Fun Friday and Cochem Castle
- betsydelcour
- Jan 1
- 2 min read
December 21-22
Molly had been craving Asian food (Pho in particular) since we arrived in Germany - go figure. So we decided to try Noodle Fusion in downtown Mainz. OMG this place was SO GOOD! Really cozy, tiny restaurant that was packed with young hipsters (yes, Case and I were totally out of place!). Great Vietnamese food. Molly got a dumpling sampler appetizer while I got duck spring rolls. Case and Genna got crispy salmon bites that were awesome. IMO, G had the winner for her entree: crispy duck with peanut sauce. I had a beef noodle stir fry, Case got crispy duck with red curry (I guess we were in a duck mood?) and M got her beef Pho which hit the spot for her. Definitely plan to go back!
Next day we took a day trip with Rafa (big gamble, as he's not really "trained"). We picked the small town of Cochem because we thought it would be cool to see a castle and it's only 90 minutes away. For the first time, I drove here and did ok! I even found myself on the Autobahn...in the snow! The weather mostly hovered around 38 degrees with a nice constant drizzle - winter mix - flurries. It added to the German-ness of the trip. :P
Cochem is a small town on the Mosel River in the heart of German wine country. The town is first mentioned in the 9th century, with the original version of the castle built in the 12th century. In the 17th century King Louis XIV's troops destroyed the castle and it lay in ruins until a wealthy Berliner, Louis Ravene, purchased it and renovated it in the Neo-Gothic style in the 19th century. At any rate, it was a neat experience. It's at the top of a large hill overlooking the town, which made for a fun trek up the wet cobblestone streets! The tour was dog friendly (dog bowls throughout the castle grounds, although my baby never touches genpop dog water :P). The whole tour was in German but we did get little pamphlets in English to sort of follow along. The girls had fun, though their favorite sights were the cute fluffy haired French boys on the tour with us! Oh and of course Rafa found a spot to poop on the castle grounds. On the way back down, we planned to hit the Christmas market for some food and hot chocolate. But the instant we got there it started raining pretty heavily, so straight to the car (with seat warmers) we went! Overall it was a great experience and we hope to go back on a warm, sunny day.
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