Boppard, GERMANY

Weather forecasts can change and today was supposed to be a grey, wet day in at least half of Germany, specifically the half closest to us.  Instead, the clouds turned from grey to white and from bedsheet-stiff to fluffy, the perfect ingredient for another trip.

This time I went further along the A61, past the A48 junction, and decided to explore a mountainous (or hilly) area past the vulcanic spot.  Ended up at Kastellaun, where I went up the hill to view the ruins of the local burg ('boorg').  After that, I thought I'd stop by Boppard, where I took this shot at the city centre.  There's a ruined castle there as well, but it has been converted into a wine bar, which I also shot, of course, but did not enter.  The extra is of the view across the Rhine ... so peaceful.  The second extra is of the ruin in Kastellaun.

Again, no real jams today.  There is some road construction going on, so a slight delay there, but no real irritation.  What I didn't expect was the many Germans returning north after a short weekend in the south.  Apparently, a camping weekend near the Möselle is not unusual, just enough to recharge the batteries.

No trips till the following weekend, weather permitting, as there's a new MOOC starting on Monday, a 5-week thing which I'll most likely finish after five days.  There is also the bookkeeping, some housework, and AW, as well as some much-needed rest for my legs.

During the trip, I turned off Runrig for a while, and sorted out my head again and clarified some things.  There's this handicap hole in my head, and I know what got it there (27 years of domestic violence changes a child's neural pathways, and the damage to the pre-frontal cortex is permanent, something I learned from the MOOCs), and I realize that that hole has determined a lot of things in my life, but also my ultimate goal in life.  Many dream of success, a fabulous house, a stable (and hopefully orgasmic?) relationship, and in my own way, I could say that I have all of those, but what I have always wanted, which was the most important thing for me, was ... peace.  If I look at the whole picture from that point of view, it doesn't really look all that bad.  I'm allowed, by myself, to enjoy the plateau, and so I think I'll do that.  Very, very thankful here.