Saturday 30th August

Youth Hostel, Nuremberg

We departed from Frankfurt and managed to get various lifts to Nuremburg, via Hanau, Aschaffenburg and Wurzburg.  I managed to change a cheque at the Nuremburg station, and we then proceeded to the Youth Hostel – we managed to find a young fellow who was kind enough to take us in for the night there.  The Hostel is very excellent, and is situated within a castle.

Friday 29th August

We departed from Mainz in the morning and walked for about 10km.  We then met a German youth a little worse for drink, who insisted on getting us a lift with a passing lorry.  He did this by standing in the middle of the road and waving his arms.  We were both quite alarmed, and imagined that he would get flattened.  To our surprise, however, the lorry stopped and we were given a lift to Frankfurt, where we booked into the Youth Hostel. 


In the afternoon we saw something of the city, including the Cathedral.  We were most impressed by the vast numbers of new blocks of shops and flats which have grown up since the war.  Most of the city appears to have been re-built. 



Frankfurt, Germany

In the evening a group of the hostellers formed a choir and sang folk songs at the hostel.  They sang on a veranda and we stood below listening, together with another Englishman.  An old man, who appeared to be in charge of the entertainment, seemed to think that we wished to join the choir.  He arranged for 3 chairs to be brought so that we could sit with the choir – and we had great difficulty in disentangling ourselves.

Thursday 28th August

We arose after a rather noisy night and swam in the Rhine for a while.  We then broke camp and walked to the other side of Rhens to see the castle on the opposite bank of the river.  After lunch at a spot further down the river we managed to get a lift to Mainz with a young engineer.  We booked in the Youth Hostel at Mainz and spent a most pleasant evening.

Wednesday 27th August

We left the hostel rather early, and collected our mail from the main post office.  We then walked up the west bank of the Rhine to a point almost about 10km south of Koblenz, where we pitched our tent. The weather being magnificent, we washed our clothes in the river and also bathed – very enjoyable!

Camping on the Banks of the Rhine

Tuesday 26th August

We departed from Trier and travelled down the valley of the River Moselle through Cochem to Koblenz.  The steep sides of the valley were covered with vines for almost the entire 140km.  The Youth Hostel at Koblenz is situated in part of the old fort overlooking the junction of the Rhine and the Moselle.  The view from the fort is magnificent, and it is extremely high and completely dominates Koblenz.


Koblenz

Unfortunately we arrived a little late, so we had to be content with a bed in a tent within the fort, and not the dormitory.

Monday 25th August

Luxembourg

After a very good night’s sleep we spent a couple of hours taking photographs of the city. 









We then departed about 11am and walked for about 8km, before we managed to get a lift in a car driven by an American air force sergeant.  He drove right across the German frontier to Trier, where we put up at the youth Hostel.  The hostel here is extremely large and modern – excellent!

We spent some time seeing the sights in Trier, including the Cathedral, the Church of St. Gangolf, the Porta Nigra (Roman gate) , the 10^th Century Market Cross, and the Roman Ampetheatre.  The town is historically very interesting, with many delightful tudor-type houses to be seen.  Unfortunately the weather is most wretched and held us up somewhat.  We spent a pleasant night at the hostel.

The Porta Nigra, Trier

Sunday 24th August

Luxembourg

We both attended mass at the Catholic Church in Grumelange.  We then left the hostel and managed to get a lift to Arlon.  Here we walked the eight kilometres to the Luxembourg frontier.  Here we crossed without formality and got a lift into the city of Luxembourg.  After checking in at the Youth Hostel, we went into the town and saw the Grand Ducal Palace, the Cathedral, Pont Adolphe, and much of the beautiful city.  There are many relics of the ancient fortifications existing, great walls and turrets etc.


Ducal Palace, Luxembourg

Luxembourg




The river Alzette flows right through the city.  The city is built partly in the valley of the Alzette and partly on the surrounding hills and crags, with the result that it’s extremely hilly, with steep paths and steps taking one from one level of the city to another.