Next stop on our spring break trip was up to Spangdahlem Air Base, where we lived from April 2002 to January 2005. We wanted to see how much things had changed (or not) and show the kids the house we lived in. Along the way we stopped at Ramstein AB, which is about an hour southeast of Spang and we used to go there for the “Big BX.” Their shopping was much better. We discovered that the BX we knew had been torn down and they replaced it with a mall, like a full-up shopping mall with a giant BX and bunch of other stores and a huge food court and a giant kids playplace. It was insane! We wished we had something like that when we lived there!
After our stop at Ramstein to admire the shopping, we crossed the Mosel River and wandered down into the river valley to Trittenheim to visit our favorite German Weingut, Ernie. We had many good times with Ernie back in the day, having wine tastings that turned into raging parties. Ernie is still the same, although maybe a little slower as he took a bad fall in one of his vineyards recently and was hospitalized for a head injury. His head must not have been hit too hard because he still has the same jovial personality and still makes some amazing white wine. The kids enjoyed playing in his front yard while we tasted and bought a few bottles.
Next, we stopped in Hupperath at the house we lived in for nearly 3 years. It was a small place, but perfect for us then as it was just the two of us newlyweds at the time. The house looked basically the same, minus one big cypress tree in the front yard. The kids were disappointed that we couldn’t go in the house but we could tell from the cars that Germans live there now and we didn’t want to ask to go inside, nor can either of us say “We used to live here, may we come in?” in German.
Below: Weissenstrasse 10, Hupperath, when we lived there 2002-2005.
After we visited our old house, we checked out the base, which has grown quite a bit since we were there last, to the point that we were disoriented driving around the base. We finally figured out where we were, found the new billeting building and got checked into our temporary lodging, which turned out to be a 4-bedroom apartment in what use to be the old married housing on base. The base has new lodging, new housing, a new medical center, a new BX and food court, and they just renovated the commissary and are building a big new one too! Um, they could send some of this new fancy stuff down our way at Aviano and we wouldn’t mind one bit!
Once we’d explored base, we met up with some friends who are stationed at Spang now for dinner at my all-time favorite Italian restaurant in the whole wide world, Gianni’s Isola Bella in Binsfeld. (Yes, I am aware that we drove 10 hours to have Italian food in Germany, but if you think that’s weird then you’ve never had Gianni’s lasagna.) Back in the day, we ate at Gianni’s all the time and I was obsessed with his lasagna. It still tastes the same and was every bit as good as I remember it was.
The picture beneath me and the lasagna is a restaurant we used to go to in Dudeldorf. They made really good gourmet German food. I remember their soups were amazing. The arches next to the restaurant have huge gouges in the sides from when Patton’s troops and their tanks rolled through the area at the end of WW2.
The next day I ran into Toni’s Gift Shop in the community center on base, where I worked for nearly 3 years. I had lots of fun in this shop and made some lasting friendships with the girls who worked there. It looks almost exactly the same and some of my friend Jen’s hand written signs are still up a decade later! Just a week or two after I visited the shop, they moved to a new location on base. I’m glad I got to see the store before it moved.
After our stop at Toni’s Gift Shop, we went to check out another of our favorite restaurants, Roma’s in Spiecher. It had moved down the street about a mile (to the old Annie’s location for my old Spang friends) but the pizza was still good and the Lambrusco still flowing! I don’t remember having a favorite dish from Roma’s but they served the best Lambrusco; a fizzy, slightly sweet, cheap Italian wine. I’ve not once seen Lambrusco on a menu in Italy, weird.
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