The Fairy Tale Castles

I was joined for a week for by Ali and Doug. Once again Duesseldorf delivered in the form of Paul - who last visited Britain in 1983 - who was determined to show us how Wunberbar the place was. Mostly we drank the delicious dark local beer which was served in small glasses continuously filled throughout the night and towards the messy end of the night one or two Jägermeisters.

The very first hills of the route apear as you hit Bonn but it is not until Koblenz they hit you. Upon arrival, we were directed to the what must be one of the most surreal hostels on the world. Deep inside a fortress and pearched on a cliff over the gateways to the Mossel and upper Middle Rhine valley it was so vast that it had been near impregnable throughout history.

However increadible it was sitting in such a location watching the sunlight bring the surrounding landscape to life through to the awakening of shimmering lights of Koblenz at our feet, the experience was augmented by the presence of two characters. They were trevel workers who dressed in traditional dress every day carried carpenting tools and changes of clothing in a small cloth satchel. One of them, Jonnas, shared with us their idea of, as a right of passage, they had to travel and work, anywhere in the world, without once returning home for three years.

Koblenz signaled the start of a new Germany with a pace closer to what you might expect in the Mediteranean. Travelled down the streach to Weisbaden along the slim river banks and along the cliffs which had been carved out by the river by many forms of transport. The boats offered a fantastic view of the numberous castles over looking this historic conflict zone. By treaking along the Rhinestag we were taken through villages perched on cliffs with restaurants serving up the finest local game, up long steep paths to the castels them selves and the highest point over looking the Rhine before the Alps where the water until recently was far too trecherous to navigate - Lorely the mythical place of the sirens.

We passed through vinyards on the slopes, which provide the grapes for the Northern most wine growing region in Europe, then decended upon the village of Kobb on the banks of the Rhine where there was a 500 year old wine bar which served the wine from the very vinyards that we had trecked through in clay glasses. The wine we tried was amongst the most delicious I have ever tried - although it was dry, it had the flavour of elderflours and mapel syrop and glowed all the way down the throat.

The Citadel

Despite their close proximity each of the cities has their unique character: Essen has a drab realisim with large grey blocks predominant - even the the largest synagogue, which I have seen, looks like it has been built for workers; Duisberg is consumed by impressive heavy industry with a huge capacity but also bears some magnificent fruits of restored architecture none the less tarnished by soot; Dusseldorf is fresh and well formed with an affluence supported by the largest Japanese comunity in Europe; Dortmund - a combination of all three.

Hugging the Rhine, Köln is very different again. Built on the site of Roman colony then restored from the once proud medieval citadel that was destroyed during the war. Despite this painful destruction the city retains a lot of it's medieval character with buildings replicating and stemming from the ruins of the originals. It also feels truely European rather than strictly German with a rich diversity of people, cafes spilling onto the streets, boisterous taverns and food from across the Mediteranean and Baltic.

I stopped for a while and listened to two men - probably Jews since I recognised some Klezmer melodies - playing with a real passion. It was music that made me want to both dance and cry, with a raw energy and unpretentious precision. The accordionist laying down a continuous steam of rhythm without once breaking for a breath and the fiddler enriching the voice of the melody, building on the structure with embelishments which at the same time could not be predetermined or improvised.

Moving south passing through the south gate and old men playing bouls, I settled down on the banks of the Rhine outside Köln and let thoughts flow through my head, with a slowly setting sun emphasising the quaint river front of Rodenkirken interspersed with trees. Teams of rowers plowing inexplicably up stream and the spires of the Dom just visible on the horizon.

The European New York

It was only towards the end of the second day that I was beginning to get to grips with the scale of this place. Imagine Kelso with its strategic location and population of skilled workers. Imagine it blown up so that the new Kelso bridge is multiplied on a huge scale and is teaming with the flow traffic creating powerful and dynamic gusts of wind. Imagine the Tweed along Mayfield blown up so that it oncludes lush forests, grazing land and silted beaches. Imagine the buildings in the center blown out of porpostion to the sky with dayyling monuments to the trade that it is witnessing and subarbs spilling out over and area as big as the fertile lands of Scotland boasting excelent services and buildings streatching back hundreds of years. This is a land so plentiful that it is little wonder that one of the conglomertation of metropolises is called Essen - Food.

The Dutch march

Heading east of Rotterdam along the Rhine brings you to the frontier cities of Nijmegen and Arnhem. With the coming of spring these lands were bursting with succulent lime green vegetation.

Nijmegen is the oldest town in the Netherlands founded by the romans as a strategic camp. This became evident at my first stunning viewpoint on the Rhine. Having enjoyed the plesant park, prominade and sitting out by the few remaining old buildings, I headed east along the river. This brought me to the pituresque remains of the old town walls, shrouded in forest, which the people of the town had dismanteled themselves in the 19th century when it was shown that they were no longer effective. The point in particular is a preserved tower looking out over the impressive modern bridge with expansive views either way down the river --- it has been converted into an appealing guest house.

Walking along the banks of the Rhine until the sun was almost gone brought me past lush inlets and fields with deaply ploughed rich soil, until I settled down on one of the beaches sheltered by tall growth created artificially by the essential flood control system. I sat one of these many pier like constructions right our into the Rhine as huge barges pushed their load along on of the busiest trading routes in the world, throughout the night with a deep rhythm which became a part of my sleep.

Arnhem with its similar strategic location to Nijmegen saw some fierce fighting in the war. I was greated there at the bridge too far by healthy looking man in uniform. He was delighted that I was a Scot because it is a Scot from Glasgow who is the only remaining member of the 1st airborne divishion which was charged with only 600 lightly armed men to hold the bridge. He himself had been a young boy in a house next to the bridge which he demostrated with photos and supplies from the time including beer from Britain and Germany. The original bridge has been defiantly resurected and he plans to place a British tank at the site so that people will remember.

The Rhine Delta

I arrived in Schipol and with subtle efficiency was on my way to the sleepy trains. The haze of Amsterdam offering cover for our conversations which lead on to the tasteful modernism of Rotterdam.

The Netherlands and the Rhine-Maas delta are synonymous. Every where there is water - dividing fields into slim strips; creating fresh peaceful areas throughout suburban housing; industrial estates which refuse to sink; creeping across the faces of the tall thin appartments that are predominant in this unique environment.

The water is the wealth of the Netherlands providing an abundance of food, transport links and recreation. It is also the waters of the North Sea, which provide a trade links as far as Java, and the Rhine, which is the major trade route between Northern and Southern Europe, which has provided the commerce and echange of culture over hundreds of years which has made the Dutch a happy and healthy stock of people.