Today we spent the entire day just touring around the Frankfurt area. Vince used to live here in the 80's and couldn't wait to go check out his old stomping grounds. After dropping Mark off at the airport early this morning, we headed over to where Rhein-Main Air Force Base used to be. It was attached to the Frankfurt Airport so was perfect for us to go there after dropping Mark.
Vince was actually stationed at Rhein-Main and that is where he was hurt in the terrorist bombing. Rhein-Main was a large air base and was considered the "Gateway to Europe" for all US forces coming into Europe. It was closed down in 2005 when the US government closed down many bases throughout Europe. It is unfortunate since this was once a huge, and important base for staging troops in the region. We tried to go to the area where the base was, but it has all been torn down and repurposed. Most of it has been converted to the commercial airport and outlying buildings. We found where the main gate used to be, but there wasn't much left in that area either. Most of the base was blocked off by new secure areas for the airport and their commercial contractors. Vince was REALLY disappointed not to be able to go to his old buildings - as nothing was there.
So we headed off in the direction where Vince used to live. He couldn't remember his exact address but described the lay of the land, and how you got into the city, and what the housing developments looked like. Just from that, I was able to find the community he lived in from maps. We started driving around the community, and right when he was about to give up, we found it! It was like a miracle!! There is no way we should have been able to find this place - as it was much different than Vince remembered it - but the same. We took some pics and couldn't wait to share them with his brother Greg, who spent a lot of time at his house here, and Vince Jr and Christina.
We found the fields that he used to go walk hi dogs in - then we drove around the small adjoining towns just seeing how much it had changed.
After exploring the outskirts of Frankfurt, we headed for downtown. We went to the main city hall area where we have pictures of Vince receiving an award, and tried to reenact the exact spot he was standing in. We spent the rest of the day walking around downtown, having a glass of wine, enjoying the scenery and just taking in the vibe of the city. It was a fairly relaxing afternoon in that we just really enjoyed hanging out downtown.
For dinner we found an amazing hole in the wall Italian restaurant off the beaten path. There was a little wait, but it was definitely worth it!! (We found all the Italian food we had in Germany was phenomenal!!!) We kinda did my birthday celebration dinner tonight even though we plan to spend all day tomorrow celebrating too!
 |
| Vince lived on that 3rd floor balcony |
 |
| Entrance to their underground parking |
 |
| Where Vince received his award back in the 80's |
 |
| SNACKS!!! |
No comments:
Post a Comment