Alas, sweet monsieur, that 'eternal unchanging motions of the Rhine River', harboring plump maidens sexually harassed by vicious trolls, has never rung true to me, knowing what must have happened along the Rhine in terms of the at least occasional factory and improper sewage disposal...Holderlin went on about it, but ended up in a madhouse anyway, due to too much sun in Provence, I believe it was.

It's always ridiculous to look through a new Ring Cycle, but it's all that labour camp business with the gnomes that will kill you, and one thanks you for being a kind of companion through Das Rheingold. I'm even more corrupt than I thought, because when Wotan gives the ring to the giants to let Freia of youthening Golden Apples free of unhygienic beravishment, the procession of the gods up to the castle built on unclean money was nevertheless a relief. Easy enough to see that the Communists would seize on this (thinking the vile trolls adorable) quite as easy as Hitler and his friends, who always look toward the slow-moving nobles in these big grandiosities. The 2nd one is not so hard to get through, because you can always look forward to the Valkyries, who are often dressed to a Nazi farethewell..would nevertheless probably be all right even in a brackish-water venue, but I daresay the Danube probably is not all that Beautiful Blue either...never been to Germany though....

hotbtminla, this was a lovely thread, you know....