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When away from home for years at a time it is always good, for sanity’s sake, to have reminders and experiences to keep connected. I was blessed to visit the Air Force Base (a ‘little USA’) in Ramstein, Germany recently and received gracious hospitality by Fr. Dave (chaplain on base) and Stephen (a very good guy who will separate from the military this summer to join the Diocese of Little Rock as a seminarian). They have come twice to Rome and it was good to see them again.
One of the first things they did after picking me up at the airport and showing me around the base was treating me to a fantastic lunch at Chili’s with free refills of Dr. Pepper! Sometimes it’s the small things that give us cheer.
Stephen showed me around the area of Ramstein, including an old castle. Later that evening a very nice couple from the US prepared a tasty dinner at their house. It was a pleasant meal with pleasurable company.
Fr. Dave and Stephen planned a jam-packed and exciting weekend for us. We boarded a bus at three in the morning to travel from Ramstein (West-central Germany) to Bavaria (far South Germany). The trip was to see two fantastic castles located on the foothills of the Alps dividing Germany and Austria.
We spent all day at this incredibly scenic site. The weather was perfect and the castles were amazing, especially Neuschwanstein, which has a connection to the US: Walt Disney used it to model sleeping beauty’s castle.
King Ludwig had it built when he was a young prince. He watched it being built from the window of his bedroom in his parent’s castle using a telescope. Unfortunately he died, under mysterious circumstances, after only having lived in his own castle a few years.
Sunday, the last day of my three-day journey, was another remarkable day. It was nice celebrating Mass in a large parish community from the States on base and then having a huge American brunch afterwards, the largest buffet I’ve ever seen.
Fr. Dave will soon be moving on from Germany and Stephen will be coming home this summer. It was a real treat to visit them, experience a bit of home away from home and see some amazing sites in Germany. I am sure appreciative of their generous hospitality.
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