Live from the Eifel

http://www.webcam.bitburg.net/

On this December 1, there's already snow on the ground in Bitburg, Germany. That's the little town in the Eifel Mountains, near the Luxembourg border, where I was stationed from 1966 to 1969 in the U.S. Air Force.

Chuck Minx, who served at AFTV with me, sent me this link the other day in an e-mail. I already had it, but it had been about a year since I last took a look. Check out the site and you'll see live webcam images from downtown Bitburg. (Remember that Germany is 6 hours ahead of East Coast U.S. time, so when it's the middle of the day here in Richmond it's already dark in Bitburg.)

Bitburg, population 14,000, is already decorated for Christmas, with white stars strung from one side of the street to the other. The Web camera is looking down one of the main streets toward the town's center.

There are a few thousand more people in Bitburg now than there were when I was there. That's actually more impressive than it sounds. Before the Cold War ended, thousands of American military personnel and their dependents lived, ate, or shopped off base -- "on the economy," as we called it -- and pumped money into the region's coffers. The town has survived the loss of those GIs and their American dollars, at the same time adapting to change and growing. Bitburg survived the drawdown of U.S. troops well.

Part of Bitburg's success is due to the Simonbrau brewery, which was merely a regional operation when I was there but is now internationally known for its excellent Bitburger Pilsner beer.

Bitburg is nestled in the Eifel's green, rolling hills and gentle mountains. This is farm country, home to plain folks with few ostentatious tastes. You can find most of what you need in Bitburg, including good beer, superb Mosel wine and marvelous food. When I lived there, the town had six Italian restaurants, all of which provided free pizza delivery to the air base.

Bitburg's street food is also delectable. I like a mettwurst sausage on a bun, or shashlik on a skewer with pommes frites and lots of rich gravy. If you're looking for a department store or what we'd call a big-box store, you won't find one in Bitburg: You'll have to travel 25 kilometers to Trier, Germany's oldest city (population 104,000).

Bitburg's small-town look hasn't changed much in 40 years, and watching the live webcam can still fill me with nostalgia.