Entry #11: October 12, 2005

Wackernheim, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany (just west of Mainz and the Rhine River)

McCully Barracks

Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered). That phrase, first used by Julius Caesar in the Gallic Wars, could aptly describe my family’s visit to Germany. They certainly saw the sights, visiting almost every church in Mainz, taking a scenic train ride to a town called Trier, which is a stone’s throw from Luxembourg, and cruising down the Rhine. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I was unable to tour to Trier with them and I also missed out on the majority of churches. Friday, I took the family on a little day-trip to Rudesheim, one of the wine producing centers of the region. We hiked along some trails, visited a huge statue titled Germania, built to celebrate the unification of the German Empire in the early 1870s, and visited the region’s wine museum.

The next day, we braved the treacherous waters of the Rhine. The cruise was absolutely beautiful. The whole trip is nothing but castles and vineyards. We stopped at a quaint village called Boppard, which produces award-winning Rieslings, and had a fantastic meal of bratwursts and pommes frites (French fries). My Dad and I made the same mistake at lunch, both of us ordering a dark beer instead of a traditional pilsner. Generally, I like dark beers, but this one was a bit different. Called Malzbier, it had a sweet, syrupy taste and texture which almost made it undrinkable to us. I had about 2/3s of it before I couldn’t take anymore. As soon as we left the restaurant, I headed for the nearest bar to get a pilsner to cleanse my palate. On the return trip, Joseph and I surprised our parents by pulling out some sausage, gouda cheese (pronounced Gow-da by the Deustchers as we found out), and fresh bread. We dined and drank Riesling—Joseph had coke. Riesling is a very good white wine. While I’m not much of a white wine guy, it is rather tasty. It comes in trocken, halbtrocken, and lieblich (dry, semi-dry, and sweet). My Dad prefers the dry and my Mom favors the lieblich. I liked the halbtrocken, but I’ll take a Guinness any day over white wine.

All in all, the visit was fun. It’s kind of tough to work 12 hours a day and entertain family in a foreign country, but it was nice to see them. It is much different to have three guests stay for a week when all you’re used to is taking care of yourself. For future reference, if you’re ever going to vacation in a foreign country, do some research on local customs, manners, etc. Like the old Boy Scout motto, be prepared. In this day and age of worldwide terrorism, try to blend into the culture a bit. Having lived in England and Germany—two countries that are not dissimilar to our own, but yet have a large Muslim minority—it’s still amazingly easy to pick out who is American. They’re the ones who talk too loud when inappropriate, always wear tennis shoes (even with khakis), look lost or confused 75% of the time, and talk about how crappy the country they’re currently in is compared to the US. Granted, the country is probably crappier, but don’t be a nuisance because they do things differently than from what you’re accustomed. Sounds stereotypical, but stereotypes are generally true. Just a little traveling advice to make your vacations safer and remind y’all to always be aware of your surroundings when abroad.

We’ve got a crazy couple of weeks coming up, but we are getting the little things done that need to happen—like completing wills, power of attorney, packing household goods, etc. To be honest, I’m not sure what to expect in the next month. Guess I’ll find out soon enough. I’m still looking forward to coming back to the States. Some time in Athens, college Homecoming, and seeing old friends sounds really good. So the Soldier’s life continues…