Hello From Bahrain: Chapter 7 (Germany & Italy)
Note: This was written prior to 9/11/01.
We left here Sunday the 12th of August around 9:30 in the morning on a Military Medical Flight. There were three patients (minor ailments), the crew (Air Force), and the two of us. This was a DC-9 aircraft equipped with beds and seats facing backwards. I asked a crew member about the seats and was told in was safer if there was a crash. The reason we were on this plane instead of the regular one was because it’s the only one going to Germany. We only had one other stop and it was to Crete, Greece. We arrived that afternoon at Rhein-Main Air Base and took a cab to the "Terra Hotel" in Walldorf because this one was recommended to us since the hotel on base was full. After checking in, we went walking to see the town and find somewhere to eat. I noticed right away how clean it was and how nearly everyone had a garden, no matter how small their yard was. We even saw an "A & P" grocery store…..I thought they were only in the USA.
Day two, we took the train to Frankfort and there we bought tickets to "Garmisch". We had decided that we would spend a couple of days there and then go on to Italy. We absolutely loved Garmisch. It has the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen in my life. Garmisch is in the Bavarian Alps and the mountains are covered in grass and Christmas type trees; literary millions of them. We ended up staying four days. We stayed at the "Aschenbrenner Hotel". It was clean, reasonably priced and breakfast was included. Our room was on the third floor and from our window we could see the mountains and a stream . At night when I looked out the window , I felt like I could be Wendy in "Peter Pan" and "Tinker Bell" would be coming thru the window any minute with the magic dust to sprinkle on me. Well back to reality, we were situated close to all the shops & restaurants. They were all in walking distance. That first night after we had dinner we went sight seeing and stopped at this restaurant-bar and went in to have a beer. This turned into a few more (after we had a beer at dinner) and we even had a shot of some type of schnapps that the barmaid gave us free. She was from Croatia and could speak some English and we enjoyed trying to carry on a conversation. It turns out that her daughter is back in the States going to college in Tallahassee. It’s a small world after all!
Day three, we rented a car to see some of the countryside. King Ludwig the second had three castles built and the most famous one is called "Neuschwanstein" which Disney copied for their theme park. We drove there to see it and had to cross into Austria and then back into Germany because of a road being out of use. That night we went to this type of "Beerfest" that was going on for the week there. This reminds me of "Oktoberfest". The locals dress in their customs and there we see these waitresses carrying five huge mugs (the size of a pitcher) of beer in each hand. We end up finding and buying a porcelain doll in a shop a couple days later that looked like them. While at this huge tent, these Americans came over to us and invited us to sit with them. They were Army Reserves in Garmisch for some special classes on foreign languages. This was a fun night and the beer was the best I’ve ever had.
Day four, we drive to "Munich" because Danny wanted to go to "Dachau" which is a concentration camp. This is the last place I wanted to see, if ever! We had a time finding it and you definitely don’t want to ask directions, not for this place. There I did go thru the museum and as I was waiting for Danny to catch up to me on the outside, I saw people coming out of there with tears in their eyes. This is such a sad place. I then waited on a bench while Danny toured the camp. Back in Garmisch we go out to eat and happened to sit at a table next to two American women who are Government workers living in Germany who were on vacation. They gave us a lot of information on places to see. Before I forget, I want to tell you that I gained weight on this vacation since the food was so good and I ate too much as usual.
Day five, we shopped for some souvenirs in town and then went to the Army base to buy our train tickets for our trip to Naples, Italy. We also went to the exchange to do some shopping. We got directions there and headed for another castle. This is the one that Ludwig actually lived in. Later we went to these little villages that are known for their wood carving crafts. They have some beautiful things but out of our price range. We went back to the hotel and I decided to rest while Danny went back to the base to do some emailing. He had no luck with it. That night we walked to a restaurant and it started raining. We walked home after it stopped but first we went to the ice cream shop where they have these Italian ice creams that are delicious.