FLASHBACK: Munich (1954-1957)

The Army shipped Ken & Mary to Munich, Germany in 1955.  

A decade after World War II, Bavaria had resumed its picturesque traditions, including Oktoberfest parades . . . 

 

and eating and drinking at the local Gasthof.

I wouldn't have guessed roller skating, too.

Then again, I don't remember any of it though this stool moved around the world with us.

Here I am with my first bestie, Pat Martin.  A girl, natch.

I've always bonded more easily with the the fairer sex.  Possibly because they didn't make fun of my beanie.

Butchie Auld and I didn't know from political correctness.  Dobbie, my favorite stuffed animal, was his hand-me-down.  It's still in a cedar chest at 47 Pianos.

My first elephant at the Munich zoo.

My first snow, too.

And sunglasses.  When I showed this picture to David, he laughed uncharitably and said "Even at three you had to be cool."  Blame Mary.

Every kid in Germany needs a sled.

Ken loved nothing more than to pose me in front of a car or motorcycle, preferably a VW.

My panache peaked around age three.

Ken and Mary introduced me to road trips at an early age.  Note the VW racing down the autobahn.

Berchtesgaden, Hitler's getaway, is a short drive from Munich.  

It's just as gorgeous in the summer.

Ken and Mary probably went to Paris and Lake Geneva on their own.

But they brought me along to Scandinavia.  Here I am in Copenhagen . . . 

and at Tivoli Gardens.

A ferry transported us and the Karmann Ghia from Denmark to Sweden.

Would you believe the three of us lived out of a single suitcase?

Hello Oslo!

Ken bought me a bike with training wheels before we left Germany.

We had to take the train to Frankfurt to fly back to America.  We rode past an enormous industrial fire, my first memory.

A Breezy Building

Reunification Palace, completed in the mid 60s,  is impeccably manicured and accessible to the public.  It wouldn't look out of place on Lincoln Center Plaza.

But the architect clearly prioritized function over aesthetics.  Even in Saigon's stifling heat and humidity, breezes blowing through the building keep it relatively cool.

I'm not sure how to describe the interior decor.  Jetson pinko?  Somehow, it works.

Apparatchiks once conferred here.

"Call me maybe?"

Dad returned from his tour of duty with a white elephant just like this one, outside the Palace's residential quarters.  He used to perch on it in the living room and make fun of whatever Mom and I were watching on the "boob tube."  In a sentimental effort to replace it, I made an uncharacteristic and impulsive purchase in India several years ago but it can't compare to he kick I get out of this photo!