A bit of my history

After a long tour of duty in the city of New York I was ready for a vacation and wanted to take my family to a different country. I left New York for a tour of duty in Germany in the summer of 2000. We landed in Frankfurt early morning, we had to get a bus and drive all over the place until we found our post and hotel. I was jetlagged so I told the wife to get some sleep and I was going to take the kids for a walk. The town was small but very picturesque, the streets were full of the late afternoon activities and smelled like food had fallen from heaven. Food was in my mind when I found an Ice Cafe. I entered and asked for a menu, the owner looked at me and spoke Spanish, it turned out that he was Italian and after the war, he stayed in Germany and started a business. Once I had the first taste of that ice cream I fell in love with it. It was the best freaking ice cream I had ever tasted, it was the best thing I have ever tasted with my pants on. I finished my ice cream and took the kids and went to get mom. Mom was not too pleased that I had woken her up, but with the understanding that she could shoot me if the ice cream was not what I was saying it was. We stayed at the ice cream place for four hours trying everything we could. Because there was a car race in the town we were asked to move to another hotel about 30 km away. I failed to mention that the first hotel room was no bigger than a closet and the bathroom was smaller than a closet. When we arrived to Kusel and found the room we couldn't believe that the room was smaller and that there was no bathroom. We had to go down the hall to use the facilities.
Jelagged still, we slept most of the day and then decided to go to the hotel restaurant and have something to eat. We found other American couples there, one was from Hawaii with two boys and two dogs, the other from Ohio with no children, all military. With nothing to do we started to order beers and talk about were we have been, the Army, the trip to Germany and other stuff, meanwhile the kids are running all over the place chasing the dogs. A very large German lady comes to us and tell us that breakfast is served at 0700 and the children must eat. Drunk as hell, having a great time we tell her that the children will be there in the morning. At about two in the morning we decided we had enough to drink and we need to get to bed. The children and the dogs at this time are asleep on the chairs, next to the bar.
Next morning at 0730 I feel hard knocks on the door, when I open the door, there is the large German woman from the night before telling me "Your children must eat NOW!!!!!" I got dressed and got the children and went downstairs, to my surprise I see the Hawaiian guy with his two kids.
That was our introduction to the German culture. Our favorite pass time in Germany was to pack the car and drive. When we got hungry we just pulled over and ate. If we liked the town we stayed for the night. Most Germans are rude to strangers, unless you have a baby in your arms, then they become long lost relatives. My youngest was crying in the supermarket once when a German lady came over and with her hands told me that she was picking the baby and was going to help. She did and the baby didn't make another sound.
I will tell more about that great trip next time.