Trip 3: Germany & Italy

30 October – 10 November 2011

Wake up. Try to wake up Al and head down to breakfast. At some point, we missed the memo that Day Light Savings time ended last night. O. I know why. It was written in French. Yep. I need to learn French. And Swahili. And Italian. And German. And Norwegian. My brain is in language overload. Because on a good day, I can barely speak English.

Eat breakfast, gather our goods, and away we go. This time to Ramstein. Otherwise, known as the Land of the Big PX. For those of you who don’t know, the PX is the Army exchange. Once upon a time, it was a department store where you could save money and buy clothes, household items, electronics, etc. Now, it’s just an okay department store. The days of the super savings are gone. So, I rarely shop there.

It’s about a 2.5 hour drive from Zellenberg to Ramstein. We are staying at a bed & breakfast in a little town near by because we were told that there was no way we would be able to obtain a room on base. Fine by me. I’m not the traditional Army dependent. I’d rather explore the world beyond the 8’ fence. Call me crazy. But, it’s just the way I am.

Arrive to our hotel in Schweldbach. Check in. Score another fantastic guesthouse. Such a change from African guesthouses. In a running water, clean surroundings, lack of burning trash, cool air kind of way. Funny. It’s amazing how quickly you can adjust to what’s in front of you rather than what’s out there. Starting to make sense why some tribes never change.

Figure out where Ramstein and Landstuhl are. Drive around to figure out where we need to be early in the morning. Liam and Al have a conference. I have time to waste and doctor appointments. I’m broken again. Finally listening to Liam and taking care of my shoulder, knee, and post-miscarriage blood work.

Grab some dinner at a great little mom and pop diner. The portions in Germany are out of control. Liam and I could easily split every meal and still have left overs. Head back to the hotel and get some sleep. It’s going to be an early morning.

Woke up early. I had a doctor’s appointment at 0730. Sheesh. It’s the only time they could squeeze me in. Drop the guys off really early at their conference on Ramstein. Head to Landstuhl for my doctor’s appointment. I arrive really early since I was told getting through the gate could be an absolute nightmare. Then, there is the parking problem. But, guess what. I was through the gate and parked in about 5 minutes flat. I couldn’t believe it.

Find the ortho clinic and become a fixture in their waiting room for an hour. Thankfully, I grabbed my IPhone before we left Dar and had my old friend Angry Birds to keep me company! Saw the doc. Scheduled arthrogram. Tried to have all a thrombophilia panel done, but it didn’t get put into the system properly. Will have to figure that out later.

Spent the next two days shuttling the boys to their meetings, hanging out at the hospital waiting for all my appointments to be done, and wandering around the land of the Big PX. Being back in America is weird. I’m starting to think I prefer the 3^rd world. While in Ramstein, had lunch with several other African FAO spouses. It was nice to meet a few more spouses and get their input on living in our crazy world. Leave Ramstein on November 2^nd headed for Stuttgart.

Spent a few days in Stuttgart so the guys could go to Africom headquarters. We also mailed all of our wine and some of the groceries we picked up at the commissary. I hope our wine makes it to Africa in one piece.

Leave Stuttgart and head to Munich to pick up Al’s sister-in-law, Christina, and Brian.  Brian works with Al at our embassy in Mauritania. Gather everyone and head to Bavaria. Liam wanted to go to Berchtesgaden to see Eagle’s Nest and hang out in the Alps. However, since we were there so late in the season, everything was closed. So, we are going to have to come back when we are living in Italy.

On Nov 5^th, we took a stroll to Königssee Lake. Passed a bobsled run. Walked around town and took the tram to a restaurant near the top of the mountain. Walked the rest of the way up the trail to the top. Took a few pictures and enjoyed the weather. It was an absolutely beautiful day. I wish I wasn’t broken and we could have hiked some more because it was perfect weather. Walked back down to the restaurant and had lunch while fighting off crows.

Königssee Lake

Eagle's Nest.

Bobsled anyone?

After lunch, we headed back down the tram to the town and then walked back to our hotel. Made reservations at the German restaurant down the street from the guesthouse.

On Nov 6^th, Liam took Brian, Christina, and Al to the train station. Since, Liam and Al were told they couldn’t visit Army Africa, Al decided to go back to Munich and stay with family friends. Liam and I had already paid for our hotel in Vicenza so we decided we would go wander around northern Italy and check it out. Liam came back and picked me up, we checked out and were on our way. Stopped somewhere in Austria for lunch. Then, back on the road to Italy. We entered the Dolomites and the cloud covered lingered overhead. Then, it began to rain. Made the picturesque views with the castles built into the sides of the mountain pretty eerie. There were also olive trees and grape vines everywhere.

Arrived in Vicenza, found our hotel, checked in and asked where to eat dinner. Since we were worried about parking, we walked the few blocks to the restaurant. We tried to dodge the rain, but we were unable too. Showed up to the restaurant a little wet and enjoyed a nice dinner.

Walked back to the hotel. Discussed our plan for the next day and went to sleep. The next day, we drove to base and completed a few last errands we had. Decided to drive around and determine the lay of the land. Wandered all the way to Asiago, Italy. As in, Asiago cheese. It’s this awesome town in the mountains with 500 km of cross country ski trials and quaint Germanesque culture. After spending a couple hours in town, Liam decided that we should live in Asiago. I spent the next hour and a half (driving back to Vicenza) trying to convince him that it was a bad idea because while it was beautiful it was too far away from work for him (and potentially me). Oh and the roads to Asiago go back and forth straight up the front side of the mountain. This is going to be a long-term discussion between us.

Get up on the morning of the 8^th and head to Garmish. What a great place. Liam mentioned that there are some African FAOs slots here. If so, sign me up. It’s the perfect ski town. Lots to do. Tons of places to play outside in all four seasons. Yep. Definitely our kind of town.

On the 9^th head to Munich to pick up Al and drive to Frankfurt. We are flying to Amsterdam tonight and then back to Dar in the morning. Stayed at the Eden Amsterdam Manor in Amsterdam between our flights. It was a great hotel with a special headboard that we had to share. The bed was so comfortable!

XXX doesn't necessarily mean what you think it might. Check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam#Symbols

I thought the decor was really neat.

The headboard. It took us a while to see it.

While I’m sad to be leaving Europe, I’m ready to go home. It’s a weird moment when you realize you would rather be at your house in the 3^rd world than a great hotel in the 1^st world. Nothing like the comforts of your house – no matter where it is in the world.