We Will Miss Pt. 3

We will miss the seasons. Texas pretty much has one season: summer. Even in the winter, Texans see their daily highs reaching into the 70s sometimes. A 70-degree day here means summer – MAYBE late spring, but really summer. I will enjoy wearing flip flops more often, but I will not miss the joy of seeing the seasons change, particularly the arrival of spring. When spring arrives in Germany, you can walk outside and the air is saturated with the smell of flowers. It’s delicious. In early spring (now), the crocuses and other bulbous plants are making their appearance, which is also delightful. It’s a great reminder that the long, cold, dark, gray winter does not last forever.

We will miss the Heidelberg “hilltains.” They technically are mountains, but they are nothing compared to the Alps, of course. They are also much more than hills when you compare them to the Texas Hill Country. Thus, John and I dubbed them hilltains. It’s nice to look out our windows and see them. Watching the colors of the trees change in the fall on the hills or the green return in the spring is extra special. It is also magical to see the tops of them dusted with snow when we barely got anything down in the city.

We will miss our garden. Just over a year ago, we cleared out a weed-ridden portion by our building, ripped out old decrepit rose bushes and built a raised bed garden. We planted flowers, vegetables, fruit and herbs. We learned a lot about gardening and took great pleasure in checking in on our garden on a daily basis. We also brought back the grass instead of the weeds in the area in front of the garden. Now, with our departure, the only things remaining in that area are the grass, our hydrangea (my favorite flower), chives and our asparagus plant. We were hoping the pepper and pepino would make it through the winter, but I think they’re done for. Anyway, we don’t think anyone will take care of this area once we leave, and it will be sad to know that it will return to the nasty, overgrown, weed-ridden area that it was before we got here.

We will miss the Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas markets) and all the other seasonal festivals: Spargelfest (asparagus fest), the wine festivals, Flugtags (flying dags), etc. Germans like to fest everything. It’s fun! The Christmas markets are definitely our favorite, though. We will miss all the sights, sounds and smells of the markets – particularly the crepes and Glühwein.

We will miss the Kaffeehaus and Schwetzingen. Schwetzingen has held a special place in our hearts since we got here. It’s a cute small town, and the people there have always been friendly to us. It is also home to our favorite restaurant, the Kaffeehaus, which gets it major points. We will miss our brunches, lunches and dinners at the Kaffeehaus. No matter what you order there, it’s going to be good. I miss it already!

We will miss tax-free shopping. Because we are military stationed overseas, whenever we buy something from the States and have it shipped here, it’s tax free. I will miss getting everything at about 8% off. (I won’t miss paying for shipping, though!)

We will miss not paying for rent or healthcare. This has been one of the major benefits of the Army. We have had these needs provided for. However, it has not always been wonderful (some of which I will cover in the next series on what we won’t miss). There have been several instances where we have been completely frustrated with the standard of healthcare. For instance, having a non-cavity drilled and filled as if it was a cavity is beyond infuriating.

And the last of the “we will miss” series:

We will miss Sunday being a rest day. Almost all shops and many restaurants are closed on Sundays. It is nice to have a day where you cannot do anything other than relax and enjoy your family. However, when you and your spouse both work full time, it can also be exasperating to only have one day (Saturday) to be able to get out and do errands. We have a love/hate relationship with this one, which brings us to things we won’t miss about military life and living in Germany.