9:00 am

On the Rhine River cruise. Too bad it's overcast. If it's too dreary, I may get off in Koblenz. I did stay at the Jundenherberge in Mainz. I met a guy named Scott from Louisville and Patrick from Sherbrooke, Quebec. We went into town last night and celebrated the Sommersnacht (or something) with thousands of others. Then it began to rain. And rain and rain. No coat this time. We all got so soaked, but it was definitely fun. Scott can be a real ugly American sometimes. But mostly, he's just assertive. I should take lessons. Anyway, I thought Mainz would be a sleepy little town and I would take it easy and get to bed early. Hah! We got on Bus 22 to go back to the hostel, but it was going the other way! We found out when it came to the end of the line and the driver told us to get out. He was pretty nice, though, when he figured out we were totally lost! He called us a taxi. Cost us DM2.50 each to take a bus to a taxi that cost DM23. We managed to get back to the hostel by closing time, though.

2:30 pm

The weather has improved somewhat. So has the company. I joined a trio of sorority girls playing cards. They're from Indiana University. It's so much nicer to meet up with people. Makes time pass -- not really faster, but better. The scenery along here really is beautiful. Castles all over the place! And cute little towns, as well as very touristy towns. This was such a good idea. My feet and knees are aching so bad. It's nice to have a day off. I'm thinking about going to Warsaw. Yes, Poland! Both Scott and this girl, Katie, are going. You no longer need a visa, so I could do it. Scott says it's so cheap, but I don't know. Man, wouldn't that be great? I should call Auntie Ann and find out where my relatives are! I'll think it over when I'm at Lark's. I could easily do it by cutting down Berlin and Venice to one day each. May be worth it! I hate having money be a determining factor, but I'm running so low. I'm spending too much. You know, people think that a month traveling is a lot, but I've met so many people traveling much longer. Two women from Australia have round-the-world airplane tickets (with four stops allowed) and are spending five months traveling. Scott is traveling three months, then will stay on in London working for 6 months. Patrick is traveling for an entire year! He'll be working in France picking grapes in September, then going down to Spain and Portugal for the winter! What fun! I could do that, you know. What an incredible experience it would be. There's so much more to life. Too many experiences waiting to be tried. I've got to learn some other languages. German would be helpful right now! That would make things even better. Why can't I be a linguist when I grow up? A traveling video linguist. Really, though. There are so many stories to be told from around the world. So many people, so many cultures, so many lifestyles.

6:00 pm

I'm so glad I made the decision to take the entire trip from Mainz to Cologne. Just the Koblenz-Cologne part can't compare! We're nearing the end of the day's voyage. Playing a bit more euchre and laughing about the Australians. These two Australian girls who I talked to earlier have just been sitting and writing for 9 hours! What could they be writing about? Not us, I'm sure. This was a wonderful, relaxing day. No hurry, no concerns. Just sitting and watching and taking it easy. A true vacation. I hope my feet and knees have recovered. Ashley, Katie and Paula are pretty fun. Still the sorority type, but cool. I'm glad they "took me in." I could've spent the whole day with the Australians instead! There's this great hotel on a cliff near Bad Godesberg. I'll have to go there when I'm rich!

11:15 pm

Such a wonderful day. We wandered around Cologne from 7 - 10 pm. Not much to do here. The cathedral is incredible, though. When you walk out of the train station, it looms above you. Not much pubbing going on, though. Not like Mainz, which was a party town last night. There were these two guys dressed as a bride and groom walking on stilts through the rain-soaked crowd. Anyway, now I'm at the Banhof waiting for an overnight to Munich. I don't think I can take the 11:36 because it only has sleeping cars and I'm too cheap to get one. The next train's at 12:48. I'll wait. I'm not tired anyway. I really haven't been tired much -- except after smoking!