Ramstein
I'm off to Germany to house sit for my friends Steve, Judi and her sister Sharon. They are headed to Norway on a cruise and I admit to being more then a little jealous. My good friend Stephie had done a similar trip this past year and raved about it. Another on my long list of places to visit. They have a Jack Russel Terrier, Benson, who is such a character. I'd heard a lot about him, and was really looking forward to spending time with him. I've had dogs and cats my whole life, and I've really been missing a furry friend these past two years. Life is a trade off and it just wouldn't be right to have a pet as much as I travel. The next best thing; dog sitting. Steve was even kind enough to loan me his car, so I was one happy camper!
On Monday we did some errands and stopped by the base so I could
stock up at the commissary. We ate at Taco Bell and I was surprised to see so
many new items. Hmm which to try?? Sadly I did not choose wisely. I got one
of their new burritos, and it had an awful tasting white sauce. Better to stick
with the tried and true favorites. Between the commissary and the local market,
I was very happy to see such a wide variety of fresh vegetables like corn on the
cob. If you remember from our recent trip to Nice, I packed a bunch of fresh
corn in my suitcase because Malta rarely has any and when they do, it looks more
like feed corn then anything fit for human consumption. That night Steve
grilled some steaks along with corn and it was a fabulous meal. I forgot how
great the meat was in Germany. I'm not sure if it the cut or perhaps what they
feed their cows and pigs, but the meat is so tender and juicy and just taste
better. On Tuesday the girls went to the mall for pedicures and shopping. For
dinner we went to a local castle ruin for another awesome steak dinner.
They left early on Wednesday, and Benson jumped in bed with me.
Sadly, I was in a twin bed and there just wasn't room for both of us. So we got
up and played fetch in the back yard before a nice breakfast on the balcony.
Benson truly is a character! When I say he loves his toys, I mean he is beyond
obsessed. When you walk in the front door, he's happy enough to see you and
all. But what he really wants is for you to open the closet and get him one of
his many balls or stuffed squeaky toys. The reason they are kept in the closet
and out of his reach is because he just wont stop playing and of course no one
wants to play alone. He drops them at your feed and sits back expectantly for
you to throw them for him. Oh, you're busy? Here, let me put it in your lap so
you can throw it for me. I truly don't know where he gets the energy. In the
evening, I would eat dinner on the balcony and throw his ball over the rail. He
would run down into the yard and find it. It was amazing to watch, no matter
where I aimed, he zeroed in and came racing back for another throw. More then a
few times it rolled under the bushes and I thought I'd have to go down myself
and get it, but nope, he always found it. The house was a block away from a
small lake that connected to hiking and biking paths in every direction. Sadly,
Benson wasn't nearly as interested in hiking as he was in hurrying back home to
his toys.
On Thursday I went to see my old Air Force base. I was stationed at
Hahn AB from 1984 to 1987. It was a small base, in a sleepy little farming
region called the Hunsrük. I lived in several
places, but my favorite was Traben-Trabach. It's down on the Mosel river, about half way
between Trier and Koblenz. This is wine country, too bad I never liked wine.
During the summer it seemed like an endless string of wine festivals and wine
tasting excursions with my friends, who drank their share and mine too. The
base closed down years ago and it is now a satellite airport for Frankfurt. I
went to the airport first, looking for some sign that this used to be a US
military base. From a distance, it just looked like an airport. As I drove
around more, I noticed an old, long building, clearly not in use and falling
apart. This was the supply building, very close to where my office was. No
sign of that building, but eventually I found what was the NCO club; basically
the bar for the enlisted folks. Oh I spent many an evening there. As I widened
my circle, I came upon a gate leading to what now seems to be a police academy.
Near the entrance, I saw row after row of dilapidated dorms, but they didn't
look like the buildings I remember. To be honest, they were falling apart when
we lived in them. I remember the plaster crumbling off the walls and having to
brush it off my bed every night. I'm guessing these dorms were build after I
left, but before they knew they were closing the base. A few blocks further on,
the dorms had been refurbished and there were police cadets everywhere. There
was a full blown campus with classrooms, library, infirmary, dining facility and
more.
It was kind of bitter sweet, driving around. On the one hand, it was
really sad to see those buildings crumbling and neglected. I'm not sure why
they couldn't be put to some use, converted into low income housing or maybe to
house some of the refugees Germany has taken in. Put them to work turning them
into habitable buildings once again. I know that's a pretty simplistic idea.
On the other hand, it was good to see so many of the buildings actually had been
used. I had some great memories from my time at Hahn; amazing friends
several whom I'm still in touch with 30 years later; grand adventures too many
to mention.
It was my first time overseas and I can still remember that first
day; the combination of fear and excitement at the great unknown. I was 21
years old; I flew into Frankfurt and the person supposed to pick me up was a no
show. I heard some guy mention he was station at Hahn, so I jumped in the car
with him and 4 buddies and off we went. When we got to the base, the lodging
office was closed and I had no where to sleep for the entire weekend. No
problem, these guys had a extra bed in their dorm. I ended up spending the
weekend in what can only be described as a frat house. First thing Monday
morning they deposited me safe and sound at the lodging office and I remained
friends with that whole group until the last one left a year later. I had
another friend Brad, who was part of a big group I hung out with. He and I were
roommates in Traben Trabach when my family came to visit. They asked about him
for years after; how's Brad, are you still in touch with him? Thanks to
Facebook we did reconnect and meet up when he came to DC to see his brother. As
is very typical of military friends, 5 minutes together and it was like we were
back in 1987, that same easy feeling you get when you are with someone you've
know forever.
I drove to the towns around Hahn - Lautzenhausen, Sohren, Bcühenbeuren... but absolutely nothing looked familiar. I
was hoping I would have better luck down on the river. My first stop was Zell.
This I remember well because they were famous for the Schwartz Katz or black cat
wine label. Sure enough, right in the middle of Zell is the big black cat on a
wine barrel with his back arched. The river and the hills covered in vineyards
sure seemed familiar too. I went along the river toward Traben-Trabach and
there, high above the town, sat the arched ruin that I remembered so well. That
was a favorite hang out of ours; I have pictures of almost all my friends, at
one point or another, framed in that archway. Sadly, the town itself didn't
look familiar. I walked around a bit, and it was a typical German town; flowers
everywhere, ornate wood carvings over doors and archways telling a story, wine
everywhere you looked. They even had grape vines, heavy with fruit, growing up
the buildings and crossing high above the street. I tried to find our
apartment; I remember it as a huge white building up a steep
hill, overlooking the city, but I just couldn't find it.
I stopped in a little cafe on the river for lunch. As it turns out,
they served wine and very little food. The only edible option was a boar meat
sandwich. I thought I would get that if only to taste something different. What
I got was two pieces of dry bread with a little butter and thinly shaved dried
boar meat. It was interesting, but not nearly as tasty as the fresh apple
strudel I washed it down with.Next stop was the ruin on top of the hill. I remember it being up a very very steep and narrow dirt trail. The vineyards in the area are all grown on the side of the hills, which are extremely steep. Between the rows are pathways barely big enough to fit the carts filled with grapes. I either was much braver or more stupid back in the day. As I started up this little path in my borrowed SUV, the closer I got to the top, the more stupid it seemed. The truck was too big for the trail and I was surely going to roll off and die. I found a place where I could turn around and sadly admitted defeat. Still, the view of Traben far down below was spectacular.
On Friday I went into Kaiserslautern to the Japanese garden. It was
underwhelming to say the least. Nice enough, but very small. I had a much
better time wandering around the Ikea and the Walmart like Globus store. In the
evening I went to an Afrikaner Night with a local meet-up group. There was a
girl Renee who just arrived this week, so I contacted her and we went together.
Much like my bestie Michelle in Malta, Renee and I hit it off immediately. As
with most meet up events, the people were very friendly and we both made some
new friends. Better for her of course because she will live there. The actual
event was pretty much a non event, really just a reason for the towns people to
gather on a beautiful summer evening. There was some live music and food
stands, but for the most part, it was really a social gathering. The
conversation noise was much louder then the band.
On Saturday I went to Trier. When I was at Hahn, I remember making
the 1 hour drive to this large city on the Mosel because they had the only
McDonalds around. I didn't even like their burgers, but it was a taste of
home. It wasn't like today, with American restaurants on every corner. This
was literally the only American food within driving distance. As with my trip
earlier in the week, nothing looked familiar. For one thing, I remembered the
Glockenspiel in the city center. It's a huge clock with life sized wooden
figures on a carousel that come out 3 times a day to tell stories. One
about the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V and the other of local coppers
who danced through the street during the 1517 plague to bring "fresh vitality to
fearful dispositions". I went to the city center and couldn't find the clock.
Probably because it was in Munich, not Trier. Well, that explains a lot. It
was still a nice visit, the center of town consisted of several shopping streets
for pedestrians. There was a small fruit and veg market with plenty of grapes,
including one stand selling them straight out of wheelbarrows. A little
further on I came to St. Peter's Cathedral. Its the oldest cathedral in the
country, built in 1235. This was after the church built in 270 was destroyed by
the Franks, a second rebuilding was destroyed by the Normans in 882. It was
quite an impressive church, both beautiful and imposing, just in the city
center. Down the street you come to Porta Nigra or Black Gate. This is a large
Roman city gate, today the largest north of the Alps. The stones are black,
hence the name.
I took a little tram tour, and saw more of the roman wall and a few
more churches. It was really hot and back on the pedestrian street, people were
eating fantastic looking ice creams. That looked like a great idea, so I got
one too. Clearly my eyes were bigger then my stomach, because there was no
way I could eat the whole thing. I did what I could, maybe a little more even
because it was just too good to walk away from. There wasn't anything
spectacular I wanted to see, so I headed home early. The entire area was just
so beautiful, driving along the river with vineyards growing high up on the
hills. The overall scenery at least brought back so many fond memories.
On Sunday Renee and I went for a drive, so I could show her around.
We decided to go on the other side of the Mosel river, to Cochem, the sight of a
really nice castle. We thought about going for a boat cruise along the river
because it was so beautiful. On the way there, we changed our mind and decided
to just drive along the river. Then we saw another place we wanted to go, so
changed directions again. Honestly, we could have been there and back by the
time we decided where to go and actually arrive there! We ended up back in
Traben Trabach. Along the way we found a great little cafe right on the
river. The view was fantastic and the food equally wonderful.
We made it to Traben Trabach and spent the afternoon walking around
taking pictures, having ice cream and enjoying the day. When I got home from my
last trip, I asked Brad if he remembered where we lived. He did, and drew me a
map. Sure enough, it was exactly where he said, a big white building on top
of a hill. I took a few pictures before making another attempt at the ruin on
top of the hill. We found another way up, this one a proper paved road. Still
really steep but we finally made it. The reward was worth it, the view
was spectacular. There was now a cafe up there, so after snapping a bunch of
pictures, we settled in with a drink and just watched the world go by. On one
side we looked down on the river. Another side we could see row after row
of vineyards, with the grapes almost ready to harvest. The final view was
looking down on my apartment building. It was a great way to end the day.
On Tuesday I wanted to get some shopping in, so I headed into
Kaiserslautern to the big mall. What a glorious day, 3 levels of shopping and I
had plenty of time and a credit card! I basically shopped until Renee got off
work at 4:30. She just started working and was in the process of finding a
house, but didn't have a car. I love looking at houses, so of course I was
more than happy to take her around. I was supposed to meet her in the food
court, but I was early. There was a Dunkin Donut shop nearby but I was shocked
to find out one donut cost $1.80. I definitely don't remember them being that
much!
Renee had 3 houses lined up for us to look at, but somehow we got
mixed up. We went to the house we were supposed to view last, first. It may be
because we were laughing so hard about 2 men who reached out to her on a dating
web site. We called them Hans and Franz. Both were fairly good looking; what
was so funny is that the 2nd one took several pictures of himself, one of which
was in a speedo. Now that was not a pretty sight!
On Wednesday I went to Strasbourg, France. Renee had been with a
base tour group the past weekend and said it was beautiful. I drove down to
what looked like the city center and found parking right away. I got out and
started walking then decided I was just too far from where I wanted to be.
I turned around and walked a block back to the car, but it was gone. Hmmm I
thought I left it right here. I looked around and realized I was on the wrong
street. Only I could walk 2 blocks from a car and lose it. Eventually I
located it and drove to the actual city center and found a big parking lot,
where a young man was waiting to shake me down. I've seen this before, where
someone goes to a parking lot and acts as a parking attendant. They pocket the
money without paying the meter and you get a ticket. I wondered how successful
he was since there were signs everywhere warning of the scam. Luckily I didn't
have to hassle with him as the police showed up at the same time.
Strasbourg was nice, but really hot. I walked around a bit and
found the Cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg but it was right next to other
buildings and you really couldn't take it all in. It was a beautiful old
church, started in 1015 and completed in 1439. I wanted to do a boat tour, but
Renee warned me it was too hot. It was an open boat, no shade and it didn't go
fast enough to get any breeze. I walked around a bit, had a nice lunch and a
cool ice cream then decided I had seen enough for the day and headed
home.
On Saturday I went for a nice hike on one of the trails by the house. The people I met along the way were so friendly, almost everyone offered a good morning and a smile. I passed a big cornfield and was so temped to pick a few, they were gorgeous looking big fat ears of corn. But I resisted, in part because I already had some at home. Judi, Steve and Sharon were coming home on Sunday, so I spent the day cleaning and cooking a big roast dinner. I was leaving the next day so I thought I better figure out how to get all the stuff I bought into my suitcase. LOL Not a chance! For one thing, I had a lot of frozen food including 5 packs of bacon (some for my friend Susan) and several packs of sausage for Mic. I ended up mailing most of my clothes back as well as some licorice and maybe a can or two of Mt Dew...
I was a great trip; so nice to see my friends, meet Benson, meet
Renee, and have a wonderful trip down memory lane.
link to pictures
Sounds great, Lisa!
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