In the grocery store one can find some interesting fruits and vegetables. For example “cape gooseberries” (they look like orange colored cherries Link) or “star fruit”. There is a second kind of celery that is very popular here. It isn’t the green stalk kind but a brown, round root about the size of a baseball. It is white inside and tastes somewhat similar to green celery.
The public transportation system is based on the honor system. You normally don’t have to show anyone your ticket. Instead, they randomly check buses, subways, and trams. If you are riding “black” (without a ticket) you pay a fine of 40 euros. The nice thing about this system is the boarding time is shorter because no one is checking tickets. In Munich, the same ticket is valid on all lines - buses, subways, and trams. Fare prices are calculated by concentric rings (like most big cities)
We are now the proud owners of a five bedroom, 2.5 bath town house with a small yard. We can not move in yet as we still have to do some renovations first.
After looking at tonnes of houses we came across a town house outside of Munich. We had a look and liked what we saw.
Ever seen milk in a carton that doesn’t require refridgeration? In Germany it is very popular. It is called “Haltbarmilch” which means, it keeps. I don’t much care for it, but I use it in my coffee since there is nothing else at work. I’ve also been searching for what we call half and half. Since I don’t really know what two ingredients half and half is made of (half cream, half milk?) it has been difficult to find. Here they use condensed milk as a coffee creamer.
When it rains, Germans always set their umbrellas open on its side on the floor. The reason for this (I asked) is to pevent mildew from forming. It is printed in the instructions (you’ve read your umbrella’s instructions, right?), and Germans of course follow these instructions. So you can imagine when I come to work on a rainy day, the floors are covered with umbrellas, open, laid on their side. This goes for the appartment building as well.
Air-conditioning is not very popular here. Most businesses don’t have any. Most of the buses also are without A/C, which isn’t so bad, except there are hardly any windows and to make things worse, rarely does someone open them. Germans hate drafts, even when it is 90 degrees outside.
7 years after exchanging vows on the beach we finally had a church wedding in a tiny little chapel near the Alps with only our closest family.
We have a new addition to our family, a healthy, beautiful niece named Hannah!
I finally borrowed the Mini Cooper S from my work for the weekend and took it for a test drive! It drives like a go-cart and is a ton of fun to drive. What is more amazing is that I can actually fit in it. A perfect car for the city.