Till I Think of the Bishop of Bingen in his Mouse-Tower on the Rhein

Between the dark and the daylight,

       When the night is beginning to lower,

Comes a pause in the day's occupations,

      That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me

      The patter of little feet,

The sound of a door that is opened,

      And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,

      Descending the broad hall stair,

Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,

      And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:

      Yet I know by their merry eyes

They are plotting and planning together

      To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,

      A sudden raid from the hall!

By three doors left unguarded

      They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret

      O'er the arms and back of my chair;

If I try to escape, they surround me;

      They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,

      Their arms about me entwine,

Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen

      In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, O blue-eyed banditti,

      Because you have scaled the wall,

Such an old mustache as I am

      Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,

      And will not let you depart,

But put you down into the dungeon

      In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,

      Yes, forever and a day,

Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,

      And moulder in dust away!

After breakfast this morning, we drove along the Rhein to Bingen. There we visited the Hildegard Von Bingen museum, which is dedicated to telling the story of the life, writings, and works of Hildegard. Hildegard is one of few recognizable women composers from the 12th century. At age eight she was tithed by her family to the church, and she was clearly a gifted child. 

Throughout her lifetime, Hildegard started two convents and headed their brother monastery. She also traveled frequently and wrote about theology, the sciences, and composed music for the daily mass services. She even developed her own language which is only partially detected to this day! Living to be 82, a long time for her era and a sickly kid, she was extremely influential withe her writings and her political standpoint. What an incredible woman! 

We also saw the famous Mouse Tower on the Rhein, where the bishop was locked away in the 12th century for supporting the pope. Mostly the tower is sentimental to me because of its mention in my favorite poem, The Children's Hour, by H.W. Longfellow. 

Lunch was a treat at a hunting lodge just outside of Baden Baden. The good was exceptional, and included a fun little game of charades when figuring out what dishes were. 

Driving along through the Black Forest on our way to Switzerland, we encountered snow! My first up-close snow of the season! We stopped in a small mountain town called Triberg - apparently the coo-coo clock capital of the world - for a little pastry and coffee snack. I had to try the Black Forrest Cake, and I was not disappointed! 

Hang with me folks, we're nearing the end! 

All along our travels the boarders have been very subtle. We haven't had to stop at any point to show out passports when crossing between these Central European countries. The same does not hold true for Switzerland. Although there weren't any unnecessary hoops (we just had to buy a tool road pass) the system was disastrous! As soon as we crossed the boarder, we saw that cars were just pulling off in a clump to the side, then running (because it was cold and rainy) to the little booths to do whatever they needed to do. What a mess! Ah well, we made it out of their and on out way before too long. 

We arrived at our guesthouse several hours after dark, but just before the rain turned back to snow. It is really just two spare bedrooms, a toilet room, and a washroom in the downstairs of a woman's house. It sure is cute though!