Namesakes make a luxe voyage through Europe's river towns

IN COLOGNE I bought cologne, in Frankfurt I ate a frankfurt, in Mainz a mainz course, but Cochem had me stumped. The quest for eponymous souvenirs is tough.

escape mainz

IN COLOGNE I bought cologne, in Frankfurt I ate a frankfurt, in Mainz a mainz course and in Koblenz on the Rhine a rhine riesling was fine.

But Cochem had me stumped until it was obvious. The pretty town overlooking the Moselle River was a perfect place to sip a glass of moselle.

In Rudesheim, I gave up the quest to collect eponymous souvenirs.

It might sound juvenile but part of the enjoyment of drifting through the heart of Germany on a river cruise is going to towns whose names are embedded in your consciousness and doing something in them with a ring to it.

Cruise company brochures that speak glowingly of the joys of cruising won't necessarily refer to such things; nor will they tell you that Cologne's partly glorious waterfront (have a Kolsch beer at Slavia restaurant overlooking the river) also has some of the ugliest buildings around; that Mainz has a town hall that looks like a prison, yet just metres away its cobblestoned city square and vibrant farmers market is sensational; or that the stretch of the Rhine through Holland is flat and boring.

They also may neglect to mention the ABC of cruising down the more picturesque parts of the Rhine: Another Bloody Castle.

The 60km or so of the Rhine Gorge alone has about 40 castles and fortresses towering over its quaint villages and hillside vineyards, as well as the famous Lorelei cliff on a notorious bend in the river, where legend has it a maiden combing her hair drew unwary captains to disaster.

The castles, cathedrals and cobblestones of this region are a delight, but there are so many it can be an overload.

And again, not all the brochures will tell you the full story of these castles. Constructed by local warlords in centuries past, many had fallen into ruin or been sacked by regular invaders such as the French over the years.

In the 1800s, various people had romantic notions of restoring them.

One such person was wealthy Berlin businessman Louis Ravene, who bought the 1000-year-old Reichsburg castle for a song, provided it be restored.

The castle, in Cochem on the Moselle River, just a short detour from the Rhine, now is a dramatic mountain-top fortress seemingly taken straight from the pages of a fairytale.

But when Herr Ravene bought it in 1868, it had been largely ruined by French invaders and the Gothic Revival style we see today is partly from his imagination.

He spent a decade restoring it, in what must have been a jackpot for the local equivalent of Bunnings or Mitre 10.

The "renovator's delight" was finished complete with spires, witch's tower, keep, secret passageways, hidden doors, painted ceilings, dungeon and other castle-like necessities.

Alas, they say a renovation is about as stressful as a death; poor Ravene's wife left him for a house guest during renovations and he died of a broken heart just two years after finishing his handyman project.

Other castles along the Rhine are similar Gothic restorations, turning bloodied ruins into 19th-century Disney-like castles long before Walt was born.

Indeed, some towns are restorations.

Several towns visited on this river cruise were largely destroyed in World War II some of the gorgeous medieval half-timbered buildings on the Mainz market square are fairly recent reproductions. Thankfully the 1000-year-old cathedral was spared.

Mainz also is home to the Gutenberg Museum, dedicated to the man whose genius in perfecting movable type and the printing press opened up literacy to the masses.

Museum officials say when Johannes Gutenberg printed his first books a run of 180 Bibles in 1452-55 there were an estimated 40,000 books in Europe. Fifty years later, there were 12 million superstition and ignorance were out, science and enlightenment were in.

Other towns on the Rhine have their charms in Rudesheim, the Drosselgasse is a narrow cobblestoned lane of pubs and cafes where you can try the local brandy coffee, or see Siegfried's Mechanical Musical Museum with its huge collection of self-playing musical instruments, including machines that play violins.

But just as enjoyable is to simply drift along the river soaking up the sights of villages, churches, vineyards and farms.

This particular cruise was aboard Avalon Waterways' sleek new river ship the Avalon Panorama.

Fitted with all the mod cons and featuring careful attention to detail and two full decks of suites, it was easy to indulge in juvenile delights such as eating a frankfurt in Frankfurt while enjoying the trip.

After all, with the price including shore tours, all meals, a steward to take care of the room, a rooftop Sky Deck to relax on a deckchair and panoramic windows, why not be a little whimsical?

The Rhine is a working river and part of the fun of cruising it is seeing the barges and other hard-working industrial boats on the river ... then giving thanks you are on a luxury ship with Egyptian cotton sheets, L'Occitane toiletries, excellent dining, comfy chairs in the spacious lounge and other plush features of a river cruise ship.

The final leg of the trip into Holland was low key compared with the superb scenery of the World Heritage-listed Rhine Gorge.

It gave plenty of time to think about what eponymous souvenir to buy in Amsterdam as a Dutch treat.

After wandering the historical city with its hundreds of bridges, canals, cyclists, tulips, "coffee" houses and museums (for diversity try the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh, the Anne Frank House and the Torture Museum), it finally came to me.

In the cobblestoned plaza outside a bar overlooking the Amstel River, I kicked back in the sun and ordered an Amstel beer.

The writer travelled courtesy of Avalon Waterways.

Getting there
Avalon Waterways has 25 European itineraries next year on the Rhine, Danube, Main, Moselle, Seine and Rhone rivers, including the four-day A Taste of the Danube from Vienna to Budapest priced from $1028 a person, twin share; and the 15-day Magnificent Europe from Amsterdam to Budapest from $4651 a person, twin share.

More: See travel agents or visit www.avalon waterways.com.au

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