Weekend At Ramstein

We decided to head out to Germany again for the weekend, but this time, we were heading to Ramstein AB. Russ has been here before, but the kids and I hadn't seen it. Besides, it has the extra bonus of being the home base of some friends of ours from Alaska. Whoohoo!This also means another means another trip on the Autobahn. With the leaves starting to change into their fall colors, it was a beautiful drive. In the US, I knew a few people who drove cars like BMWs and Mercedes. Here, just about everyone has them (European and American), and I'm quite sure that the reason why is mainly the Autobahn. Ramstein AB! This is the fancy new KMCC- that's Kaiserslautern Military Community Center. This is a huge complex that was only opened about a month ago. This part is the fancy new hotel. What they don't tell you on the phone, however, is that they only rent rooms in the new building to people without crumb snatchers (kids)! When we checked in, we were directed to the old family units on the other side of base. Darn kids!Here's where we ended up. They were actually very well maintained and clean. If you are in the process of moving to Ramstein, this is where you will likely spend your first month or so. It was a nice little 2 bedroom apartment. The only real downside to the place was the bathroom. This shower/tub combo was something out of a 1950's horror flick that takes place in a mental asylum. You can practically hear the scary music playing when you take a shower. I kept looking over my shoulder for an escaped patient wielding a dagger. Fortunately, this did not occur. (Screech! Screech! Screech! Screech!) This was the big draw to this base! This is the largest BX in the entire world and it just opened last month! It was really big and impressive, and is basically just like a mall in a huge city. I had flashbacks of Dallas while we were walking around inside. There is a massive food court with all the fast food we know and love from the states, as well as lots of interesting local shops all along the main corridor. I did realize something while shopping, though. I have been spoiled by the small town atmosphere of Belgium. I'm not a big city girl any more! There were so many people and so much noise that it was really overwhelming. It's been over 4 months since I've had to deal with crowds, and I'm no longer used to it. I think I'll head back to Belgium, small town life, and peace and quiet. Suddenly Internet shopping sounds really nice. We had a fantastic German dinner with our friends Saturday night. I finally had real Wiener Schnitzel, and it was delicious. It was also huge! (Tip for eating in Germany- order one dinner and two sets of silverware! They feed you really well there.) And Dajana--I finally had a real German pretzel and it was REALLY yummy! Back on the Autobahn and heading home to lovely Belgium.

We weren't too far into our trip back home when we came upon this glorious view! Wow! Pictures just can't capture how impressive this was.

This is an area of Germany that we'll have to check out when we have more time. It was already pretty late on Sunday afternoon, so we hit the road again.

I thought this was pretty cool, too. They planted crops on the side of these steep hills. How would you like to be the one plowing on that angle? Not me!
Apparently Sunday is harvest day in Germany. We saw quite a few tractors working away in the fields.
We had a great weekend exploring yet another place in Germany. Once more thing to cross off of my list of things to see in Europe. Hmmmm, I wonder what's coming up next.