Rhineland...

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Was not nearly as hung over this morning as I thought I might be, which is pretty good, although I seem to have done something to my foot - and have some mysterious bruises that are probably from bumping into benches in beer halls and the like (one particularly nasty one right at shin level I think I owe to the bench at the Hofbrauhaus...), but having said that, I get mysterious bruises when perfectly sober, so whatever. The foot is not a mystery - I actually injured it on the 2nd, I think - I was getting off the escalator at the Munich HBF, and felt something in my left foot... not snap, precisely, but there was definitely something that moved in a way it shouldn't have, and there was a major pain for a few seconds. I walked it off, and promptly forgot about it. Yesterday morning, it sort of hurt a bit, but again, I walked it off, and promptly forgot about it. Two walking tours in one day, though, seem to have been a bit too much for just "walking it off", and this morning it hurt. A lot. I only had one block to go to get to the station, but was wondering if I would actually make it with my backpack.

I did, limping the entire way. Once on the train, I put my foot up on the footrests, and settled in for the ride. The scenery from Munich to Mannheim wasn't particularly interesting, but past Mannheim (where I thankfully did not have to change platforms to swap trains - foot still hurt, though not as much)... Vineyards. Vineyard after vineyard after vineyard. It was amazing. I mean, I suppose this is the home of Rhenish and all that, but I was still amazed at the extent of these vineyards.

My friend Nicky, with whom I'm staying, met me at the station in Mainz. I dumped my backpack in a locker at the station and we wandered around the Altstadt for a bit, and took in the Cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous. Much more interesting that I'd expected to be honest!

Spent the evening catching up with Nicky (after another fairly painful walk - apparently adding several dozen pounds to your weight with a giant backpack isn't good for your foot, as I was pretty much fine without the pack on!). Tomorrow, I'm thinking laundry and some more of Mainz...

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