After walking around for a little bit, we spied this beauty. We've always been fascinated with these clocks, and wouldn't mind adding one to our household some day. On closer inspection...
Yep. That's right. It's MY castle engraved on there. Schloss Neuschwanstein. I know. Spying this castle on items has cost me big in the past, but it's fate, right? It's a sign that maybe this is our clock. After waiting for a while, the owner was free to come over and answer our questions. It's hand made/carved out of birch by a craftsman in their shop in Bavaria. That isn't regular glass on the front. It's crystal. He proceeded to bang his fist against it so hard that I jumped about a foot in the air from the noise. It didn't break. Apparently crystal is pretty tough. The entire thing is custom made, and the wood is held together by screws, not staples. We inspected everything, listened to the chimes ringing, and learned all about the chain winding mechanism. It's wonderful. We need this clock. How much, you ask? We were curious about this, too, so we inquired. It's only $5,000. Now at this point, things are a little foggy, because to the best of my recollection, Russ lost his lunch and I passed out. 
After regaining our composure, we assured the kind man that we'd think about it and continued our shopping. Next, I spied a little antique bench. I've been looking for a bench forever. 1 1/2 years to be exact. This one is perfect. My hands were still a little shaky from my last encounter, so I didn't get any pictures of it. The kind lady demonstrated to me how the back actually flipped up to form a table top on the bench, thus turning it into a kind of buffet table. Amazing. Again, no pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it on how simply wonderful this piece of hand carved goodness is. A little nervously, I asked the price. $1,000. The room spun, but I managed to keep my balance this time. Russ clamped his hand over his mouth. I thanked the lady for her assistance, but we still had Christmas shopping to do. Our relatives needed treasures. After walking around the two hangers for a bit longer, we realized that we just weren't inspired to buy anything. The perfect gift can be very elusive. We decided to head over to Ramstein to check out something we had in mind for Brandon, as well as finish up the other shopping we had to do. A little over an hour later, we were in the stores. We spotted what we had come to inspect. Yes, Brandon would love this. Russ turned over the price tag and ...$1,000. To our credit, Russ did little more than make a little grunting sound. Other than an uncontrollable twitch in my left eye, I think I handled it pretty well, too. Fine. We'll just get the other things that I needed and head back to Spang. Or not. They were either out of what I was looking for, or just didn't carry it any more. I did find one thing on my list, but that was it. An entire day of shopping...for one little thing. Disappointment. Back to Spang. We had decided to treat ourselves to a mini vacation and spend the night before heading back to Belgium. Spangdahlem AB has, by far, the best TLF we've ever stay in. The suites are really big apartments. Three bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, a washer and dryer, and a TV in every room. It's awesome. Unfortunately, they only had pet friendly rooms left. No biggie. We don't have pet allergies, so no big deal, right? Um, no. It would seem that the pet friendly rooms have some sort of thick rubbery plastic covers on their mattresses. Permanently attached. Even with a mattress pad and sheets on top of that, it's hot. Very hot. And each tiny movement of a human body makes a noise, not unlike the sound a pack of firecrackers makes when you light the end and toss them into an empty barrel. There is no sleeping with that sound. At all. Many, many, many sleepless hours later, we started for home. Giftless, exhausted, and not quite so filled with the holiday spirit at this point. Still, on the positive side, we still have our money. And there are many more Christmas markets in our future. Here's hoping we find the perfect gifts at the next one. And maybe a little therapy wouldn't be out of the question. I'm just saying.
Well... at least I wasn't the only one!! Although I must say, the way you wrote it was very entertaining! We'll attack the antique store again to see if we can find your bench (it'll probably be much cheaper than at the Bazaar!)
ReplyDeleteI'm dating myself here, but I remember when the bazaars were held at the O Club, and yeah, they were a Very. Big. Deal. You don't always find what you want. But when you find the right thing, even if it wasn't on your list or a little (only a little!) more than you planned to spend, you cherish it forever. I think it's the thrill of the hunt. ;-)
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely the thrill of the hunt. I spent more than my alloted budget at the Bazaar the previous weekend. Maybe that's why I didn't find anything at this one. I just love to walk around and check the goodies out.
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