KO is OK

Without a camera, it was a fast trip to Koblenz today, watching the traffic (12 ships and 11 trains in a 40 minute period), and the fog lifting over the castles and the mountains on either side of the Rhine.  There was only one stop at a mineral spring -- a bit too much of the minerals for me.

KO stands for Koblenz on licence plates and street signs.  I like this city--
1- easy to reach -- 36 km in 1.5 hours;
2- has great signage for bike paths even when there is a detour for construction;
3- easy to find hotel with a helpful receptionist even at 10:30 am, which is long before I could check in;
4- great tourist info centre right across from the HBF with a detailed bike map of the city;
5- big shopping center (Lohr Center) with helpful staff in Saturn even when I chose a cheap camera instead of the expensive recharger (about the same price in the end, but the camera was usable right away and the recharger wouldn't make the other camera work till this evening);
6- nice central grocery store with a fabulous local blue cheese (Montagolo), and a tasty laugen stangen (pretzel in stick form);
7- access to a whole other set of bike paths on the Mosel River which I followed along the river to Gondorf and then came back through the vineyards(plus 36 km);
8- hotel on St. Josef Strasse with the suitcases already in the room;
9- heated towel racks for drying the cycling clothes after being rinsed out;
10- sudoku puzzles in the TV guide;
11- Lidl just around the corner with both the red and white versions of the partly fermented grape juice - yum!;
12- restaurant on the Rhine that substituted potato salad for french fries;
13- free computer in the lobby when wi-fi in the room would be expensive.

Who wouldn't want to spend more time here, but it's off again tomorrow!