Re: Spring 2016 | Page 61

dough served hot with lots of vanilla custard and black cherries in kirsch, mmm a carb delight. Most of the cafés boast outside seating if you dare in December’s climate, but most chairs are equipped with a fluffy blanket if you really want to sip your cappuccino in style and still feel cosy and warm. Koblenz really does a superb job at capturing the very spirit of Christmas, people are cheerful and jolly, the shopping is second to none with a large shopping mall called the ‘Lohr Centre’ and lots of little boutiques, shops, cafés and quality restaurants situated around the main medieval market squares in the centre and narrow cobbled lanes. There is a distinct feeling of a French influence here, which is owed in part to the city’s history – in 1688 Koblenz was seized by the French. Castles, palaces, fortress walls all paint a very colourful picture of the city’s rich cultural heritage and past. As a family we particularly frequent a very traditional coffee shop in one of the medieval squares, offering the highest quality liquor gateaus and certainly its opulence and excellence on ly parallels that of Laduree, Harrods. On one occasion however, rather embarrassingly being non-German speakers we misunderstood the specials and found ourselves obliged to eat a cake, bread 61