By the time this final leg of the journey commenced, I was half-dead…no, practically a zombie. To catch my 7am budget flight to Frankfurt , I had to reach the airport before public transportation stopped running…which meant spending the night at the airport! To make matters worse, when I reached the airport at midnight, every single seat/bench/elevated surface was already taken by weary travellers also spending the night, so I slept on the floor. It was so very fucking cold that I contemplated sleeping in the bathroom, close to the warmth of the hand dryers, but decided I hadn’t sunk that low…yet?
Nevertheless, I arrived in Frankfurt still alive and kicking, so I ambitiously planned to trek to a faraway castle for the next day. Getting to Burg Eltz, one of Germany’s best preserved medieval castles, involved taking two trains to the remote town of Moselkern, and then climbing 5km through the forest from the train station. You must understand that, by now, I am so tired that I can hardly climb a flight of stairs, but who can resist more forest and fairy tale castles? At least not me…
The train ride was extraordinarily pleasant, with lovely views of the Rhine.
I got off at the Moselkern. The train station was unmanned and the town – probably the smallest town I had ever seen – utterly empty. As I navigated through the town towards the start of the trail, the isolation of it all suddenly hit me. There wasn’t even anyone to ask for directions!
Thankfully, I managed to find the correct forest, and spent the next hour trekking up the mountain through wooded trails. The birds chirped high above, the river roared below, and I inhaled deeply, hoping to forever remember the fresh smell of these pine trees.
Finally, through the trees, Burg Eltz emerged in the distance.
It was a glorious piece of architecture,having survived countless attacks in its 800-year history. Till this day, it is still privately owned by the Eltz family after 33 generations. The place had so much history – simply walking through the cobble-stoned courtyards and the rooms richly decorated with tapestry felt as if I was transported back to the Middle Ages.
Returning from Burg Eltz, I stopped at the town of Koblenz and strolled along the banks of the Rhine. Having already walked 15 km that morning, my legs felt like they were made of lead and the blisters on my feet only worsened. The beauty of the scenery and my physical suffering certainly made for a bittersweet juxtaposition.
In Koblenz, one can see where the Mosel River meets the Rhine. I walked limped to the peninsula marking the meeting point of the two rivers, and climbed up the commemorative statue for a bird’s eye view. An important commercial route since the Roman times, the banks of the Rhine are dotted with castles of feudal lords attempting to tax passing ships. Although those times have passed, numerous passing commercial ships still sail along this ancient trade route. Sitting at the top of the peninsula, watching the river traffic and feeling the wind in my hair, I marveled at the enduring majesty of nature and decided that, despite the exhaustion, this was a worthwhile adventure.
Musings of a Leaf 