Thanks everybody for some awesome and expensive suggestions, unfortunately I do not make General pay to afford some of those ideas.
To answer a few questions about VAT and cars,etc.:
-we get a certain amount of weight for shipping our Household goods, (thousands of pounds, more rank, more weight), so whatever you can bring with you legally back to the US.
-you can ship to and from 1 vehicle plus a motorcycle,scooter. If you buy a new US Spec vehicle here (BMW,Audi,etc) the dealer gives you a free ship to home deal at the dealers expense. Doesn't count towards Gov shipped vehicle.
-any vehicle that is older than 25 years can be brought back, irregardless of meeting US specs or not (last time I checked).
-We get what are called VAT forms, cost 4 bucks each, and can be used to take the 19% tax from items you buy, most big stores allow them, some don't. Prudent to only use for larger purchases. Otherwise we pay for everything off post in Euros with the 19% tax! 100 Euros is equivalent to over 131 USD, it adds up fast.
-a European 4 star hotel, equivalent to a US 3 star runs about 150 Euros (usually more) in most big cities, so it burns a hole in your pocket quick.
-if you are traveling to Europe and hope to get all your tax money back at the airport, you'd better know how it works! Just having a receipt from a store does not matter, the purchased item must come with a tax return receipt/form in order to use it when claiming tax back at the airport. PITA.
-been living off and on for over 11 years in Deutschland so I have traveled a bunch. Took the train to the Berlin wall as it was coming down (first duty station in Nurnberg and decided to go check it out live with a couple of buddies!), went to the Gulf War from here (also Egypt, Kosovo, Bosnia and again to Iraq in a Military status).
I have been part of the pre and post cold war in Germany so have seen my share of changes, like not been able to convoy your tanks on the Autobahn anymore!
All in all, living here is a blast! Just bought a mini keg of a Pilsener beer for 4 Euros , was on clearance at the Aldi store. Beer is cheap but I'm starting to see a trend like smaller 12 oz bottles for the same price. Damn.
Pet peeves: nothing is free, like water at lunch (2.20 euro a glass usually, sodas and beer are more for really small glasses). Ketchup is extra and the food selection kinda *****, meaning you get better quality/selection in anywhere USA. You can't eat schnitzel and dumplings every day.
It usually cost 50 euro cents to use a bathroom and more at gas stations on the autobahn.
-Traveling is awesome, I just got back from a week in Ireland, driving the Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, etc. I did a week driving all over the UK a month before that. Paris is 2 1/2 hours by train. I have driven all over Europe but the beauty of driving while in Germany is that we pay US prices for Gas (we get a 400 liter a month ration). Not so while out of Germany, you have to be stationed in that country to get the US rates.
Did I say I loved the Autobahn? I was driving 120 MPH just today to get home but kinda windy and rainy so I slowed down to a safe 100. Germans respect the laws, not like those G-damned Italians when I was driving the Amalfi coast last year! I now hate scooters. No offense to crazy Italian drivers, of course.
Sorry folks for the long reply, got on a tangent here!
ps, Blöckw@rt, can I buy anything from the tool factories in the Bergisches Land triangle? It looks beautiful out there though, might go down there next week if the sun is shining!
Danke Schon und schones wochenende! sorry, I don't have umlauts on my keyboard!
. Most time their assortement is marginal....what they do is to show you an overpriced cataloug and you can choose...