So--this time around it has proved too difficult to find the time and energy to post thoughts and photos of our travels as they have occurred. But now, on the eve of my return home, and while Libby is helping to take care of Mrs. Schaeffer (which she has agreed to do for the next three weeks), and before we drive down to Lac Leman for a Byronic boat ride, I'll try to summarize our time since leaving Belgium.
First, we must sing the praises of a rental car for travel in Europe. It is such a pleasure to be free to follow the road wherever it might go. We love the flexibility it offers: we have gone places completely off of the tourist trail, sometimes tracking down a literary reference from Byron, but often just following our whims. And, aiding our travels, and quite indispensable, is our GPS--a Garmin that we bought in Belgium when we rented the car.
So in Waterloo, on a Saturday, we picked up our rental car in Waterloo, bought the GPS, bid farewell to Frederique and Roland, and set off, following Byron's trail, toward Cologne and the Rhine River. We got as far as Aachen, where we spent the night in a minimalist Ibis motel, with a room like a cocoon:
 |
| Ibis hotel room |
The next morning (Sunday) we drove on to Cologne, and in the city center we saw a fascinating archeological dig, uncovering the medieval Jewish quarter of the city, just a short distance from the cathedral:
 |
| Jewish quarter, Cologne |
 |
| Cologne cathedral |
We then turned our sights to the south. That is to say, we proceeded to go
up the Rhine, toward Switzerland. Our first destination was Drachenfels, a ruined castle that Byron writes about in
Childe Harold. Here we had a magnificent view of the Rhine, and, with Byron, could contemplate the ruins of human ambition and desire.
 |
| The Rhine from Drachenfels |
 |
| Drachenfels |
We drove on along the Rhine, and as evening approached we began to look for a place to spend the night. And then, as we were getting anxious and weary, the perfect place appeared in the little village of Leutesdorf:
 |
| The Rhine, below our hotel room |
 |
| Grape vines in Leutesdorf |
 |
| Our hotel in Leutesdorf |
The next morning (Monday), after a good German breakfast, we set off for Ehrenbreitstein, another famous ruined castle that Byron wrote about. We took the cable car from Ehrenbreitstein across the Rhine into the city of Koblenz to get some of these pictures:
Byron also writes about the grave of the French general Marceau, buried in Koblenz, so we tracked down the address of the French Cemetery, and paid our respects:
 |
| Monument to Marceau |
 |
| Our car outside of the French Cemetery, Koblenz |
From Koblenz we drove south along the Rhine, which is wonderfully enchanting: beautiful vine-covered hillsides, castles, little villages. We stopped in Bingen, and spent the night in a comfortable and modern hotel in the city. The next morning (Tuesday) we boarded a Rhine boat to see the same scenery we had seen the day before, but this time more leisurely. We made a round trip to St. Goar, across from the famous Loreley rocks and statue.
 |
| Loreley Rocks, Rhine River |
 |
| Our Rhine boat |
After Bingen we decided to make more rapid progress (Byron made no direct comments about his own travels from this point on until Switzerland), so we sped along to southern Germany, stopping briefly in the university town of Freiburg:
 |
| Freiburg center |
Again, with evening coming on, we started hunting for a place for the night. Here is what we found: a lovely guest house run by a friendly man from Sicily, who also has the restaurant downstairs where we had a very tasty Italian dinner in this delightful garden area.
The next morning (Wednesday), we headed toward Gryon, which we had arranged to be our base for all the Byronic excursions we would make in Switzerland. Rather than stopping at Morat and Avenges, as Byron did, before going to Lac Leman, we went directly to the Middelmann's. Leaving the Rhine behind at Basel, we headed toward the Alps:
 |
| View from the Gruyere Highway Rest Area |
 |
| Another view of the beloved mountains |
