Off to the World Cup - 2006!!

We spent this morning up the Moselle River valley, as beautiful as the Mittelrhein in its own small way. It´s quieter (ie not so much boat traffic), and not so many castles, but the hills on either side are coverd with old vineyards, and ther´s still lots of history.

We went up to Burg Eltz on the little River Eltz, a little way from where it joins the Moselle. It was beautifully sited for the days when infantry and knights did battle, but when the Bishop of Trier lobbed rocks down into the castle (over there behind Kenny) around 1331, the defenses were not enough, and the family sued for peace. Diplomacy kept it out of the wars that destroyed most of the other castles in the area, and the original family still owns and maintains the land. I kept thinking how the technology of artillery made the location of so many of these castles, built to control the rivers, so vulnerable to attack from the heights above. What works for one generation may be the weak spot in later years.

This afternoon, it´s BRA-GHA on the TV in the room, then ESP-FRA after dinner tonight.

Then tomorrow ... it´s off to the airport. Can´t easily believe it....