Trier to Bernkastel-Kues

I've always been aware of the Moselle Valley and knew that it's a grower of grapes for wine. I had envisioned a wide valley with its sides gently sloping towards the river. Nah, they're farming 45 degree angled hill sides. It's unbelievable how steep the land there is. We drove about 20k up the river from B-K and it's all under cultivation for grapes.

This is B-K. It's just cuter than a bug. They have maxed out the cute-o-meter.


Old half timbered buildings.


We hiked up to the ruins of a 13th century castle.

The view from up there is phenomenal. See all that green stuff on the sides of the valley? Grape vines.

The geraniums add to the cute factor.

We first saw these little trains in Cinque Terra and now here. This is how they get up and down those steep hills.

The drive up the Moselle Valley and B-K and the other small towns just absolutely exceeded expectations. Yesterday's ROI on time spent in the car vs what was seen tilted towards the negative, but today was just spectacular. It you're in this part of the country, the valley and the towns are very much worth seeing. It should also be noted that there are bicycle paths everywhere.
Tomorrow we'll probably head out for Luxembourg. It's Sunday, so hopefully the traffic will be down. The autobahns are great for rapid transit, but once you're off into the cities, it's bad.