World Germany Nordrheing Westfalen Bonn

Talldeb's I'm Still Alive Extravanganza!

***Saturday afternoon - drive to Altenahr Apr 21, 2007

I decided to not drive in the Mosel or Rhine Valley - both known for their beauty and wines but to take a lesser known valley called the Ahr. It was a 2 lane country road - windy through woods. Lots of motorcycles - I think there must have been some rally nearby because at one point I passed 3 ambulances. I stayed in a little town called Altenahr. It was a beautiful little city that went on and on because it was built amidst rugged cliffs and hills. So the houses were usually only one deep on the road. And the beautiful babbling Ahr river flowed through. This night I decided to stay in a German hostel that was in a nature preserve and sat on the river away from the town. It was beautiful and seemingly quiet. Smile. Yet again the 100 year anniversary!! The German hostels are called DJH. This one had just been remodeled and opened April 1. Quite nice inside. They had an opening and put me in a room with 4 bunks and a bathroom but all to myself. I was very tired from walking several miles in Trier and fell asleep at 10PM. I awoke at midnight and heard lots of singing. The large group checked in were singers!! They were singing with a guitar all kinds of English songs from Kum - bi- ya to Hey Jude by the beatles. Kind of funny really. Put in my ear plugs and slept on/off until 2AM when they quit. Then I slept well with the mountain air until 7AM. The plan - get up early to get into Koln - a city of over a million before the other weekenders get going! The hostel gave me dinner and breakfast plus a room for E29,00 (E=Euro). And the meals were great all you could eat. For dinner there was minestrone soup, tortellini with cheese and ham, green salad, chocolate pudding and pizza. Excellent and filling! I was happy! Other costs: The innkeeper at the Goldener Pflug charged me E57,00 which included breakfast and tax. Very happy with that - less than what he quoted. If you pay cash instead of credit card they will usually discount some. Credit cards often cost at least an extra 3% to run. I also had an excellent meal at the Pflug - a specialty of the area called Maultaschen - German ravioli. It is a densely packed ravioli kind of a cross between dim sum and Italian ravioli. Excellent and filling also! Parking for 36 hours in Weinheim was E9,00, for 4 hours in Trier was E4,50; for a cappacino and waffle in Trier was E3,00; and multiadmit ticket for the ruins was E6,20 which I got at tourist office. So far most tourist offices have had some English speakers and have been helpful.

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