I hope to stay longer than 72 hours the next time I visit Germany. I don’t recommend such a short visit. However I went there for work as I do occasionally, and I had no choice. So that’s what I did. I landed in Frankfurt on Monday, drove down to Kaiserslautern, stayed through Thursday morning, and then reversed the process. That’s a long way to go from the United States for such a brief trip, but I never fully adjusted to the time difference so that was a silver lining I guess.
The Kaiserslautern area, affectionately nicknamed K-Town, has the largest U.S. military population outside of the United States. More than 50,000 American soldiers, dependents and contractors live in proximity, many of them at nearby Ramstein Air Base. So a lot of U.S. citizens take a similar trek to this spot about an hour southwest of Frankfurt. Nonetheless, I imagine very few of them are tourists. There’s not much to see here compared to other parts of Germany. Nor did I get much of an opportunity anyway.
Fritz-Walter-Stadion
Part of the time I attended conference held in a football (soccer) stadium, which seemed odd because the subject had nothing to do with sports. But the stadium sat atop the highest hill in town so at least there were some nice views.
The exhibit hall and all general session occupied a lower-level space deep within the stadium totally enclosed within Brutalist concrete walls. But the meals and breakout sessions occupied the club level. Large windows there provided expansive views of an otherwise empty stadium. Sometimes we saw football players in uniform walking around on the way to the practice field. It felt as disjointed as it sounds. I guess there aren’t many places for several hundred people to gather in Kaiserslautern.
Ordinarily this is the home field for “1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern” which shortens to 1. FCK. I’m sure the abbreviation looks entirely normal to Germans, but I encourage any native English speaker to examine their logo. I saw it all over town and every time it appeared I did a double-tale.
Walking Through Town
I didn’t have a lot of downtime, but I did manage to squeeze a couple of walks into what little time was available.
The compact downtown pedestrian area was quaint enough, with lots of people window shopping or sitting at cafes on a beautiful spring day. I covered most of the streets one afternoon when I needed to stretch my legs.
Also I managed to pop into a couple of churches. They looked old but I don’t know if they really were or not. The Allies bombed the daylights out of Kaiserslautern during the Second World War because it was an industrial area. They’re still finding bombs today.
Japanischer Garten
Then I found an oasis of magnificent tranquility, the Japanischer Garten. I’m not sure how a Japanese garden ended up in this corner of Germany although I certainly enjoyed my brief respite. Admission cost only a few Euros and that was a bargain even if it was a bit different than my trip to actual Japan last year.
Found a Brewery
Of course I found a brewery. Nobody would ever doubt that accomplishment because I’m always looking to add to my list. Actually I didn’t even have to try hard because Brauhaus am Markt (“Brewery on the Market”) sat practically next door to my hotel. That made it a particularly fine choice for dinner my only free evening.
Germany is renowned for its breweries but not as much in this corner of Rhineland-Palatinate. Vineyards and wineries tend to dominate here. So, actually, I was pretty lucky to have a genuine brewpub in such close proximity. No complaints here!
Well, that was pretty much everything I saw on this trip.
Global Entry
This trip also marked my first reentry into the United States using the Global Entry trusted traveler program. I completed the interview process when I passed through Miami International Airport on the way back from Costa Rica last summer. Then I got my credential pretty quickly but I had to wait a few months for my next international trip.
It’s a game-changer, and I say that without exaggeration. I passed through immigration and customs at Dulles in about five minutes. I walked up to a kiosk that took my photo, got into a short zig-zag line that moved quickly, told a customs official that I had nothing to declare, and then I was done. Dulles is notorious for its horrible reentry delays so this was an absolutely mind-boggling improvement.
Maybe I can take a longer trip next time.
See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr
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