I spent two days in Ramstein getting adjusted to the six-hour time difference, purchasing some missing items and getting a haircut. A good friend who was finishing up a work assignment in Germany invited me to where she was staying with hosts. Having no plans to be anywhere, I made my way by train to the small village of Bempflingen and was given my own spacious room from which I could see goats on a hill behind the house; I was provided a wonderful home-cooked dinner and an extremely thoughtful welcome basket. Yodel-ay-hee-ho!!
The next evening the gentleman who was supposed to cook was not feeling well, so I volunteered (I love to cook!). I cooked steak for tacos out on the grill and made my signature cowboy beans with corn in a cast iron skillet. I was cooking a Mexican dinner on a grill…in Germany! “Do you know how to make margaritas?” I was asked. “Sure – no hay problema, fraulein”. Guess what happens when you plug a 110 volt appliance into a 220 volt socket….BOOM! Translation: we had no margaritas and I bought a new blender as a parting gift to my gracious host.
The next day I was riding in the car running an errand with a friend of my friend. As we are driving along I look down a grassy patch where a river ran alongside a grove of trees creating a natural park-like setting. And there – lounging about, were about 30 naked people! Like all the way in the buff. “Ummm – what did we just pass!??” “Oh – that’s the local nudist hang-out”. Like no big deal, on the side of the road at 10AM on a weekday. Ok. Welcome to Germany.
