It's Friday evening and we're parked for the night surrounded by tall mountains and of course, it's raining 

The further west we go the more dramatic nature and today we have driven through at least 50 tunnels, I'm not kidding I lost count at 18 (I know Mom lost count at 5) many of them were only 500 meters and the longest today was 4.5 km (almost 3 miles) 

I think Mom is getting more comfortable with them now, and the ones that are lit up and have good exhaust aren't that bad 

it's the dark ones that are spooky. Only Lucy knows if we're going down or uphill.

Anyway, the campsite in Voss was great with all amenities we needed and as usual, when it's laundry day it's also Lucy cleaning day and guess what............My grooming day ..............

 

Voss is a small town population 15 000 

After the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, Voss was the main point of mobilization for the Norweigan army in the west, since the city of Bergen had already fallen on 9 April. From Bergen and the Hardangerfjord, the Nazis met stiff Norwegian resistance. In Hardanger, some of the Germans climbed up the mountains from Aalvik the rest went through Granvin To break down this resistance, the Luftwaffe bombed Voss on 23 and 24 April, and the surrounding countryside on 25 April. Nine people lost their lives in the bombing, which completely destroyed the old wood-built town center. On 26 April, German forces entered Voss, which remained occupied until 8 May 1945.

 

 

Mom always makes me pose for the camera on grooming day

 

     

 

The campsite was close to town and had a lot of very nice trails to take long walks.

   

Mom made me stay and watch Lucy while she went food shopping, It took forever I thought and Mom's excuse is it's so many interesting things to look at and because knowing her she has to look at EVERYTHING in the store

   

I find a few interesting things myself walking around town.

An ugly old guy 

 

and a stonefaced lady in Norweigan costume

 

We left Voss early in the morning heading to Bergen which is Norway's second-largest city population 286 000

The drive was through a gorgeous landscape, so Mom stopped very often to take pictures and take it all in, and yes, of course, pee breaks for me.

   

   

Bergen is famous for bad weather and constant rain and the average annual amount of rainy days is 193 and we came on one of those days so I got a chance to wear my fancy raincoat (only the second time )

 

The rain stopped at noon and it became sunny for a little while so we were this happy about that

 

We did a lot of walking on steep hills .............reminded Mom of San Fransisco

 

By two o clock, we had enough of Bergen and hit the road heading North driving along the Atlantic coast with more tunnels and mountains.

I will tell you more about Bergen tomorrow, Mom want's to save the PCbattery because Lucy's solar panel is not charging so well in this rain.

We're both good staying dry

Henry

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good evening friends. It's now 7 pm and we're settled at a campsite in Voss, and we'll be here two nights because it's time to do laundry again.

It was still raining when we got up and it had been raining all night. Everything around us is dark gray and that always puts a damper on things. Mom said it can only get better and Lucy is keeping us dry and warm.

Our First stop was a town called Honefoss which has a waterfall in the middle of the town and has been essential to settlement in the area and the development of the town. The first industrial activity was the watermill, which dates all the way back to 1337. In the 1500s came the sawmills, which over the years grew into a large-scale industry. Hence, it was around the waterfall that most people lived and worked. Hønefossen has played a key role in the development and prosperity of Hønefoss from early on.

   

The town’s first public power plant was put into operation in 1920. In 1936, the wood-pulp grinding activity ended, and since then the waterfall has only been used for energy production. The demand for power increased as the years went by, and in 1977 the Hønefoss II plant stood ready to produce clean hydroelectric energy.
 The minimum water-flow requirement means that approx. 80 million m3 of water is led past the power plant, something that represents approx. 15 million kilowatt hours. Enough renewable energy for 1000 private homes

 

 

Under the bridge was some really cool art and it was also a place to stay dry for a while because

I do hate getting wet but Mom says we can't let a little rain stop us from going out to explore ............oh well

 

   

Walking around town we did get hit by a real downpour so we sat under a store awning for a while. Nothing is open yet and the town is deserted.

 

This town has sculptures we understand and a kind we much prefer

 

Driving along in poring rain at slow speed next stop was in a town called Flå............it's nothing here except this troll

Still raining and I know Mom hates driving then, but we'll keep going 

 

The next stop is in Hagafoss and there's nothing here either except this wooden church built 1924

  

Oh, and there was an outdoor museum too but that was closed for the season. We just peeked over the fence.

 

After this stop, there are no more towns for a long stretch, because we're now driving on the Hardangervidda 
an area that covers approx. 8000 km2 and is Northern Europe’s largest mountain plateau.  It has broad plains and rolling hills. In the west, the mountain range is more dramatic. Here are good fishing opportunities, lush flora and various wildlife species, and spectacular waterfalls. Hardangervidda’s highest point is Sandfloeggi, at 1721 m (5 646F.) above sea level. This is home to the largest wild reindeer flock in Europe, as well as other Arctic mammals and birds such as the Arctic fox and the snowy owl. No animals will be out in this rain except us.

We parked on the plateau and enjoyed a quiet night although it was pretty cold. Mom got inspired to cook a "real" meal for a change 

 

 

 

 

Notice those long sticks? they are there so the person who drives the snowplow knows where the road is when it opens in spring.

     

 

 

No animals Mom said. what is this on the road then?

Goats and sheep are pretty common running around on the roads so the speed limit is low 80k and in villages 60 and 40km  

   

 

There are over 1000 road tunnels in Norway and Mom thinks we have driven through half of them already (a slight exaggeration). Today's longest was 7,5 km ( ca 4,4 miles) and in the middle, there was a roundabout 

 

 

 

As Norway improves its road system there are more openings each year. Some tunnels are often long 24 km narrow and many are unlit............I know Mom is scared of driving in tunnels even though she tries to deny it I can hear her heartbeat and hear her sigh of relief when she sees the light at the end. The Laerdal tunnel is a 24.51-kilometer-long (15.23 mi) road tunnel that Mom has driven through once with Dad and said back then "never again" It is the longest road tunnel in the world, succeeding the Swiss Gotthard Road Tunnel.

If possible we will avoid it this time.

  

The further east we are going the more dramatic the scenery but since it's all foggy we can't see the top of the mountains.

     

These are roads you need to drive slow and to take time to stop and enjoy the power of nature .............it's magical

   

Down the hill and around the bend to our surprise was a gigantic cruise ship. We parked and went for a walk. 

The town name is Eidfjord a town with a population of 950.

 

The only reason this town is still alive is because of the cruise ships making a stop here. Mom said it was very much like an Alaskan town she visited there's nothing here. We walked around watching people coming off the ship to do ?????

Mom chatted with a guy who was waiting for his group to take them out in kayaks. It's windy cold and raining only a real diehard would do it on a day like this.

He waved when we left and not one person had shown up and I don't blame them.

   

All the interesting things we could find here were a couple of sculptures........as we drove around the fjord Mom had to stop and take a picture of the ship because it looks beautiful. We are both glad we travel with Lucy instead

 

  

It's a little chilly now around 60 F but it feels good and I get to sleep under the covers to keep Mom warm.

I agree with Mom "Norway is gorgeous, even in bad weather"

 

Wet kisses Ya All

Henry 

 

 

.

We are in Norway now.

 I think we stayed a little longer at our friend's paradise than we planned, but it was difficult to leave such a great stay.

One night we woke up and the moon had fallen into the lake.

 

sure, look up Mom said

The master fixer friend of ours (he fixed the lock to Lucy's bathroom door) went for a walk into the woods and came back with what Mom considers a true delicacy, and what we call "the gold of the forest"

Fried with butter on a toast is scrumptious delicious

 

Early mornings are so tranquil here 

   

Goodnight kisses or was it good morning kisses ??? I don't remember I like to give kisses to people I like.

 a  

All good things end, so Saturday we said our goodbyes, and we drove towards the Norweigan border.

We had to stop in the closest town because I had to show my passport to a vet and take a pill for worms so he can put a stamp on it.

I told him I don't have any worms but this was the procedure so there was no arguing.

No vet open no Sat.or Sun so we parked at the marina for two nights 

 

 Årjäng has3,228 inhabitants in 2010

Ancient findings show that this town has been inhabited for a very long time. Ceramics, burnt animal bones, and flint objects have been found nearby, dating all the way back to 3500-3000 B.C

Not much going on in this town but this mural is pretty cool,  the old Motorcycle is definitely cool

   

Mom made crepes for lunch

 

Monday morning I got my pill and my passport stamped. Mom has done this with my predecessor when required but has never been checked, so she thought this too will be a waste of money and time.................but a little later there we are at the border and checked so you never know.

 

We're going to Oslo? What happened to "no big cities"?

Oslo is not a very big city and we're only going to a park Mom said

Oslo is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of 702,543 in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,019,513 in 2019, and the metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1.71 million in 2010.

Mom has been here before but hasn't seen the biggest tourist attraction, Vigeland Park. (hmm wonder what she did here then?)

Norwegians love tunnels they are everywhere and Mom is scared of them, although she says she's not scared, she claims it is because she wants to see nature..........HA I know better.

Getting around in Oslo and trying to find a parking space is not easy. They still have cable cars and super long buses that have their own lanes but not ALL the time.....it's very confusing.

After a few trips driving around the park, Mom finally decided to park outside the Greek consulate and hoped Lucy will be well taken care of there.

The Vigeland Sculpture Park is a permanent collection of sculptures made by Gustav Vigeland between 1924 and 1943. The park is around 43 hectares and the sculpture garden is the world’s largest sculpture park made by a single artist. It is listed in the Heritage Act as the first park in Norway.

   

The most famous statue here is this angry boy 

 

The sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland's life work, comprising over 200 sculptures in granite, bronze, and wrought iron. It was installed mainly in the period 1940-1949 but is nevertheless a result of over 40 years of work.

     

Gustav Vigeland famously said, “it’s only when you put clothes on people that you start defining their religion or where they are from. When you are naked you can be anyone, anywhere at any time”. For this reason, all the statues are naked and many are in very strange positions we thought.

         

Vigeland Park has the largest collection of roses in Norway, with 14,000 plants and 150 species. Many of them can be seen here

    

The Monolith is the highest point in the park. Construction began in 1924 when Gustav Vigeland modeled it in clay inside his studio. The design process took ten months, after which the model was cast in plaster.

In 1927, a singular block of granite from Halden was delivered to the studio. It took three masons fourteen years to carve the granite. The Monolith is 14.12 meters (46.32ft) high and is composed of 121 human figures rising slowly towards the sky.

 

The goal of the sculptures is to depict life in all its strange and wonderful forms. They depict people engaging in various typically human pursuits, such as wrestling, dancing, hugging, and holding hands. They reveal a full range of human emotions, including anger and violence.

                 

Imagination can run wild in this place, and to tell the truth, I wasn't one iota interested in this stuff. I was hoping to let loose so I can run on the grass but nope not this time

This was called "a circle of life"

 

Finally some excitement. two teachers were visiting the park with some first graders teaching them about art...........telling them???? 

Anyway, they were as interested in this stuff as I was and they all wanted to pet me............I've learned to like most kids now. Not one kid listened to the teachers so they both gave up trying to get their attention.

   

Do you think this guy is inspired by the statues?

The park is enormous and it's hot so after a few hours Mom finally had enough and got ready to leave.

 

  Walking back we saw Holmenkollen ski jump which is a mountain in the borough of Oslo it goes up to 500 meters (1,600 ft) above sea level and is well-known for its international skiing competitions.

 

 

 

Mom kept her promise and we left Oslo and are now somewhere ????  After hours of walking in the heat, Mom was getting too tired to continue driving so we're now parked at a rest stop for the night.

Again a pretty decent wiev

 

Tomorrow is a new day

wet kisses to ya all

Henry

 

Good Morning

For several days, I heard Mom saying we were going to Norway. I don't know what that is, but if this is it I Like it a lot and so does Mom, it's like a lakeside paradise, where friends we met at the beginning of our trip have a summerhouse.

I must have been on my best behavior because we got an open invitation and here we are.

 

It's not Norway Mom just informed me but we will get there eventually. For now, we're being well fed and taken care of by our new friends.

Last night they ate these weird creatures which I tried very hard to get a taste of but nope not as much as a claw.

   

I did get to taste a new kind of very tasty beer though

 

I did get a chance to go swimming, but I didn't want to mess up my hair and Mom was grateful for that. She only dipped her toes and said the water was too cold.

 

 

Yesterday I met this pretty girl and if it wasn't for humans in charge I think we could have made good long lasting friends despite the fact that she told me off a little. 

 

Mom thought we were going to run into some bad weather with thundershowers but it never happened. It has been very dry in Sweden all summer and everybody wishes it'll rain except me and Mom.

 

This is a plant Mom wish she had in her garden 

 

This is an artwork on a granite wall that Mom always liked so we made a quick stop by the bridge where there's a beautiful rest stop just made for a "fika" break

   

 

Last night we went to bed listening to the waves and this view 

Life is good

 

wet kisses to ya all

Henry

I'm sorry for this long break in my story but it hasn't been much to tell lately. 

We left Mom's favorite island because of the strong wind and the changes and Mom was terrified driving over the long (6km) bridge to the mainland because of the wind that grabbed on to Lucy and pushed her all over the place.

We made it and went to Mom's puppy friend Lotta's house again and now we have been doing nothing to tell about for several days

 

Doing nothing like running in the woods and running on big fields is as far as I'm concerned the best "doing nothing" activities I know

   

One day we went to a fair and to Mom's surprise, they were not much different from the ones in America. Mom bought a homemade rag rug that may be unique to the states.

Then they ate potato pancakes with bacon and that was scrumptious (the bacon) Lotta don't eat the fat part of the bacon, so I say lucky me.

     

Mom sits around and doodles pictures from her memory

 

and we eat and drink, and drink and eat 

 

Mom picked a lot of little rocks at the beach and turned them all into ladybugs.

 

early mornings are magical here

we are parked by a historical narrow-gauge railway that's 71 km long, and only 891 mm. broad; it stretches from the forests of Småland in the west, past lakes, through small communities and agricultural areas out to the archipelago in the east. Along this line, trains have been running ever since 1879, despite many attempts to close it. Now, thanks to the determined efforts of residents and enthusiasts alike, the line is saved and is today regarded as one of Sweden’s top-10 industrial heritage artifacts.

Mom borrowed this picture from the web since hers was in the wrong format to upload?????

 

 

there are two cats living here too. The big boy is Elvis and he does not want to come close to me, but his Mom Selma is very curious about me and does not mind me checking her out but she will not cuddle like my Lilly.

 

 

 

Every day the folks play cards and eat and drink and eat and drink.

 

 

 

Maybe tomorrow we'll drive off for a new adventure as we are now well rested and fed.

It's much cooler now only in the 60ies but it's ok since that makes for great sleeping weather.

Mom is still disappointed about not getting to Barcelona as planned but from what we read in the news we should be grateful for not being there now. heat, draught, and fires is not fun

All is well here and I'm sending wet kisses to ya all

Henry

 

.

Heading to the German port of Travemunde, Mom totally miscalculated the time it'll take to get there, and she got tired so we looked for a place to park for the night.

We found an ok stop and there was this pizzeria close by so we went there for a bite. Mom ordered a Gyro............but what she got was this?  thinking it must be a language mixup she used the translate app. and was told

"Ja das ist eine Gyro". it tasted ok but was no Gyro for sure.

 

Europe has billions of roundabouts and many towns like to put some art in the middle often to represent the town in some way. This looks like something from space and Mom said she would love to have one in our garden ( A letter from HOA would be a sure thing)..............maybe it's a moonshine appliance.

 

We stayed two nights in Travemunde where the ferry would leave from and there was a fair at the dock so we went there for supper. Mom ordered fish and of course a beer.

 

The seagulls are enormous and very pushy begging for food. Mom doesn't mind them and even shared a few pieces of her fish but I could tell other guests weren't happy about it.

   

We walked up and down the dock a few times but knowing we had to get up early for the ferry we didn't stay out late.

Mom is never up late, but always up way before the rooster.

     

Our neighbor at the parking was a real snotty girl that snarled at me the minute she saw me. What did I do to deserve that?  All I wanted was little whiff off her butt, but nooooo

 

.

We got on the ferry at 9.30 am and this time Mom made a note of exactly where on the ship we parked. ( I don't think I told you, but last time Mom lost Lucy on the ship and had to get help to find her) 

 

When we got up five flights there was no place to sit in the dog area, and the cabins were $65 extra. 

As we were walking around the crew said we could sit anywhere we can find a seat don't worry about dog restrictions.

So I quickly looked around and, here's a spot I said and jumped up with a lady that was eating a waffle.

 

It turned out that this lady was extremely afraid of dogs, so as Mom is trying to apologize and remove me I had already charmed this lady into loving me. The lady showed a large scar on her knee from a dog attack in her youth. She took pictures and sent them to her family and they were all surprised that she petted a dog.

We became close buddies............

 

And I slept with her husband.

 

Ferry arrived in Sweden at 530 pm so we said goodbye to everyone and continued on our drive north.

 

We're back in Sweden and now Mom's beer sampling has turned into this. I don't know about that white stuff, but the cinnamon buns are ok

 

Again Mom had a place in mind for us to visit which was about a six-hour drive to get to which meant we again slept at a rest stop. A very quiet and peaceful place I may add.

Öland is the second largest Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of 1,342 square kilometers and is located in the Baltic Sea. The island has 26,000 inhabitants. It is separated from the mainland by the Kalmar Strait and connected to it by the 6-km Öland Bridge, which opened on 30 September 1972.

Mom has been here every year except the last three (because of Covid)since she bought Lucy and was really looking forward to first washing her at that place with a high enough roof and then seeing the people at the small marina on the southern tip of the island.

DISAPPOINTED is the word.

the small familiar place is gone, instead, a new gravel space has been built for RVers and the cozy home feeling is gone. You can't even see the ocean from your window anymore .............

Mom had planned to stay here several nights like always but I'm pretty sure that changed now.

 

 

 

Walking on the beach it was so windy I could hardly walk because the wind was pushing me in all different directions.

   

Mom was laughing as I'm laying down holding on the rocks with everything I got 

 

 

 

The old mill where we get "fika" is still here 

 

 

I'm not sure where we'll go in the morning, but I'm pretty sure we aren't staying here, not even sure we'll stay on the island.

To me, it doesn't matter but I can tell Mom is glad to be back on smooth roads, that are smooth even in places where the asphalt is patched. Less traffic and no more grey stone houses with windows boarded up.

Mom used to complain about how dirty her puppy country has become but in comparison to where we have been Sweden is still super clean.

It's 9pm and time for my evening walk and then I'm pretty sure it's bedtime.

 

All is good

Wet kisses for ya all 

Henry

 

 

  

  

  

We are in Travemunde now getting ready to take the ferry to Sweden on Monday. As usual, we started early because Mom knows how the RV parking places get filled up very early, so to ensure we'll get a spot we were going to be there at 10.30 am. 

Did not happen, we were stuck in traffic around Hamburg for almost 4 hours so when we arrived all places were taken.

The parking lot next to it is also crowded but Mom squeezed Lucy into a spot and hopefully, we'll get a real space in the morning.

It has been raining all night and on most of our drive but now it's sunny and hot again. Mom is longing to get back to Sweden because we're out of lingonberries and her favorite cheese.

Yesterday's adventure in Kassel was something else, I'm surprised Mom made it out of bed..................

we went to see the Wilhelmsmöe castle and the "waterkuenste" which is an astonishing feat of hydraulic engineering, with Hercules watching from the top.

 

The first part walking from the parking lot to the castle was nice, with big trees but the grass is in much need of water.

Nice flower arrangements here and there

 

 Beginning in the 12th century the site was used as a monastery. Under Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse 1504-1567 it was secularised and used as a castle. This castle was replaced by a new one from 1606 to 1610 by Landgrave Moritz. The current Neoclassical Schloss Wilhelmshöhe was designed by architects Simon Louis du Ry and Heinrich Christoph Jussow from 1786 to 1798 for Landgrave William IX of Hesse.

From 1899 to 1918, Wilhelmshöhe was the summer residence of the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1918, after the armistice ended World War I, the Oberste Heeresleitung, the High Command of the German Army under Paul von Hindenburg was moved here from Spa (Belgium) to organize and lead the withdrawal and demobilization of the German troops. It remained at Wilhelmshöhe until February 1919, when it moved to Kolberg. 

The middle tract of the castle was mostly destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II. The first reconstruction was made in 1968-1974 by the functionalist architect Paul Friedrich Posenenske. He completely reconstructed the exterior but changed the structure of the interior for its new function as an art museum. From 1994 to 2000 another renovation was made to bring it closer to the original structure. One wing was covered in scaffold so repairs are still going on.

the plan is to go up there to see Hercules....................that green thing on top...........

 

off we go through a magnificent park on a steep hill. 

The layout was devised at the end of the 17th century by Landgrave Carl (1677–1730), who in 1701 commissioned the Italian architect and water engineer Giovanni Francesco Guerriero (1665–1745) to refine and implement the design. Guerriero remained in charge of the project up to its completion in 1717. The Hercules statue was created by Augsburg goldsmith Johann Jacob Anthon, one of the earliest copper-wrought monumental statues in the world

   

To Landgrave, the structure represented the triumph of art over nature and the omnipotence of human ingenuity. Hercules is the mythological paragon of strength, courage, and resourcefulness. Consequently, the entire layout consisting of the Hercules Monument, the grottoes at its foot, and the water features are a perfect example of a Baroque »architecture of power«. This show of strength by a ruling prince, which is also reflected in the monumental layout of the park, is unique in the world.

   

this is too pretty to be called "the devil's bridge"  an arched pedestrian bridge that was built in 1826. Its name comes from the cave below, where the underground god supposedly lived 

 

 

getting only halfway through winding paths it started to rain so we stopped under a canopy of trees to stay almost dry.

All of a sudden we heard a flute playing, could that be from the underground? so we had to find the music

This man comes up here often to practice because he likes the acoustic he said.

 

Here's another flute player, but no pretty sound came out from him. Looking at his eyes he looked pretty "stoned"

   

 

Of course, Poseidon should have a room here too

 

 

There were so many "nooks and crannies" to look into and statues everywhere, some of them really mean looking

as you can see one part of the octagon is under repair 

 

 

 

   

 

Ok, Mom so we are halfway up now, here come the 520 steps................there's no backing out now

 

 

 

 

 

This gorgeous place and people do this???? smokers suck 

surprised they even made it this far.

 

. 

 

we're not at the top yet but Mom needed to stop for a minute but didn't want to admit she was tired so as an excuse she had to "look around" and take pictures

 

 

Here we are at the top and feeling good

 

 The statue of Hercules is located at the top of a pyramid that stands on top of the octagon; the statue and the other parts of the monument were constructed at different times. The monument is the highest point in the Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark.

 It was built in an artificial dell of the Karlsberg (526 m (1,726 ft) above sea level) 

On 23 June 2013, the Mountain park and the Hercules were proclaimed World Heritage sites during the UNESCO meeting in Phnom Penh

 

Mom could help thinking as she looks up at Hercules "he's going to pee on me" ..................

 

Unfortunately, the waterfalls are only turned on Wednesdays and Sundays so we didn't get to enjoy that. there's a YouTube video that shows how it works. Quite an impressive ending looking like the"Old Faithful" in Yellowstone

 

The Wasserkünste (‘water features’) might just take the cake, a gorgeous cascade that runs from the monument all the to the grand fountain. The water runs in stages, allowing visitors the opportunity to amble down alongside, taking many a picture as they go. The waterfalls are lit up in summer, a stunning image that ranks among the most beautiful in Kassel. 

Down half way, Mom felt she deserved a good lunch and she ordered this? 

What's in there for me? guess I had to like tomatoes 

 

 

After a nice rest we walked through the forest back to the castle

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was let loose to run because I had lots of energy left.............needless to say Mom was pooped

 

 

Here Mom is sitting resting with her back on a pillar looking up at the place we just were and she's already thinking about the pain she'll feel in the morning.

   

 

No that's not what I'm thinking about she says. She really really wanted to go inside to see the biggest art collection of Rembrant but no dogs were allowed it says. 

I wait in Lucy I said, but the thought of walking all the way down to the parking and then up again didn't appeal to Mom at all, so we said goodbye to Kassel for this time and continued on the road north.

 Now we're ready for a walk around the harbor and then a nap

 

all is well 

Henry

 

 

 

 

Yepp, we ended up staying at Kassel campsite for two nights while Mom is searching for a new place to look into.

Its lower course of the Mosel" twists and turns its way between Trier and Koblenz along one of Germany's most beautiful river valleys. The river flows through a region that was cultivated by the Romans. Today, its hillsides are covered by terraced vineyards where "some of the best Rieslings grow".Many castle ruins sit on the hilltops above wine villages and towns along the slopes. Traben-Trarbach with its art nouveau architecture and Bernkastel-Kues with its traditional market square are two of the many tourist attractions on the Moselle(what the Germans call it) river, and we stopped at both "again" Mom said

       

Here's a typical river cruise boat, doesn't look like the passengers are up yet, but not many are as early in the morning as Mom is.

 

Traben-Trarbach bridge 

 

This really confused me, I checked all three and it was the same water in all ????

Maybe you aren't the only dog served water here, Mom said

 

The German towns are so much more colorful compared to the French and that makes for a more cheerful atmosphere we think

 

Old winepresses are everywhere filled with flowers since they are using a different method to press the grapes now

 

The grape vines that grow everywhere are super nice and it's giving Mom ideas about her own garden 

   

It would have been super cool to hear these bells ring, and we were hoping they would do so every hour so we waited for a little while.

it never did.

 

Mom has become a real expert on finding parking for Lucy and sometimes I'm not sure it's a legal spot.

and In this case, someone else followed her cue

There may be two parking tickets for the police to write.

Mom says she doesn't think they write tickets here because people park everywhere, even on the sidewalks, and double-parking is the norm, which makes it really hard for Mom to navigate Lucy around.

On one of our walks, Mom found wild blackberries so she picked them and had them for supper with buttermilk and a cracker with prosciutto..............just like a Swedish breakfast.

   

The Mosel is gorgeous with steep hills where the rows of grapes grow so high and steep we wonder how they harvest them.

   

Lavender was smelling so strong and was so sticky I got several stuck on me

Makes you smell good Mom said

 

Driving around here can be a little exciting sometimes, especially when the road hugs the house corners and we could stop in the street and reach into their kitchens. Often there's no way to meet side by side, one or the other has to stop and let the other go first.

German are great drivers and flash their lights if they want you to go first, and are excellent at using blinkers all the time.

It's when they get on a bike they get vicious.

   

We left the Mosel and continued on North to a new adventure which I'll tell you about tomorrow because right now we're both exhausted from today's hike.

   

Gute Nacht 

and wet kisses to ya all