Day 7: Cochem & Cologne, Germany

Cochem is absolutely beautiful. Lush rolling hillsides and wine vineyards fill the valley. Clean cobblestone streets with a number of shops and restaurants line the riverfront. Oh, and did I mention the bad ass huge castle overlooking everything?
After breakfast we walked the streets in search of our first excursion - a wine tasting in a cafe lined with beautiful ivy creeping up the outer walls. We had a Pinot Noir, and three Reislings. The owner spoke excellent english and was full on insight. That was probably my favorite excursion thus far, other than driving through the Black Forrest.
Once all the wine was gone we ditched our group, yet again, and roamed the streets in search of allergy medicine because my hay fever was reaching alarming levels at this point.
An hour later we found ourselves sitting on a terrace people watching while having lunch. Amber was craving Italian, so we both had spaghetti bolognese accompanied with a refreshing glass of pils.
12:30pm arrived and it was time to set sail to Cologne. We arrived in Cologne around midnight and decided to check out the city, since it was Saturday night. Thus far we’d been in small, quiet towns. However, Cologne is a pretty big city with a rambuncious young crowd - at least it was this night. A lot of drunken frat boys singing at the top of their lungs in the streets made for a pretty entertaining night. We stopped at a late night food stand and I got my usual - doner kebap and a beer - while amber chose unwisely and got a vegetarian pizza which she only ate half of.
We chose one of many pubs with loud hip hop music and dancing to grab a beer and watch the chaos. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought it was New Years, lol. Surprisingly, we were younger than most of the party goers, at least in this bar.
After an hour or so we were ready to hit the hay, and finally were able to sleep through the night! Today was my favorite day so far =)

Cochem - 9.5/10