This was the third day of the trip to start with a train ride. This time, Stephannie, George, and I took a train from Trier to Wittlig. From Wittlig, we rode 20k downhill through vineyards and very well-kept villages to the Mosel. Once we picked up the Mosel, we rode on into Bernkastel, which seemed to be quite the tourist destination, though again, there were no American tourists to be found. It was a gothic-looking town squeezed between the Mosel and the fairly steep hills that formed the Mosel Valley. Up on the hill behind the town were the remains of the castle for which the town was named, and covering the hills all along the valley were vineyards. In some places, the hills were so steep, it was hard to imagine how the grapes would be harvested.

We decided to take a boat to from Bernkastel to Traben-Trarbach. From there, we planned to ride a little further before catching a train the rest of the way to Koblenz. On the boat, we had lunch, and watched the gothic towns and vineyards slip by. At one point, we went through a lock--a first for me. About half way through the trip, it started to rain. When we got off in Traben-Trarbach, it was pouring, so we found our way to the train station as quickly as possible. After a nearly one-hour wait, we were able to catch a train to Koblenz.

Koblenz is where the Mosel empties into the Rhine (which I never did see). This was the end of that week's trip. Most of the group was finishing their travels with Blue Marble, a few were going on to other Blue Marble trips, and Stephannie and I were continuing with Blue Marble in Denmark. Those of us who were travelling overnight were able to take a shower in Martin's hotel room, as he was staying in Koblenz overnight. Stephannie and I then boarded a train to Bonn-Bad Godesborg. There, we did some shopping and got on the overnight train to Odense, Denmark.

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