The week after Chance and I visited Cologne, I rented a car and set forth to drive on the autobahn to Landstuhl, where I grew up. I had fast cars when I lived there last. I was sad that I got a frackin Ford Focus as an upgrade from the rental agency. I had reserved a VW. Bollucks..

I was so psyched. Because, I learned how to drive on the autobahn, and I missed extreme acceleration, long distances spanned in short amounts of time, and people that actually pass on the left, not the right. Did you know Germans have to spend $3,ooo to get their licenses?

When my parents and I moved to Germany in 1989, I remember having to stay in a hotel for 6 months. 6 months!! I was 9, and I just wanted to play, and there wasn’t anywhere TO play.  One of my first memories of being home was  after looking at several houses to rent, my mom and dad (while looking at a potential house)  said that I could scope the neighborhood. I remembered seeing a park right down the street.  They had to pull me away in the end.  I have a really good memory of that park, and that swingset. I did not want to leave, it was the first time that I had felt like a kid in months. But, in the end, that became my park. We ended up living in the house we saw that day, for 8 years.

I haven’t driven past it in awhile. I guess its harder when you know you can’t visit whenever you want.  I took Chance to the park, it sounds dumb, but I wanted to sit on that swing. It was where I feel my childhood really started. It is the point from which my memories of growing up are much more vivid.  What’s strange was, the light that day. It had a sort of haze to it, it made everything seem less real.  But it was real, down to playing on the see-saw at 29 that I played on when I was 9 years old in a country 3,000 miles away with the person I had confessed my love to and flown just as far to see. It was completely surreal.  What are the fucking odds of that? Normally that’s a part of my life that I can never visit, or share with anyone. Imagine meeting someone wonderful, a friend or lover and never being able to take them to that cafe you love so much because its 3,000 miles away. It sucks.  With an artist’s salary, it might as well be on another planet.

After visiting my old home and the park I played on as a kid, we ventured to Burg Nanstein. Its a castle that I used to play in as a child. It was built in 1162, and all that remain are some partially restored ruins. It was built into the sandstone rock, and was one of the most fortified castles of its day, thats why a lot of it is still standing. It overlooks the city of Landstuhl and you can see the planes taking off from Ramstein AFB.  This magical castle was one of my favorite places to play. I loved the 30 minute jaunt it took my short limbs to walk through the forest to the castle.  It was an adventure to Narnia.

There was a small kiosk that I would get my favorite Ice cream bar from.  It was called a “BUM BUM”. It had a chewing gum stick, that you could eat after all the ice cream was gone. I had to have one,but I couldn’t find them there. Later on when we ventured to Mannheim where I lived before moving to the states, we found them. Waaaay sweeter than I remember. Chance said he was gonna die of sugar overdose. I think the fully sugary gum treat at the end sent me into insulin shock.  I probably won’t have one again in my adult life, but hey, the memories are still sweet.

The small kiosk was no more, instead it was fully tourist-ized restaurant. With a menu in German and English, It catered to the Americans that lived so abundantly in the area. It reminded me of why my German sucks. I was always surrounded with Americans, even though I lived in a different country. I did have the best schnitzel of my life though. OMG. I think it was the best I’ve ever had. So fresh and the salad.YUM. I’m currently trying out recipes for Jogurt dressing. It is way better than any dressing here. I miss it! I’ll share the recipe as soon as I find one that does my memory justice. Its like crack on saladz

After Landstuhl, we drove an hour to Mannheim, where I lived before I was married.. (yes, I was one of those married too young and divorced just as quickly)

I danced in the Mannheim Nationaltheater, and worked on the American Base as a Bartender. My Bartending gig on the base helped me avoid pesky nuisances like paying German taxes and spending that 3,o00 bucks to drive overseas.

Anyhoo. It was awesome to be back, walking down the Hauptstrasse with Chance. It really felt good to share my past with my future.