Downtown Koblenz Germany
Today was a leisure day with no riding. Originally we were to participate in a local Chapter ride but due to rainy weather it was cancelled. I was able to sleep in and did not wake until 9:15 am which was lovely. After breakfast a few of us sat around and chatted and some of us then went for a quick nap. Thankfully I think I am now caught up on my sleep.
View from the top of the statue
Lorraine called my room to let me know that a few of the group would be heading downtown again at 2:00. We headed out with raincoats and umbrellas ready for to tackle the rain. We were very fortunate as it didn’t really rain hard at all while we toured along the river to the point where the two rivers meet in Koblenz. The walkways are beautiful; however you must watch out for the bicycles as they do not slow down and it seems they have the right of way here and not the pedestrians. They don’t use bells or even say anything as they seem to just speed up as they are heading towards a group of people that are not aware of the rules of the pathway. Thankfully no one was run over and everyone was watching out for each other to let people know when a bicycle was coming.
After walking along the rivers we headed into the old part of downtown again. Amazing streets with more beautiful shops for men and women designer clothing and I thought of my friend Nancy at home who would just be overjoyed to shop in some of those stores! Heading through the narrow streets we looked for a place that we could order bratwurst sausage (not sure of the spelling but you know what I mean).Not to forget that while walking along the guys were quite interested in checking out the ‘train’ as it was passing by – I wish I could have snapped a picture as each of them were starring!
We found a great pub and of course there were other Posse Riders there too! It is fun bumping into everyone as we all wander around aimlessly taking in all the sites. The food and beer were excellent as it has been so far on this trip.
Soon after leaving the pub we headed out to look for an ice cream place we had all spotted last night which had been closed. I was going to forego the ice cream but couldn’t resist after everyone had ordered. Delicious and well worth it!
While eating our ice cream a street band was setting up and started to play for everyone. No sooner had the hat been placed and the music had started people were very generous filling up the hat with coins.
There was a group of students (probably grade 7 or 8) there and they were very excited to put their coins in the hat as well and it seemed to be a bit of a competition until one young lad put a $5.00 euro in and it seemed to stop from there.
Cheering as Germany scored its 5th goal!
Once arriving back at the hotel I went for another nap and took a shower to get ready for the big ‘football’ game between Germany and Brazil. The Posse had organized a room for us to watch the game in – it was great to see a semi-final game being played and watching it with the Germans in Germany and it certainly was a treat even though I normally don’t watch ‘football’ I found it very interesting and I learned a few of the rules from fellow Posse riders. After the game was 7 – 0 for the Germans I decided it was time to head to my room to complete my blog, pack and get ready for the ride tomorrow.
I don’t think we are going to be lucky with the weather tomorrow and will probably end up riding in the rain which is unfortunate as we are heading into France and into the mountains. Riding I am sure will be spectacular even in the rain.
