Mosel River Valley

Living in Europe comes with its advantages and disadvantages.  Certainly it is hard not being able to see our family and friends on a regular basis and never getting a refill on a diet coke with ice but we get to take some pretty neat little adventures.  This past weekend we took Evans to a friends birthday party on Saturday afternoon and then headed to the Mosel Wine Valley to stay the night in Cochem.  We didn't really anticipate that the drive would be a nightmare of winding roads and teeny tiny towns that slowed us down considerably so we arrived much later than we expected to.  By the time we sat down for dinner it was past 9pm and by the glares we received from the Germans, it was clear they did not approve of us being out so late with Evans.  At least his behavior was perfect and we didn't give them any reason to stare (though it didn't stop them).  We literally stopped at the first restaurant we came across that was open because we knew things were going to start closing for the evening.  Imagine this beautiful view (at dusk) while enjoying a nice big plate of enchiladas.  Ha.  I'm not sure how the one place we chose to eat happened to be Mexican but it was pretty funny.  We didn't have time that evening to explore anywhere and our time was also very limited on Sunday because we knew we needed to get on the road to Brussels.  However, we have decided that we would love to go back some weekend where we can actually enjoy the beautiful little town.  As Deaner pointed out, despite our endless journey to get there, we were only 43 miles from our house!

This was the view from our apartment balcony and a couple closer up shots of the castle.

Unfortunately I forgot my real camera and these are courtesy of Deaner's iphone.  Good thing we will go back sometime.  Especially if I find out you can drive up to that castle instead of hike!  :)