Wishin' and Hopin' and Prayin' ... That the Rain (and Snow!) Will Stop!!

REUTTE, AUSTRIA – May 31, 2006

I walked the last 2.5 km back to my guesthouse in the rain last night, in need of a hot shower and a good night’s sleep. A few late nights in Munich, this changeable weather, and a day spent soaked and shivering left my immune system tottering on thin ice. I was not enjoying the feeling in the back of my throat like someone had opened my mouth open wide and run jagged fingernails down to my breastbone. Nor did I much enjoy the odd-tasting honey lozenges I picked up in Fussen to try to keep my throat at bay. But it seemed to be getting worse. Throughout the night, I could feel my chest rattling.

Up until now, the continual rain has been mostly an annoyance, but as of this morning, I felt desperately in need of a change in environment. Thoughts of spending another few weeks, let alone days, in this wet and cold weather left me feeling quite cold and depressed. I get frustrated with myself at how easily the weather toys with my emotions, my enjoyment of my travels, and my overall attitude. But until I can find a better way to handle it, I just have to accept the fact that I’ll be choosing to live somewhere like San Diego over Seattle, Arizona over Alaska, and Granada over anywhere in this mudpuddle called Germany!! It’s just that simple. And if Germany is going to continue to be such a weather disaster, maybe it’s time I think of doing something drastic… like returning to Italy, for crying out loud. That’s the last place I can remember where the weather was, well, decent.

I scanned my map of Europe for a viable Plan B, thinking perhaps to bypass Lindau, completely, as this usually charming lakeside town on the southern tip of Germany would have me smack-dab in the middle of Spring-gone-horribly-wrong Western Europe. But alas, I realized that I had little room to breathe, in terms of recharting my path, thanks to the necessity of booked-weeks-in-advance hostel reservations, a friend awaiting my arrival in Luzerne, Switzerland in two days, and – hopefully – a package sent form home with some much-needed guidebooks awaiting me in Gimmelwald, in central Switzerland. So into the mountains I go. But first, I’ll stop for two days at the Germany resort of Lindau, an island near the southern tip of Lake Konstanz, where hopefully I can relax and rest up, and if I am not out of my mind for wishing it, catch a few rays of sunshine.

~Melanie