Tag Archives: military hops

anecdotes

May we travel a lot?

It’s hard to believe May is going to be over in eleven days.  This morning, as I was looking at Facebook’s “On this day” feature, I noticed that May seems to be the month Bill and I most often choose for our adventures.  Even when we lived in the US, we always seemed to be in Europe in time for Eurovision.

Tomorrow, we leave for this year’s May trip.  We’ll be driving, so I’m going to take my laptop with me.  There will be blogging aplenty in the coming week-and-a-half.  Since my travel blog has been pretty quiet lately, I thought I’d take a look at some of our trips of Mays past.

2012–  Our very first military hop!

In 2012, Bill and I were living in North Carolina.  For years, I’d been bugging him about trying to take a hop somewhere.  My dad was an Air Force retiree and he and my mom took Space A flights several times when I was a kid.  I never got to go with them, though, so I wanted my turn.  In May 2012, Bill finally gave in and we drove from our home in Sanford, North Carolina to BWI near Baltimore.  That night, we were on a flight to Germany.

I was very excited because we’d lived in Germany from 2007-09 and I was pining for it.  We spent about $32 to get on the Patriot Express and by the afternoon, we landed at Ramstein.  I had never been to Ramstein before, so that in and of itself was exciting.  From Ramstein, we went to Cologne, where we spent a night.  Then I got a Blind Booking on Germanwings (now Eurowings), thinking that we’d get to go somewhere cool because the Cologne airport offered more choices.  We ended up with a flight to Munich.  No matter, though, because we had a blast.  We got train passes good for all of Germany and certain border areas, so while we were in Munich, we visited Salzburg.

Bill enjoying a Maibock at the Hofbrauhaus.

We spent three nights in Munich, then flew back to Cologne, where we hopped a train to Trier.  Trier is located very close to the Luxembourg border, so we were able to visit Luxembourg and get close enough to the French and Belgian borders to walk across if we’d wanted to.

A very pretty church in Rodanthe, Luxembourg, right across from a Portuguese restaurant where we had a cheap and delicious lunch.   Minutes after we passed this church, we ran into a hen party.  One of the women in the party was wearing a rubber phallus on her nose and an adult diaper.

That first trip was fairly short.  We were gone about a week.  But with that first success came bravery and we’ve since done two more “hops”.

2013– SeaDream cruise–Italy and Greece!

Back in November 2011, Bill and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on SeaDream I.  That was our second cruise on the small luxury mega yacht and we had a great time in the southern Caribbean.  During that trip, we pre-booked another cruise and ended up choosing to visit Italy and Greece.  Although Bill and I visited Italy during our first Germany tour, we never made it to Venice, Florence, or Rome.  We also never went to Greece together, though Bill did get to go to Crete on a business trip.

Venice!

Amalfi coast from the ship.

 

Capri from the tender.

Because Bill had never been to the “holy trinity” of Italian cities, we made plans to see Venice and Florence on the way to Rome, which was where we’d be picking up our cruise.  On the other side of the cruise, we would spend a couple of nights in Athens.  Although I love SeaDream’s cruises and that particular one was a lot of fun, I ended up getting sick with a nasty cold.  We still managed to have a fantastic time.  I am wondering when our next SeaDream cruise will be.

2014– Our third military hop!

In May of 2014, we lived in Texas and Bill was preparing to retire from the Army.  Because he had terminal leave, we decided it was the perfect time to take another hop.  We had taken our second hop in January and ended up in Spain and Portugal.  This time, we were trying for Germany.

We got to Germany and stayed a night in Ramstein, where we met some Americans who had come from Belgium to play sports.  The Americans were based at SHAPE in Belgium and Bill ended up talking to them.  They gave him pointers on how to get us moved back to Europe.  I remember telling Bill that night that I had a feeling we’d be moving back to Germany.  Sure enough, weeks after we came home to the USA, Bill had a job offer in Stuttgart.

Boats in Nice

Lyon…

Beautiful sea in Nice!  Everything’s nice in Nice! 

On that trip, we visited Champagne country (Reims and Epernay), Dijon, Lyon, Nimes, and Nice.  While we were in Nimes, we visited an old American friend of mine from high school and college.  I hadn’t seen her since the 90s.  She’s lived in France for about twenty years and has three very French kids!  I loved Nimes and want to go back, not just to visit that city again, but to see some of the surrounding areas.  In fact, we very nearly decided to go back to France this year, but then I realized we’d not been to Slovenia yet and that’s been on my bucket list for awhile.

We really enjoyed Nice, though it’s quite a big city.  I’d love to go back there during the summer when swimming in the beautiful blue water is feasible.

From Nice, we flew back to Germany via Vienna, then took a day trip to Bacharach, on the Rhein.  We ran into some drunken fathers and sons at a biergarten.  Bill ended up talking to one guy who tearfully told us how the Americans had helped his family escape East Germany.  That really turned out to be a very special day…

Bill and me in Bacharach among many drunk German guys…

2015- Stuttgart

We didn’t go anywhere in May last year, though we did take trips in April and June.  I count it, though, because we had not yet been back in Germany a year as of last May and being in Germany still felt like a vacation.  Last May, we visited Triberg and Calw, two places I never visited during our first tour here.

Triberg…

Calw

2016- Austria, Italy, and Slovenia

Stay tuned for details.  I can hardly wait!  Incidentally, the first time we lived in Germany, we never took overnight trips to Austria.  This time, we keep going back there.  This will be our fourth time during our second tour!  On the other hand, last time we were here we went to Belgium and the Czech Republic several times.  This time, we’ve given those countries no love…  Ah well, maybe we’ll get back there next year.

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Military

France and Germany… a send off from the Army– Part 11

After two nights at Hotel Goldinger, Bill and I decided to get a room at Ramstein.  We had actually been thinking we’d try to leave Germany on Friday, the 30th of May, but there weren’t any flights going out.  The Air Force lodge at Ramstein is within walking distance of the passenger terminal, which makes it really convenient.  We booked for two nights, hoping that we wouldn’t need both nights.  This was my first time staying at the Air Force lodging at Ramstein and, I must say, I was impressed by how nice it was, especially considering that it only cost $55 a night.  I did think it was funny that there was a check list for bomb threats by the phone.


We were given a room that reminded me of something I might see in a Hilton.  There are American plugs in the rooms, which makes it easy to charge iPads, iPhones, and whatever else have you.  There are laundry facilities that people can use free of charge.  All you need is soap.  The inn is also connected to the largest BX/PX I have ever seen.  In fact, the BX/PX complex is like a big mall.

I was glad to be able to wash clothes and Bill went to Chili’s to get us some lunch.  Later, after the clothes were washed and dried, we walked around the big AAFES complex and I was reminded of when we lived in Germany.  There are a lot of local vendors/artisans there that make knick knacks and gifts.

It looked like there were going to be a couple of flights leaving Ramstein on Saturday, though neither of them were offering many seats for Space A travelers.  I had a feeling we could be staying at Ramstein for two nights.  We passed time at Chili’s and talked to a soldier who was living in Germany under sad circumstances.  I posted about that on my main blog, so I won’t rehash it here.

The next morning, Bill picked up some pastries and coffee at a bakery and then we made our way to the pax terminal.  There were lots of people there, many of whom had apparently been trying to get out of Germany for days.  An airman announced that roll call for a flight to Hunter Airfield in Savannah, Georgia would be in 20 minutes.  The flight to Georgia was a surprise.  It wasn’t noted on Ramstein’s Facebook page; so it was a lucky thing that we were there at the right time.

We had been planning to go for a flight to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, but when Bill heard the call for Georgia, he wanted to sign up.  The flight had six seats available and, as Bill was a cat 3 who’d signed up for Space A when we first arrived in Germany two weeks earlier, he was at the top of the list.  We easily made the flight and were soon on our way back to the States in a C-17 with four others.

One of the few places dogs aren’t allowed in Germany…

I much prefer military flights to chartered flights.  Although you have to wear ear plugs to block out the noise and the flights are usually longer because the planes move slower, I enjoy seeing the Air Force at work.  I also like not having someone reclining in my lap, kicking the back of my seat, or otherwise harshing my mellow.  On a military flight, you can actually lie down on the floor and sleep if you want to.  The airmen gave us blankets, which really came in handy because it was chilly on the plane.

Bill and I bought box lunches, mainly because it’s been my experience that the food served on military flights is actually edible.  This was no exception…  We had chicken, fruit salad, chips, a Rice Krispies Treat, water, and apple juice.  I was glad we bought the lunch, too, because I eventually got hungry even after having eaten it.

I enjoyed meeting the others on our flight.  One guy was once in the Honor Guard in Arlington and now works in Europe in counter intelligence.  He was on his way to Oklahoma to see his new baby.  Two were doctors, married to each other  and getting ready to begin three year residencies in Washington, DC.  The other guy sounded like he might have been from the West Indies.  He was going to New York.

We landed in Savannah in the early afternoon and then spent some time trying to get taxis.  It was very warm in Savannah, which was a shock given how chilly it was in Europe and on the plane.  A lady with a mini van took Bill, me, the guy going to Oklahoma and the guy going to New York to the airport area.  The doctors decided they would get a hotel downtown.  The lady who drove us to the hotel was funny.  She had a sign in her cab that read “No eating or drinking.  Throw up fee $250”.  One of the guys mentioned it and I immediately understood.  I’m sure the puke fee mostly applies to drunks during festivals.

Bill happened to have enough HiltonHonors points to score us a free room at the Doubletree Inn near Savannah’s airport.  We checked in and I got cleaned up.  I was really craving a steak for dinner, but there weren’t many restaurants near the hotel and the Doubletree’s room service menu didn’t offer steak.  Bill went out to get us fast food at Wendy’s, but then he spotted a restaurant that did offer steak.  He went there and bought us dinner… and then when he brought it back, I opened the cartons and realized to my horror that the steaks were covered in mushrooms!

Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but I actually have a phobia of mushrooms.  I don’t eat them.  I don’t even like to look at them.  No mention of mushrooms was mentioned on the restaurant’s menu.  What was even weirder was that the steaks came with Caesar salads that were served with cheese and dressing on the side.  I don’t know why the mushrooms weren’t served the same way.  I mean, usually one who wants mushrooms has to request them and pay extra.  Unfortunately, the mushrooms kind of ruined my appetite.  I did eat a little after Bill scraped them off, but I was a bit traumatized by the fungus.  Yes, I know it’s ridiculous… it’s just one of my quirks.

I booked us on an early flight on Delta going from Savannah to Houston because flying to San Antonio was outrageously expensive…  more on that next.

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Military

France and Germany… a send off from the Army– Part 10

I felt like a new person after our first night in Landstuhl.  We got up and had breakfast in Hotel Goldinger’s pretty dining area.  Besides being a small hotel, this place is also a “Konditorei”, which means they make pastries there.  I loved their dining room, which had the look of a garden or a solarium.  The breakfast spread they offer to guests is also very nice, with smoked salmon, smoked trout, breads, cheeses, vegetables, juices, cereals, and fruits.  They’ll even cook eggs and bacon if you want.  Bill and I had a nice breakfast, overhearing a couple of professors from the University of Maryland who were apparently concerned about keeping their jobs because virtual education is taking over so much.  Bill joined their conversation while I sat there thinking about what we’d do on our last real day of vacation.

I told Bill I wanted to visit Bacharach, which is an adorable town on the Rhein.  I went there in 1997.  In fact, it was the very first town I visited after my Peace Corps tour in Armenia, so it kind of holds a special place in my heart.  I had to figure out trains in order to get there and that’s been a skill that has served me well.

Charming sign at the Landstuhl train station.

We bought tickets to Bacharach.  Since it was a holiday, the tickets were pretty cheap, but it would take a long time to get there.  First, we had to get to Kaiserslautern.  Then, we had to take a train to Bingen.  Finally, from Bingen, we would take a train to Bacharach.  It would take about two hours.

Pretty castle in view of the Bingen train station…

The ride was pleasant, since there’s a lot of pretty scenery as you get close to Rhein country.  It was a bit cloudy, but there were no major rain storms.  It was a little chilly outside, but not so chilly that you’d need a jacket.

Bacharach is as adorable as I remembered it.  It’s a well-preserved town with lots of medieval looking buildings and cobblestoned streets.  There’s a beautiful castle on a hillside that now serves as a youth hostel.  It’s an uphill hike to get there, so we opted not to go.  Instead, we enjoyed the castle from afar.

Just off the train… you can see the youth hostel in the distance.

 

Adorable Bacharach…

We ate lunch at a cute little gasthaus.  Bill had sauerbraten and I had roasted chicken.  The lady who ran the restaurant was funny when she noticed Bill didn’t eat the beets in his salad.  She gave me a postcard of the restaurant and said, “Here’s a souvenir for you.”  Then she gave Bill the bill and said, “And here’s a souvenir for you…”

Lunch!

There’s not a whole lot to Bacharach, but it still managed to be a very special stop during our trip on account of the biergarten we visited.

Bacharach has a theater that also serves their own beer.  The garten is under a bright tent that looks like it was once part of a carousel.  Unbeknownst to us, on the day we visited, it was father’s day.  In Germany, a lot of fathers and sons go hiking and then drink for awhile.  A huge group of men were there and they had obviously been there awhile by the time we showed up.  The cheerful waitresses brought out round after round of beer and schnapps.  Occasionally, the men would toast or break into drunken singing.  I happened to get some clips of their performances.  Some of the guys singing were pretty good!

A video I made of our afternoon…

The beer was pretty good, too.  I made our server beam when I ordered a mas krug– one full liter of beer.  We spent several hours just hanging out and observing these guys who were obviously having a great time.  At one point, Bill went to the men’s room and one of the guys in the German group started speaking to Bill.  Bill told him in German that he doesn’t really speak the language very well.  The guy switched to English and struck up a conversation.  The guy was surprised we’d visit Bacharach and Bill told him that I had visited years ago and loved the town.  I wanted Bill to see it.

Bill explained that he was about to retire from the Army and this trip was sort of our last hurrah.  So then the man told Bill that he had been drafted to the German Army and ended up staying for about thirty years.  He said his family had come from the East and the Americans helped them relocated to the West.  Bill said the guy got choked up as he said he’d never forgotten what the Americans did for his family.  I have to say, in these days when so many people have negative things to say about Americans and the military, it was really nice to hear something positive.

Another man had heard we were Americans living in Texas and he came over to talk to Bill while I was in the ladies room.  It turned out the guy had spent a lot of time in Odessa and Midland, which is where the oil is/was.

Our trip to tiny Bacharach was yet another incidence in which we went to a small town that presumably  has little to it and ended up having sort of a special day.  The last time we took a hop to Germany– back in May 2012– we ended up visiting Rodange, Luxembourg, a seemingly boring suburb of Luxembourg City.  We were annoyed about being there because we’d actually meant to go to France.  But then it turned out to be one of the most memorable days of our trip because we had a great and cheap lunch at a little restaurant run by a Portuguese family.  Then we ran into a “hen party”, where we saw a group of people dressed in drag and a diaper wearing woman with a rubber penis on her nose…  I may have to repost my trip report from that hop, since I didn’t have my travel blog in 2012.

The trip back to Landstuhl was kind of long.  First, we took the train from Bacharach to Bingen and were joined by a number of guys who had been at the biergarten with us.  Then, when we got to Bingen, we were delayed for about 50 minutes because the train wasn’t scheduled to leave until 7:55 and we got there at about 7:00.  The trip to Kaiserslautern also included a 20 minute cigarette break in Bad Kreuznach.  By the time we got to Kaiserslautern, it was well after 9:00 and the next train to Landstuhl wasn’t for another 45 minutes.

I told Bill I wanted to take a cab back to the hotel.  He balked, because he knew it would be a pricey trip.  I finally won out, though, because it was kind of cold outside and getting late.  The cab ride to Landstuhl was interesting, because I got to see just how much the massive number of Americans has affected both Kaiserslautern and Landstuhl.  We even passed a placed that served American style fried chicken!

I kind of wish we’d stayed in Bacharach and explored the Rhein more.  Maybe if we get back to Germany, Bill and I will be able to do that.  I also still have yet to see the famous Medieval town of Rothenburg, so that may be reason to take another hop to visit Germany if we don’t end up moving back there someday.



This was in the foyer of the theater where the restrooms were located…  From a distance, they looked like real people!

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Rhein

France and Germany… a send off from the Army– Part 9

After two nights in Nice, Bill and I hopped a flight to Frankfurt.  We flew from Nice on Niki, an Austrian budget airline that collaborates with Air Berlin.  Bill and I flew on Air Berlin in 2009, when we took our Scandinavian cruise.  Let me just say, European carriers are a hell of a lot nicer than American carriers are.  You go on the plane and they offer you a newspaper.  You get a drink and a sandwich that is actually edible.  The seats are somewhat comfortable, too.  I would definitely “fly Niki” again if we ever get back to Europe and have the opportunity.

The flight attendants were kind of oddly dressed on Niki.  The top half of their uniforms were very formal and businesslike, with a blazer, blouse, and perfect makeup and hair.  The bottom half was jeans…  nice jeans, but still jeans.  It was like the fashion equivalent of a mullet– business up top and party on the bottom.

Flying over Vienna…

Our flight routed us through Vienna, another city that was on my 1997 European tour.  I have yet to visit Vienna with Bill.  I hope someday we’ll get there together.  As we were getting on the flights, I was all wound up about the term “dependapotamus”, a slang expression used by certain people in the military who bash family members… aka “dependents”.  There was a young guy sitting in front of us on the plane who must have overheard me and I think, told his two female companions about it.  They reminded me of a reincarnation of ABBA, minus Bjorn.

Upon entering Frankfurt, we approached a guy who appeared to work for the airport.  We were trying to find the train station in the massive airport.  The guy was obviously American and spoke German with a heavy accent.  He directed us to the right place and we arranged for a train to get us to Landstuhl, where I had booked us a room in a cute, family run hotel in town.

It was quite an ordeal to get to Landstuhl, though, because we had to change trains three times to get there and it happened to be rush hour.  We got on the first one, a high speed ICE train, for a twenty minute ride to Mannheim.  The train was packed and I was grumpy about it, as usual…

Waiting for train tickets at Frankfurt’s airport…

We stood near the bathroom between cars and Bill then very gallantly decided to get me a snack at the onboard bistro.  He came back with a beer and a container of curry wurst, which was basically a sausage with a curry sauce.  It smelled good and was piping hot, but I couldn’t eat it and balance at the same time.  I appreciated the gesture, but told Bill he should have gotten me something less labor intensive.

At one point, the train lurched and both Bill and I lost our balance.  I was holding the currywurst and it almost tipped on me.  Thankfully, a very kind German lady noticed and saved it before it spilled.  I said “Thanks”, but it probably came off sounding annoyed rather than grateful.  I’m sorry about that.

While we waited for the next train, Bill and I shared the curry wurst.  I started to feel less grouchy as my blood sugar came up a bit.  We got a seat on the train from Mannheim to Kaiserslautern, but it was also pretty crowded.  I remember one guy in our car was a cop and he seemed like a nice person.  When he got off the train, he said “Auf wiedersehen.”

On the third train, a local s-bahn from Kaiserslautern to Landstuhl, we were in a car with a large German family with several kids.  Then an American woman with her four kids and mother in tow got on the train.  She said, “Ramstein?”

Bill told her she had the right train, so she and her family took a seat and struck up a conversation.  They had just gotten back to Germany after a trip to Paris.  They’d gone on a military tour, then broke away to take the kids to Euro Disney.  The young mother’s husband was posted at Grafenwoehr, which is an Army post in Bavaria.  They had parked their car at Ramstein.  The trains were apparently a new experience for them.  Bill and I explained about how the trains worked, then told them how lucky they were to live in Germany.

Grandma asked us where we were from.  I told her I’m from Virginia and Bill is from Texas (more or less).  She looked surprised.  I told her that we met when I lived in South Carolina and he lived in Kansas.  I guess she has never heard of the Internet and how people can meet that way.  I said I’d love to move back to Germany and Grandma said, “Yeah, but how do you raise a family there?”

I said, “It’s just us and two dogs.”

Grandma looked utterly shocked that we don’t have kids.  I posted this story on my other blog as part of a rant.  Here, I will just say that it’s apparently unusual to run into military couples who don’t have kids.  Fortunately, our stop at Landstuhl came up before we had time to talk more.

Bill and I got off the train and walked to our hotel.  It was obvious that the proprietor had been waiting specifically for us, since the place was pretty much locked up when we arrived.  He quickly showed us to our room and beat it.  Our very full day of traveling left me ready to relax and wind down, which I proceeded to do.  Bill went to a Turkish place and got us a couple of Wiener schnitzels with fries and some beer.

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Lyon

Interesting day… But we ate Domino’s Pizza for dinner!

We just weren’t in the mood to go hunting for a lovely and expensive meal.  We had beer and then picked up a Domino’s Hawaiian pizza.

We went to the city of Lyon hoping to find really good food.  We did have a nice lunch at yet another Irish pub…  But it was a rather American meal.  I had a cheeseburger and Bill had a “jacket potato”.  I’m tempted to rip off the soap in our hotel room.  It smells great.  But that would be theft, so I won’t do it…

This, even though I got the stink eye from a French lady and yelled at by a crazy street person today.

Riding the train back to our northern Lyon suburb was odd.  We ended up with a bunch of very young French guys who seemed clueless.  I felt like a den mother in a French frat house.  There were about six of them; the train was full, so they were eager to claim our seats when Bill and I got off after two stops.

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Uncategorized

Hop dilemma…

So Bill and I really do want to take a hop.  It’s a good time to take one because he has all this time off and is still being paid.  However, he’s also still job hunting and probably should keep plugging away at that task.  There is no telling how long it will take for him to get work, though I hope his looming unemployment won’t go on for too long.

We’re trying to decide if we want to risk taking a trip.  If we do take one, he can still look for and apply to jobs as long as we have Internet access.  But what if someone wants to interview him?  Again, if it’s over the phone or even via Skype, he could probably do it if he had to.  But an in person interview might be tough… and then there’s the issue of the money we’ll be spending.  There’s food, lodging, and boarding the boys.  And there’s the fact that we want to get out of this house and that will involve spending money too.

We probably shouldn’t take a trip… but boy do we want to.  And the time is right, even if there are a number of issues that may make traveling unwise.  I want to go to England and Ireland in the worst way.  But I don’t want to be broke.  So we may have to wait on this plan…

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Uncategorized

Hammam, carriage ride, funny bum, and way too much wine…

I booked our appointment at Aire for 12:00pm.  That left us with our morning to wander around Seville.  It was Monday and Bill was starting to fret about how we were going to get out of Spain and make it back to Texas in time for his leave to end at 11:59pm Texas time on Thursday, the 23rd.  I, of course, was annoyed with Bill for not arranging for leave through the weekend.  He later explained that he wanted to get to the office to take care of some stuff for a briefing with his boss.  But as we watched the flights leaving Rota Naval Base in Rota, Spain, it wasn’t looking like we’d be able to get out of Spain in time for Bill to get home before his leave ended.

Breakfast!

Because Bill is hyper-responsible, he was super stressed out.  So we went for a walk and ended up passing a bunch of guys with horses and carriages.  One of them approached us and asked if we wanted to take a carriage ride.  They started at 11:00, when the cathedral opened.  I asked how long the ride would take, since we had the hammam appointment at noon.  The guy said it took an hour.  I said we’d have to do it in the afternoon because we didn’t have time at that point.

Alphonso XIII…  A very expensive hotel…

As we headed toward the Guadalquivir River, we were accosted by a pushy woman wanting us to sign up for a Hop On, Hop Off tour.  I was immediately turned off by her approach and also realized that for us, the bus tour would not be a particularly good buy, since we like to walk a lot.  I listened to her spiel and finally said, “I don’t think we’re interested.”  That seemed to piss her off, but at least we were able to cross the street.

We walked past the naval museum and along the river, then crossed into the beautiful park near the palace.  Bill and I were engaged in conversation when I got bombed by a pigeon of some sort.  Then I spotted some swans and ducks, so we turned toward there, just in time to see some guy hastily zip up his pants.  Apparently, we had interrupted him as he took a piss.

Rental bikes in Seville…

Naval museum

We walked along the street in front of the palace, then headed back toward the hotel, so I could pick up my bathing suit.  We went looking for Aire and, of course, got a bit lost in Seville’s narrow streets.  I think we might have been a little late when we finally found the place.

Aire offers two hour sessions in which you can get massages or other treatments and soak in one of five pools or sit in a eucalyptus scented steam room.  You’re supposed to speak in a low voice, drink lots of water and tea, and relax.  It was just what Bill needed.  Of course, it turned out that many staff members at Aire didn’t speak much English, so we had to rely on our crappy Spanish skills to figure out what to do.  I actually could understand a lot of the Spanish, but my ability to speak it is almost nil now.

The outside of Aire…

I wasn’t completely understanding what we were supposed to do, but managed to get into my swimsuit and found my way around the peaceful facility.  The lights were dim; there was relaxing music; and had it not been for a couple of chattering Spanish ladies, it would have been a very calming experience.  Bill and I only got fifteen minute massages.  I kind of wish I’d gotten a longer one, but I’d read on TripAdvisor that the massages weren’t all that great.  I ended up with a pretty good masseuse, though.  We rotated around the salt pool, jetted pool, and warm, hot, and cold pools until we heard the chime letting us know our time was up.

After we went to the hammam, we visited what turned out to be a chain restaurant called Robles.  Once again, we ordered too much food.  The restaurant was pretty quiet and I noticed a manager type walking around, looking like he was proctoring an exam or something.

Where we had lunch…

Bill’s avocado and goat cheese starter.  I skipped this because I don’t like strong cheese.

My starter… fried prawns!

Bill’s beef and potatoes.

Chicken and garlic.

Dessert!  Everybody loves a parfait, right?

After lunch, we took our carriage ride, though not from the guy who had asked us if we wanted one.  Our driver did not speak any English, but we were able to understand much of what he said.  He had a grey mare who seemed a little nervous in the heavy traffic we drove through.  As he was pointing out places of interest along our route, the driver got a call on his cell phone.  Bill and I chuckled, since the guy’s ringtone was a horse neighing.  The driver insisted on taking pictures of me and Bill in his carriage.  I’m grateful they mostly turned out okay.  I hate the way I photograph.  When we got back to the starting point, I managed to tell the guy that I used to have a horse.  We bonded and he told me his mare’s name is Rosilla.  I petted the horse and we went on our way.

That evening, we ended up at this great bar near our hotel.  Bill and I wanted some wine, though we were still pretty full from lunch.  Our server was a fatherly man who was intent on teaching me how to order shrimp fritters.  I was enjoying the music in the bar, which was all from the 80s, so we sat there and drank a shitload of wine.  The second bottle was from Jerez de la Frontera, which is where Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry is made.  The quality was excellent and the bottle wasn’t too expensive, but it packed quite a wallop at 15% alcohol.

I ended up getting pretty hammered… and when a bum came in looking for handouts, I ended up in a funny exchange with him.  He flirted with me as a means of mock begging.  I laughed in response and Bill gave him a couple of euros.  Later, when he continued to engage, I laughed again and told him to “beat it”.  He took his leave with a courtly bow.  Sadly, I don’t quite remember the end of the evening… at least until we got to the hotel and my body kicked out some of the booze.

Information center…

There are buildings related to Spanish speaking countries in Seville…

Beautiful park

Swans!

Palace views!

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Beautiful Seville by bullet train!

The morning of January 19th, we awoke to chilly, rainy weather in Madrid.  Not wanting to hunt around for food, we decided to have breakfast at Pans & Company, a Spanish fast food chain that emphasizes “healthy” options.  I discovered Pans & Company in 1997, when my travel buddies and I found it in Barcelona.  It’s especially known for its bocadillos, sandwiches that Spaniards like eating as snacks.

I had orange juice, coffee, and a chocolate pastry.  Bill had a more savory option.  While we were in there, a young couple with a cute little daughter came in.  I was heartened to see how her parents cooperated in looking after her.  She was basically well-behaved for her age, but I could also tell she was a bit of a handful.  For fast food, Pans & Company offers an inexpensive yet decent quality breakfast.  It was a lot more economical than the 10 euro per person buffet the hotel was offering.

Eats from Pans & Company…

We checked out of the hotel and took a cab to the train station.  I have to say, the Atocha station in Madrid seemed a lot nicer this time than it was when I was last there in 1997.  We were there a bit early for our train, so we hit a wine bar and enjoyed a nice glass of rioja.

Nice palm garden at the Atocha train station…

The view from our table…

 

Bill enjoys his vino…

After we had our wine, Bill visited the one and only pay toilet we encountered on our trip.  The train station had an automated toilet that cost 60 euro cents, but allowed you to go twice if you needed to.  Of course, once we went through security to get on the train, I noticed there were free toilets.  I guess they do that to keep the bums from abusing the train station’s public bathrooms.  

 

I had taken the AVE train to Seville before and it was in second class.  I remember it being a decent experience.  It was this time, too.  The seats were comfortable and our car wasn’t full of people.  The 300+ mile journey was knocked out in about two hours and twenty minutes and we whizzed through beautiful Spanish countryside.  I listened to music the whole way, enjoying the ride immensely.

 

Bill prepares to take his seat on the train…

We arrived in Seville to sunny skies and relative warmth.  It wasn’t *warm* per se, but it was definitely not as cold and bitter as Madrid was.  A cab took us to our hotel, Hotel Casa 1800, a cute boutique hotel in the Jewish Quarter.  I promised Bill he would love Seville.  It is my favorite Spanish city.

Bill’s first gaze at Seville…

 

After we checked in, we went across the street for a late lunch, where we were immediately confronted by a waiter who had obviously dealt with a lot of Americans.  He was kind of pushy about what he thought we wanted.  We had some cava and he was pushing a fish platter, but I opted for a meat platter instead, which Bill and I shared.  It was actually very good.  There was chicken, skirt steak, and pork, as well as salad.  It really hit the spot.

Mucho meat!

 

We walked around the Santa Cruz area and I showed Bill the very no frills hostel Becky and I stayed in during our last visit.  Then we ran across Aire, a hammam (Turkish bath).  I had read about this spa as I was researching our Space A trip in 2012.  I thought we might end up in Spain then.  But then I forgot about it.  This spa/hammam is located on a very secluded street.  I knew I wanted to try it.  Bill hadn’t brought a bathing suit, but the hammam provides them if you need one.  I booked us an appointment for the next morning.

Camembert and strawberry sauce…

Tapas sized paella…

Potatoes and cheese…

Ham croquettes

Later, we went to another tapas place and ordered way too much food.  We actually went in there because I needed to pee, but stayed because it was kind of an interesting place.  A street musician came in and asked if he could play for money.  He turned out to be kind of a funny guy.  We gave him a couple of euros and watched as people went to mass.  A large chapel was close to the bar and it was easy to see people come and go to church.

As we walked back to the hotel, I gazed around Seville at the bountiful orange trees that hung heavy with fruit.  Some of the oranges had fallen and were smashed by passing cars navigating the winding, tight streets of Seville’s barrio.  We passed Seville’s enormous cathedral and enjoyed the sights and sounds of mostly local people.  January is a great time to visit Seville.


These tiles are all over the place in Seville…

The tower at Seville’s cathedral…

I had to take a picture of this… it’s kind of a Carlin quote.

 
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Tentative travel plans…

So Bill and I are seriously planning to take a trip somewhere… anywhere the military takes us, really.  We have a date on Saturday to take the dogs to a local “doggie camp”, where they will be “interviewed” and will hopefully pass the test so we’ll have a place to put them when we leave town sometime around the 10th.

We’ll either get a “hop” from Lackland Air Force base somewhere or we’ll take a commercial flight to Baltimore or Charleston, South Carolina and pick up a hop in one of those cities.  My money is on going to BWI, which has a dedicated terminal for military folks.  Last time we did this was in May 2012 and we ended up having a blast.  Taking a military hop is a crap shoot, though, because you never know if they’ll go off according to plan.  But then that’s part of the fun of the whole thing.  Last time we “hopped”, it cost about $40 round trip for transportation to and from Germany.

I have a feeling we’ll go to Germany again, even though we could also go to The Azores.  If we go to Germany, we may do another Blind Booking with Germanwings, which is a cheap airline in Germany.  We have done three blind bookings thus far and they have landed us in Barcelona, London, and Munich respectively.  Basically, you pay a cheap fare and end up going wherever they have tickets.  It’s a fun way to see Europe.  Last night, I was researching Manchester, England and trying to determine what we’d do on the off chance we ended up there.  That’s just one of many cities, though… We could go to Milan, Vienna, Salzburg, Lisbon, Zurich… the list goes on and on.

Or we could just go to Germany and stay there… or go to France by train.  It’s truly travel by the seat of your pants.

I worry that the weather will really suck during our trip, but I’m also really eager to get out of Texas for awhile.  And I know that soon we will not have as much liberal travel ability as we have right now.  We could wait and do this travel in a few months, when Bill is on “terminal leave”, but I think we will be more focused on getting Bill employed at that point and making sure we can pay our bills in the interim.

There’s a great military hop forum that recently switched to a new place.  It’s also gone from being a free site to a pay site.  I paid $39.95 for a “premium” membership last night.  I think it’s worth it.  The flight schedules are posted there as are trip reports and other handy tips.

My parents did a lot of military hops when they were younger and more mobile.  I’m guessing those days are over now for them… but Bill and I will enjoy them for as long as we can.

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The Azores…

As I sit here pondering the last year of Bill’s active duty Army career, I realize that soon he will likely have less leave for good trips.  He will also have lower priority for trips on military hops.  I have never been to Portugal.  Neither has Bill.  The Azores, which is a group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, is part of Portugal.  It’s also stunningly beautiful.

Bill and I noticed that there are regular flights going to the Azores every week that usually have seats available.  Looks like they also have regular flights back to the US with seats available.  So last night, we were talking about visiting the Azores.  One of my friends lived in Portugal in the 1980s and visited the Azores.  He said it wasn’t a very interesting place to visit.  Having looked around on the Internet, I am inclined to disagree.  From what I’ve seen in photos, the Azores look like a cross between Hawaii and Ireland.  Parts of it are very green, with deep blue ocean and volcanos.  There are hydrangeas everywhere.  And anywhere there’s that much ocean, there is bound to be great seafood.

I have a friend who visited the Azores courtesy of a military hop.  She said when they visited, she and her husband were able to pick up some delicious port.  I am also a port fan.  I like laid back vacations, beaches, friendly locals, and unusual non-touristy places.

I don’t know if that’s where we’ll go next… I do think our next trip will probably be via a military hop, though.  We don’t have as much money in Texas as we did in North Carolina.  We will in February, when we’re done paying off my car… Then things will temporarily be better… but we will also be preparing for Bill’s retirement.  I was hoping we could take a good trip after he retired.  I think that a hop may be the best way to do that.

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