age (less than $200 a person), in case I wanted a mixed drink or a refreshing beer during non-meal hours. It ended up being a good value.


Days One and Two on board were spent docked in Trier, one of the old- est city’s in Germany, and the birth- place of Karl Marx. On our second night, we docked at Bernkastel.


This would prove to be a favorite port for me as Bernkastle, with its authentic German village look and feel (yay! not a Starbucks to be seen anywhere) along with the allure of an incredible hike up to the top of the nearby moun- tain to the dramatic castle (now, a restaurant) provided sweeping views of the fertile Moselle River valley down below.


The next day, we stopped at Cochem, which is perched high above the river, taking the tour through Reichsburg, a 1,000-year old imperial castle, before sojourning through the town and gaz- ing at its gaily-painted baroque win- dowed homes and shops. Wine taverns and fruit stands lined the walk.


The steep hillsides looming over the Moselle behold some of the finest white wine grapes in the world, and Schlagkamp Desoye - one of its longest-running vineyards - carries some of the best Rieslings you’ll ever consume. And so we did!


The next morning, I was up nice and early. Gazing out the wide window of our stateroom, I espied the imposing statue of Emperor Wilhelm I, who stands guard at the convergence where the Moselle meets the Rhine River. We had entered the Middle Rhine Highlands. Dana and I started our day on the city tour, but quickly disengaged ourselves so we could take a ride on the long sky lift across the river to Marksburg Castle, which loomed on high like The Red Keep from “Game of Thrones.”


The whole rest of the next day was spent lazily moving along the Rhine River, where we passed castle after storied castle - one of the most pictur- esque views imaginable. Thankfully, the ship has an oval walking track on the top deck, so I was able to enjoy all


of the beauty while I kept my body moving.


In Mainz, Germany, we were toured through the Gutenberg Museum before ducking into the Mainz Cathedral - a behemoth of a structure boasting six soaring towers and artist Marc Cha- gall’s world-famous stained-glass win- dows.


By this point on the trip, Dana had de- veloped a cough. Alison, Don and Louise, too. In fact, it seemed as if over half of our shipmates had colds, and so did many of the tourists we had seen pretty much everywhere along the way. While Peter and I were spared, I learned a valuable lesson on


Mid-Atlantic­EvEnts Magazine 67


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