in Tuscany, but as much as the idea appeals to his fellow musicians nothing has ever come of it.  However, we still get the catalogue every year and e-mails regularly, notifying us that there is still an opening for French horn or jazz tuba or medieval choral singers in one of their courses.  It was Frank's brother, Ingo, who suggested a chamber music course in what the catalogue called the "German Tuscany".  It was only for a long weekend and it wasn't very far from us, so it seemed like a good opportunity to test the waters, so to speak.  So the two of them signed up and Anne and I decided to go along and do our own thing while they were busy fiddling.

The guest house chosen for the course was Landhaus Arnoth, in the middle of the Hunsrueck, a low mountain range defined by the Moselle, Rhine and Nahe river valleys.  I have to admit that there is some resemblance to Tuscany when the sun is shining brightly, but it is an area that gets a lot of rain so it's in no danger of replacing Tuscany in the hearts of Germans or anyone else.  Frank and I arrived on Saturday afternoon and after we had settled in, the musicians got together and Anne and I had time for a short walk.

The Landhaus, or "country house", is composed of several buildings and a dozen or so hotel rooms.   Upstairs in the building above there is a very nice library and downstairs is the restaurant.  The food was exceptionally good and very creative.  I ate several things I had never had before, like red rice and sunflower petals.  I want to try cooking the red rice myself as soon as I can get to a health food store to buy it, but I think I'll pass on the sunflower petals.

Sunday morning after breakfast the musicians broke up into groups and Anne and I were free to do whatever we liked.  The weather didn't look too promising but we didn't let that bother us and took off for the nearest town on the Moselle River, Traben-Trarbach, about 15 minutes away - all downhill it seemed.  Actually it's two little towns connected by a bridge, thus the double name.  When we arrived fairly early on a Sunday morning, there was nothing going on.  I think everyone was still asleep or having a late breakfast.  We almost had the whole parking lot next to the river to ourselves.  We could see our goal though and began the climb that would take us there.

 

The path we took wound through the vineyards and eventually we reached the top where the scant remains of a castle stood.

This was what the Grevenburg looked like at one time.  It was built in 1350 and destroyed in 1734.

                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                      

                                                                                                                      

And this is all that is left today. 

However, there is a very nice restaurant next to the tower.  I'm not sure it is part of the original castle or not.  As you can see the weather had improved tremendously although it was quite windy in the garden.

Nonetheless we sat outside and shared our table with a very nice couple that was spending the week in the area.  They were dressed appropriately in hiking boots and backpacks and had come a lot further than we had.

This was the view from our table, which was directly on the edge of the plateau we were on.  From the other side of the restaurant there was a lovely view of the Moselle that shows what a winding route it takes.

After our delicious lunch we walked back down to the town, expecting it to be as quiet as when we left it.  What a surprise!  It was full of people and the shops were open!  This is more unusual than it may sound because shops are very seldom open on Sundays in Germany, even in tourist areas.  There are all sorts of laws and regulations against it, which are now being relaxed a lot but still it was a surprise for us.  We had a lot of fun wandering through the town and looking around in some of the very nice shops they have there.  When we had had enough of that we crossed the river to the half of the town that got the afternoon sun (I think it was Traben) and found a very nice garden where we sat in the sun and had coffee and cake.  Altogether it was a very nice day that made us eager to do something similar the next day too.

So after breakfast on Monday morning we set off again, this time for Bernkastel-Kues, another double town connected by a bridge.

We weren't as lucky with a parking place as the day before and had to park a bit away from where we wanted to be, but the path along the river was very pleasant.  I had put my hiking shoes on because I wanted to get used to them again since we were soon going to the Black Forest, but unfortunately I hadn't found my hiking socks.  (I did mange to find them later.)  After a very short time it was clear to me that it was a bad idea to wear the shoes with the socks I had on, so I returned to the car and Anne sat and waited for me.  She didn't mind at all because she had a good book to read which I had given to her, Almost French by Sarah Turnbull.

Now outfitted with normal shoes, we continued on our way.  We could see where we eventually wanted to be, at the Castle Landshut on top of the hill, built in 1277.

This time we went to the Tourist Information first and got a map, but we managed to take an entirely different route after we evidently missed a turnoff.  It didn't matter in the end because the path we took was lovely and probably not as steep as the other one.

By the time we arrived at the castle it was lunch time but there weren't any tables available in the courtyard and the menu didn't appeal to us anyway, so we followed a sign pointing down the hill to another restaurant.  The path was very steep and we were glad we had taken a longer, more gentle way up the hill.

As you can see the hill was full of grapes right up to the castle.  We didn't ask, but I could imagine there is a well known wine with a picture of this castle on it.

The view of the Moselle was similar to what we had seen the day before in Traben-Trarbach, just not as sunny, and in fact it began to rain a little while we were at the top of the hill.  Luckily, it let up when we reached the other restaurant and we were able to sit outside and have a very nice lunch.

After lunch we continued down the steep path back to the town, which was full of tourists.  We weren't as enthralled with Bernkastel-Kues as we were with Traben-Trarbach, although it is quite pretty.  We did find a jewelry shop that sold colorful stones that had been made into earrings.  It was just what I had been looking for for a long time so I splurged and bought three pair.

The rain began to come down in earnest so we got in the car and drove to a café we had noticed the day before hanging on the side of a cliff.  It was warm inside and a nice cappuccino and a piece of cake did the rest to restore our flagging spirits. 

Tuesday morning, a holiday in Germany to celebrate reunification, was stormy and Anne and I decided to leave right after breakfast and head for our house.  It was a good decision because the weather didn't improve and we could snuggle in with hot vegetable soup and a nice afternoon nap.  Fall had definitely arrived.