Nostalgia

Everyone gets it now and then. At 1 in the morning, yeah, I get it.

After eating a cone of coffee ice cream, I began to remember the times sitting at a small Italian ice cream shop in Germany, watching people walk by. I remember listening to bits of conversations in German, smelling the different scents of perfume or cologne, and seeing how different (and sophisticated) the styles are in Europe compared to those in the US. I remember the Italian ice cream served in small amounts and being a bit expensive but very, very delectable. I also remember walking through downtown Kaiserslautern, gazing at the old buildings mixed with the new, seeing these unusual, small cars that no one would ever see in the States.

I remember driving down the autobahn, marvelling at the high speeds one could go, higher than what was allowed in the US. I remember seeing rolling hills and the towns they harboured as we crossed over bridges. I remember looking at the license plates.

I remember walking my dog through the woods in the snow. It was a heck of a wicked winter, but the views were beautiful. The woods doused in white fluff seem to drown out all sound save for the crunch of your footsteps. My dog would act crazy as she dove from one tree to another, sniffing off the snow covering the logs and bushes. I nearly slipped as she darted suddenly over a smooth clearing.

I remember visiting the nearby Nanstein castle. It wasn't a really huge one, but it was an actual castle, preserved throughout history. It was fun walking through the underground walkway, even though it was a short one leading to a cave-like room. At the highest point, you could see the town of Landshtul and a bit of Ramstein Air Base, where we were stationed at.

I remember all these things, but what totally ruins the moment is remembering that I forgot about using a camera to capture all these sights. Gah, >.<.

I did take a pic of this really teeny car with a European license plate, but unfortunately, I lost that image on Dad's old harddrive. Gotta hate that. Hm, that reminds me. I need to find that roll of film from visiting our German cousins and remind Mom to develop it before it's too late.

Lesson learnt: Take your camera everywhere you go. You'll never know when you'll come across a view that you'll want to keep as a lasting, temporal memory.