Home Sweet Home for the next three months in Deutschland!
Saturday, July 2, we moved into our apartment...well, that really was just clothes into the closet and wardrobes and suitcases under the beds.
Then, we made a long list of stuff we needed to set up house, and then followed our landlady literally two blocks behind our apartment to the V-Markt, the Costco/WalMart equivalent. It was a bit overwhelming...but we just got the basic paper products, some dish soap, and some food. I figured I'd go again once we made a list after getting more settled in...
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| Colin's first meal in our new home for the Summer. We found on the first trip what would become his favorite sausage-- Kaseknocker--a bratwurst with cheese in it. Yummy!  |
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| Our first meal, sausage with cheese, mustard, roll, Augustiner Weissbier...it's what's for dinner! |
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| Colin and Carrie in our new little cozy kitchen |
Well, while I'm on the subject, I did go to the V-Markt the next Monday, because all the stores except restaurants and biergartens are closed here on Sunday, like in the "good ole days" when I was a kid and everything but gas stations and a few restaurants were closed on Sundays.
Let me see if I can paint a picture of my experience going back to the V-Markt just me with Colin....
Walk two blocks with Colin in stroller, it's not raining, it's fine, we get there. I have a stroller, so I can't get a cart too, so I get a plastic basket. Oh, wait, I have to go back to the other entrance and use the Geldautomat (ATM) to withdraw cash--most places do not accept credit cards in Germany. OK, cash withdrawn. Time to shop--I had a long list, household items and groceries to find and purchase.
I have a long list, and small basket. I have a whiny 3 year old boy who wants to dart up and down the aisles where they also have gray haired Germans giving me the skink-eye. Everything is in German. I don't know the store layout and where things are. I have to read the ingredients like I do in the US, right? hell no, not anymore--if the picture looks like I'll eat it, it's goin' in the basket. I'm sweating--they don't have AC. I linger in the yogurt and milk aisle because it is cool. I'm cursing Scott because why didn't he help me think of all this stuff we were bound to need and buy it all when we had the rental CAR on Saturday when we came.
I'm praying I find the stuff I have to have. I'm re-evaluating my list and mentally crossing off items that can wait. I'm wondering what the hell I've committed to for three months...
I'm praying I find the stuff I have to have. I'm re-evaluating my list and mentally crossing off items that can wait. I'm wondering what the hell I've committed to for three months...
So, I bribe Colin to stay in the stroller with playing Angry Birds and games on my iphone. He does, thankfully! I get most of the food purchased. Eggs are not refrigerated here--OK!?! We go down a level with cart and all with me pushing stroller and lugging overflowing basket...I have to find detergent and softener, and dishwasher detergent. It takes me a while but I finally figure out from the colors and pictures and pick a brand--I get a detergent for darks, whites, colors, and a Woolite (the same here!), and a softener (I think) that has a bear that looks like the Snuggle softener bear in the US. I lug it all back in the stroller and threaten Colin with severe spankings and time outs and the taking away of (the few) toys we brought if he runs away down the aisles from me. He obeys until we have to pass the Gummi Bear and Chocolate ailse on the way to the check out. I bribe Colin with the purchase of Gummi Bears to please behave in the store and be my helper...he sort of complies. I purchase as much chocolate as I can squeeze on top of the basket without falling out.
I get to the checkout line. Colin runs away from me as I start to get all the stuff on the conveyer belt. I get more stink-eye from the locals in the store. I'm giving Colin some pretty mean looks and more threats of spankings through my gritted teeth as I sweat my way forward in the line. He finally comes back. As we get to the line, I hold up my reusable bag we bought on Saturday with the store logo on it. She asks me if it's new (in German, then English) and wants to charge me again for the bag and I tell her no, it's mine, I bought it last time. OK, now I have to bag my own stuff...fast. Colin is running away and coming back and running away. I have to pee really bad. I've been in the store for two hours. Colin probably does too, oh well.
OK, I hope I have enough money. I withdrew 100 Euros. It's 80+ Euros...ok, bagged, pay, get out of there and get home. I'm sweating like a mule and feel like one too.
OK, I hope I have enough money. I withdrew 100 Euros. It's 80+ Euros...ok, bagged, pay, get out of there and get home. I'm sweating like a mule and feel like one too.
It was one of the most stressful experiences I've had thus far in my life, and I had a come-apart shortly afterward. I'm writing this two months after and I can tell you I've learned quickly and things have gotten lots better and easier!
The pictures below are from a walk we took on our first Sunday in the apartment. We had to store our luggage in Scott's office and his coworker Daniel had to meet us to let us in around 4:30 pm, so we had a lot of time to kill. Below are pictures from our Sunday stroll...
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| Some playtime on the (little) spielplatz (playground) in the park by our apartment building |
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| A few blocks away, Pariser Platz in Haidhausen, our 'hood |
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| Pariser Platz, Haidhausen, Munich |
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| The Bierbike You can drink bier, bike and sightsee all at once! |
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| Marianplatz (the town center), the Glockenspiel (giant cuckoo clock) pictured on the building, and musicians jamming to the classics. This is THE place for people watching and seeing the gaggles of Asian tourists with very expensive cameras and earphones with their tourguides talking in their ears. |
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| There's always lots to see in the Marianplatz |
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| A man with no face?!?...he wants your money for his "magic" |
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| Scott posing with the wild boar statue in the German hunting and wild game museum. I'm sure the State of Alabama could one-up this museum! |
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| Window shopping in all the souvenir shops....I'm sure we'll come back and spend some money |
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| Check out the prices in Euros of these little figurines! Wow...they're not my taste, but wow, the prices! |
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| An AWESOME playground across the street from Scott's office building. It's like Swiss Family Robinson built a playground! |
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| Bridges, rope ladders, swings, see-saw, water features, sand |
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| Colin was overwhelmed, then a bit intimidated, then I think he was impressed, and then made himself right at home. We had a very hard time getting him to leave! The next day, Scott had to start work so I decided I would do my "work" and tackle the laundry and German washing machine! |
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| Our very efficient and only bathroom: tub/shower on left, sink on right, with toilet next to it and the washer on the back wall. |
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| My German washing machine...tempurature settings in celsius, different settings for different fabrics, and inside the lid are three slots for depositing bleach, detergent, and softener. I have to turn on the water spigot for the water too...you wanted to know all about this, didn't you? Soooo exciting, huh? |
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| Laundry sorted. Each door off this hallway is kitchen, Colin's room, our living room, and our bedroom (at the end of hallway) |
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| Drying laundry. I was actually pleasantly surprised how quickly it dried in the breeze on this very cool rack! I think I need one of these at home. Our clothes would dry in a snap back on our upstairs porch at home! |
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| Toasted whole grain brown bread, and tomato, cucumber, onion salad with herbs |
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| It's a "tartine"...Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa, would be so impressed! This is probably something I'd eat for my lunch in the summer in Alabama too... |
So, later that evening, we decided we should do what any good Munchener does in the Summer when the weather is perfect, like this day was....we must visit a biergarten! Our favorite one from previous visits to Munich was Augustine Keller and we knew how to get there, so as soon as Scott got home, off we went.
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| Most people ride their bikes everywhere in this city. We took the U5 to the Hauptbanhof, then got on Tram #17 about 5 stops to get here. Colin LOVES all the modes of transit! This place seats about 7,500 people...but you wouldn't know it because it's tucked into the city and shaded with large trees. And, the Germans like their decibal level low...it's not rowdy and loud like you'd probably expect with that many people hanging out, eating and drinking bier on thousands of picnic tables in a park-like setting. What you do find is gemütliche=(no exact English translation) means cozy comraderie in a biergarten. |
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| Augustiner Keller (Keller=Cellar). We are drinking their regular brew called helles, but their weissbier is exceptional! Ein Grosse Bretze=one large pretzel. The green thing is schmatlzbrot=brown bread with chicken fat and tiny chicken pieces and chopped chives...it looked better than it tasted. So, I've had it and I don't have to have it again. Under the bretze is hendl=roasted, seasoned half a chicken=YUM! Senf=mustard. Colin decided he liked the chicken and I brought some food for him. In a biergarten, picnicking is very common and very acceptable, as long as you buy at least one bier. I love to see what other people bring for picnics...I'm a |
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| (most) All the biergartens have a spielplatz=playground, so that makes it very handy for all the Lusk's to further their education in their respective "major"! Gotta hand it to the Germans for having a family friendly place that is part of their essential culture. It's really ideal. Colin's having a blast...and riding a red elephant, which should please one set of Colin's grandparents and his Aunt Nancy. |
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| biergarten gemütliche in Augustiner Keller |
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| Fresh Bretze |
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| Steckerlfish, smoked, roasted fish on a stick |
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| A Weissbier on the left, and helles on the right. A large is a mass (sounds like floss), a liter. A small is a half liter. Also, you can get a half weissbier and half lemon soda, which is called a Russ'n--it's my favorite! A half helles and half lemon soda is called a Radler. |
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| At Augustiner, they still insert a tap and serve the bier out of the wooden kegs. It's pretty cool to see them load them with a small forklift. |
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| A great meal, Colin plays, and we get our gemütliche on! So, there are tradeoffs....it's a pain to go to the grocery store, but then there's a reward of a very pleasant biergarten afterward. I think we'll stay for a while... Guten nacht! |
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