After spending 2 days in Washington, D.C. seeing the sights (a couple of the Smithsonian museums, White House, Union Station, Washington Monument, etc.) we drove back to Baltimore to catch our flight. I don't know how we managed it, probably luck, but we boarded the plane into the business class section of the airplane.
The 7.5 hour flight was quite comfortable and we arrived at about 7:30am local time. We were then put into a holding area we were not allowed to leave unless our Army sponsor was there to pick us up or our bus left (one wouldn't leave until 2:30pm that afternoon). Luckily our sponsor had filled out the paperwork and was waiting for us. Once they processessed our paperwork, we were escorted out where our sponsor took us under his care.
We dropped our bags at the hotel and he
gave us a tour of the Ramstein BX (pretty much a mall). That's where we recieved a call that we were not actually assigned to Landstuhl as we had originally been told but were actually getting attached to a Wiesbaden unit. Typical Army! Hence a lot of phone calls and questions persued. Our wonderful sponsor drove us to Wiesbaden and helped us find our next unit sponsor.
After having been up for over 24 hours, and trying to stay awake until at least 8pm (great advice D!) our long time friend picked us up for a lovely dinner and some
great wine (long overdue at this point!) So we have now spent our first night in Germany and are looking forward to our great adventure!
A couple of observations: the audobahn is really just an interstate where there are places without a speed limit; the doors always look open because they don't sit flush in the frames; there are knobs in the bathroom that I don't know how to work :P Here are a few photos from the road - enjoy!
***Advice to military spouses: ask your sponsor to pick you up; otherwise you may spend hours waiting for the bus. I also have no clue why they issued me a no-fee gov't passport, the immigration official stamped my regular tourist passport. Bring earplugs for you and your family - the plane can be noisy. Staying up to at least 8pm is a must to help reset your internal clock (otherwise you may wake up
in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back asleep.) Always keep your sense of humor - things can, and will, change; it's the Army.
The 7.5 hour flight was quite comfortable and we arrived at about 7:30am local time. We were then put into a holding area we were not allowed to leave unless our Army sponsor was there to pick us up or our bus left (one wouldn't leave until 2:30pm that afternoon). Luckily our sponsor had filled out the paperwork and was waiting for us. Once they processessed our paperwork, we were escorted out where our sponsor took us under his care.
We dropped our bags at the hotel and he
gave us a tour of the Ramstein BX (pretty much a mall). That's where we recieved a call that we were not actually assigned to Landstuhl as we had originally been told but were actually getting attached to a Wiesbaden unit. Typical Army! Hence a lot of phone calls and questions persued. Our wonderful sponsor drove us to Wiesbaden and helped us find our next unit sponsor.
After having been up for over 24 hours, and trying to stay awake until at least 8pm (great advice D!) our long time friend picked us up for a lovely dinner and some
great wine (long overdue at this point!) So we have now spent our first night in Germany and are looking forward to our great adventure!
A couple of observations: the audobahn is really just an interstate where there are places without a speed limit; the doors always look open because they don't sit flush in the frames; there are knobs in the bathroom that I don't know how to work :P Here are a few photos from the road - enjoy!
***Advice to military spouses: ask your sponsor to pick you up; otherwise you may spend hours waiting for the bus. I also have no clue why they issued me a no-fee gov't passport, the immigration official stamped my regular tourist passport. Bring earplugs for you and your family - the plane can be noisy. Staying up to at least 8pm is a must to help reset your internal clock (otherwise you may wake up
in the middle of the night and not be able to fall back asleep.) Always keep your sense of humor - things can, and will, change; it's the Army.
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