As Rick Steves calls it: Castle Country.

This photo of Cochem, Germany was taken after 10:30 P.M. The lights at the castle came on at 10:00, and the valley didn’t get dark until after 11:00.

I think the boyfriend is having a guten time in Germany. So am I, but please know I miss you peeps in America a lot, especially you CATI kids. Of course, I also miss my peeps in Malaysia.

We’re staying with friends in Germany. They showed us the house that Trump’s grandparents lived in. It belongs to a different family now. If I could, I would go back in time, and prevent that YUGE mistake.

Our hosts drove us to the house Kenric’s family lived in for 1.5 years when his Dad was on assignment in Germany 37 years ago.

We’re eating at Asia Snack Bar, as Kenric promised yesterday. The food is pretty good. The forecast for tomorrow is rain on-and-off all day. Kenric went to the wine store to stock up before the storm. The chef/owner of Asia Snack Bar came out for a cigarette break, and I snapped this photo.

I started talking to him, he’s from Malaysia (no, I did not burst into “Apa khabar?!!” like that dude did yesterday), he has been here for about 30 years, visits Malaysia every three to five years, has no plans to return. He said he could tell I am Malaysian when I ordered earlier. He’s optimistic that Trump will be gone soon, might even have a heart attack tomorrow. A customer approached and he went back to work.

A few minutes later, Kenric comes back with a guilty smile holding a bag containing two bottles. He tasted “at least seven different things; four types of wine, three types of brandy, and some I had more than once!”

Just the other day, Kenric was telling me how his Mom ordered a Pepperoni pizza in Italy 36 years ago only to find out “peperoni” (with one “p”) is actually hot peppers. She picked off all the peppers, and ate the pizza.

What did my boyfriend say when his food arrive this evening? “Oh, looks like peperoni is peppers here too, not just in Italy.” I didn’t ask if it was spelled with one “p” or two “p”s on the menu because I had to take this photo.

He loved the pizza. I must say, pizza with Thai chilies (cili padi) can be really delicious.

These are the beautiful ruins of Wernerkapelle in Bacharach, Germany. When 16-year-old Werner mysteriously died in 1287, the Jews were accused of ritual murder; of killing Werner as part of a Passover ritual. That triggered widespread revenge killings of Jews across the neighboring regions.

Fast forward 730 years, there’s a plaque that says “The Werner Chapel reminds us to this day to maintain brotherly respect between Christians and Jews.”

A message from Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) ends with, “Forgive us the curse which we wrongfully affixed to the name of the Jews. Forgive us, that for the second time, we nailed you to the cross because we did not know what we had done.”