From my childhood

My dad was in the army and we were stationed in Germany, my dad was never one to live on base we usually lived in a nearby town...sometimes not so nearby. This song was on the jukebox in the local restaurant and I played it so often that when the owner changed out some records my dad bought it from him LOL [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcCxC_-ABFs]

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dancingtongue · 80-89, M

Juke boxes in German restaurants those days could be a real trip. I remember one in a pizza parlor owned by Turks. Most of the plays were Turkish folk songs or Italian opera, and then there was Brubeck's Take Five.

istillhaveanameitsrick · 56-60, M

@dancingtongue what I remember of Germany was that most of the people were very friendly, back then they seemed to love Americans (I understand that has changed). The couple who owned the restaurant absolutely loved me. My parents asked if they knew of anyplace where I could go and see Santa Claus at Christmas time. There was some misunderstanding and they hired a guy to dress up as Saint Nicholas and come and do a blessing...even he was nice and took on the role of Santa Claus so I could sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted for Christmas LOL

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@istillhaveanameitsrick They were. Of course I was there a little before you, and they were bending over backwards to put the war behind them -- everyone who had been of military age assured us they had fought on the Eastern front. They also were still heavily reliant on the black market of stuff from our PXs because there economy wasn't fully back up to speed. The German song of the time that I remember is [i]Es Gibt Kein Bier Auf Hawaii[/i]. The U.S. was pitching tourism in Europe at that time. The hausfrau wants to take a tour to Hawaii. Her husband's response, the chorus, is "there is no beer in Hawaii".

istillhaveanameitsrick · 56-60, M

@dancingtongue that is funny. My dad wasn't a big german beer fan but he loved the schapps...and he would let me sneak a taste once in awhile. Nothing like a 6-7 year old kid with a buzz LOL Still trying to find a good recipe for wiener schnitzel all these years later. Tried ordering it at the "German" restaurant at Disney in Florida and they brought me saurkraut and sausage and argued with me when I told them it wasn't wiener schnitzel LOL

dancingtongue · 80-89, M

@istillhaveanameitsrick Hard to find good German restaurants in the U.S. Or at least those parts of the U.S. outside of those areas where there with heavy German immigration histories. Ironically there is a neighborhood Italian restaurant with a pretty good ripschen. Schnapps is like pure anti-freeze. For a Californian kid who had never seen snow fall until he hit Germany, that shot of schnapps on entering the gasthaus was a lifesaver.

istillhaveanameitsrick · 56-60, M

@dancingtongue A lot of Americans don't understand that there is quite a difference between what we call schnapps and what they serve in Germany LOL There is a town in Michigan called Frankenmuth they have a restaurant called The Bavarian Inn that specializes in fried chicken but they also make quite a few german dishes including a decent wiener schnitzel, not perfect but pretty good.