Taking Europe by STORM: Cochem and the Bitburger Brewery

Today we didn't have anything scheduled, so we decided to take an impromtu trip to a couple of the cities near Leiwen that were recommended by the staff at the condo. The first town we visited was Cochem, a small town on the Mosel River that has an absolutely gorgeous castle at the very top of the town. And I do mean the TOP.

Once we hiked up to the castle (and I caught my breath...I thought I was going to die on the walk up. The streets were more than a 45 degree angle up in some spots!) we were able to take a guided tour through the castle and the grounds. This is the only furnished castle that we have visited so far on this trip. It was a beautiful castle with some amazing things inside.

This is the view down to the city from the castle. Folks, we started on the street. THAT's how far we hiked up!

The castle was filled with beautiful Dutch plates and tiles.

This was one of the first pieces of moveable furniture to be introduced to the region. Prior to these pieces, all bureaus etc were built into the walls.

This hanging was supposed to be a good luck mermaid. The inhabitants of the castle believed that this mermaid would drive out all the evil and bad luck, and if you walked directly beneath her you would be showered with additional luck.

I tried to figure out a way to get this out of the castle, but figured someone would see me :)

This is the most valuable piece of furniture in the castle. It was made with 8 different types of wood.

After our time in Cochem we drove to Bitburg so that we could take a tour of the Bitburger Brewery. This is a very popular German beer, and it's slogan is Bitte ein Bit (please, one Bit(burger)).

After the tour we all got to sample the beer. I thought it was absolutely gross, very bitter, which I guess is the aim since we are in Bitburg and are drinking Bitburger beer.