My experience in Germany

For various reasons, I think it might be worthwhile to memorialize that.

In the summer of 1977, I spent two weeks in Germany.

I was on active duty in the US Army then, and this was what they call a TDY, paid for by the Army.

The initial part of the TDY was installing a computer system I had participated in developing at Field Station Augsburg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USASA_Field_Station_Augsburg

I worked lengthy days at FSA,

but in the evening I drove on the autobahn west to the Gasthaus Zur Post in Zusmarshausen

https://www.posthalterei.com/ ,

which I had discovered via the Michelin Red Guide, 

and arrived in its pub to enjoy a German dinner and beverage, 

before I retired to my room for the night

(naturally, one of the least expensive ones).

A delightful experience!

All their staff I encountered spoke perfect English!

I wore my uniform as an American Army officer, but the staff couldn't have been nicer to me.

Evidently the hostilities of the 1940s were forgiven.

All in all, a delightful experience in Germany.

After that I drove through the Bavarian countryside by 

Chiemsee, https://g.co/kgs/ebdxNo9

absolutely beautiful

to Salzburg.

The hillsides were like right out of "The Sound of Music."

One, perhaps 500 feet high, had a beautiful chalet near its top,

which looked like something from which Julie Andrews would emerge, skipping down the hill side, singing "The Hills Are Alive"

https://youtu.be/6f0T6UV-HiI

It was that sort of natural beauty.

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With hindsight, looking back on this in 2024, almost 50 years later, 

it's amazing how smoothly my trip to Germany went.

I flew into a German airport, probably Frankfurt, and rented a car, with just my American driver's license, credit card, and TDY orders.

With absolutely minimal knowledge of German, nothing beyond <I>Guten morgan, Guten send, danke schoen</I>, 

I was able to figure out the roads and get from the airport to Zur Post and Field Station Augsburg.

All the Germans I met were extraordinarily polite, friendly, courteous, and almost invariably could speak and understand English.

As mentioned above, I then drove to Salzburg, and admired the 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzburg_Residenz

Also, since I like mountains, a side trip to admire the 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugspitze

I then drove on to visit other Army installations in Berlin (FSB), Frankfurt (V Corps), and Heidelberg (USAREUR), but nothing worth saying about those.