Kaiserslautern, Germany

This weekend we went over to the Ramstein, Germany area for a wrestling tournament and to have a taste of "Little America." I've said before how large this air base is, but every time we go, I'm completely overwhelmed at the amount of Americans in one place. It's huge, everything is new, housing, playgrounds, lodging, schools, everything. The wrestling tournament, however, was at Ramstein's forgotten step-sister base, Kaiserslautern.
Kaiserslautern is right next to Ramstein, think Omaha/Council Bluffs close. Now, I don't know if Kaiserslautern is mostly Army, but it is definitely getting the short end of the money stick. I understand putting money into one, centrally located place and building up the amenities for that base that everyone can enjoy. This was a huge difference in facilities though. And there's no shortage of hard feelings, if I was reading the vibe correctly. The announcer at the tournament was even calling Ramstein, "The Empire." Ouch. As far as I know, it is no one person's fault that Ramstein gets the money and the other close by bases get the leftovers. But the sound of second fiddle was almost deafening.
While in the area, we decided to check out a Christmas market. My husband hasn't gotten to go to one yet with all his wrestling commitments, and wanted to see what the hype was about. I knew there would be gluhwein, so I was game. We asked the lovely lady at our hotel about the markets and the closest one was back in Kaiserslautern. We drove the few miles back and explored. The market wasn't large, but bigger than the one in Mons. (hubby hasn't been there either) We found a great little hut to eat at that was selling some yummy concoction out of gyro meat and spiced baby potatoes. That was lovely. The gluhwein stand was right next to it. The stand was one of the beautiful things at the market. It looked like this, except one layer smaller. It was really neat. Our son got to ride on a mini ferris wheel that had 6 small cars, he loved that. A few hat/scarf stands, a wood crafter stand that made beautiful cutting boards and cheap swords, crossbows, things that my boys loved. There was a high school symphony that was playing music from Dances with Wolves when we walked back to the car.
It was a nice evening, not too cold and not too late. The nice thing (wow, never thought I'd say that) about it getting dark so early is that the markets are beautifully lit up by 1700, so it doesn't have to be a late night to see the markets in the dark.
This was just a small market, but the hubs and the son had a good time. At the end of the week, we plan on going to Brussels with another family. It's much bigger as I've blogged before. Since they liked Kaiserslautern, I think they'll love Brussels....unless it's absolutely jammed packed. In that case, it will be a good thing we're taking the train, because the husband may need a drink or two to loosen up and enjoy the atmosphere.