+48° 33' 13.38", +7° 52' 8.25"

We're off the autobahn now, heading on the B28 highway toward toward the Rhine river—and Strasbourg, France. You know something, I'm actually kind of excited about driving across a national boundary in contemporary Europe, now that it's all unified. I've never done it before, and I'm curious as to what actually happens. And I'm even more curious as to what Bruno and Lambert think of the unification of Europe. I tell the two monks what I know about the border situation, and how I expect we won't even have to stop when we go across Rhine into France.

"So how does that compare," I say, "to your experience? You know, the borders of 1076?"

"We don't worry about borders," comes a voice from the wayback seat. "My husband is King of the Romans."

It's Bertha. This is the first time she has spoken directly to me since we left Speyer. "Right," I say, jumping on the chance to get a conversation going. "Of course. But still, aren't there some—"

"My Enrico is also King of Germany, King of Burgundy, and King of Italy."

Enrico? Who's Enrico? Does she mean Henry...?

"And when we get to Canossa, the pope will anoint him Emperor."

"Really?" I say, trying to catch her eye in the rear view mirror. "I'm not so sure that's on the agenda." I figure I'd better change the subject, quick."But aren't there, you know, a lot of princes, dukes, counts, whatever, with their own territories, their own armies...?"

"My son is Duke of Lower Lotharingia," says Bertha. There's something final in her tone, as if Conrad's dukedom is all I need to know on the subject of rival principalities.

"That's great," I say, nodding my head. "You... uh... you must be proud of him...."

What the hell is Conrad is doing? I look around, as best I can, in the mirror. The Duke of whatever-it-is had better still be in his kindersitz!

"Lower Lotharingia," says Bruno, "is basically what you would call the Low Countries. That's—"

"I know what they are," I say. "Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg. Benelux."

"Very good!" says Lambert, his voice dripping with unctuous superiority, "Except that Luxembourg would be part of Upper Lotharingia."

Okay, I give up. We're going to stop in Strasbourg and get a hotel room. I'm going to get a good night's sleep before I try talking to these people again. How long has it been since I slept? really slept? not counting those semi-hallucinatory hours aboard the jumbo jet, half-dreaming yet excruciatingly aware of the passage of time? I'm too busy driving to figure it out.