Hiking in Germany

Fall hike at Partnach Gorge

If there is one thing that we have noticed in Germany, it is that people love to walk- in the neighborhood, to the bakery or grocery store, along farm roads, or in the mountains.  Even if it is raining in February and only 35 degrees, there will still be loads of people out for a stroll.  We have found that Germans love fresh air, and that going outside regularly is an important habit to them.
 

Summer hike at Breitach Gorge

We have been trying to embrace this habit, and we have started going on some short hikes.  Before we had kids Dan and I used to go hiking frequently, and he even asked me to marry him during a hike to a waterfall in  the North Carolina Mountains.

Partnach

Two of our favorite hikes have been at gorges in the Alps.  We have visited the Breitach Gorge in Oberstdorf, and the Partnach Gorge in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  These gorges are so beautiful, I know that my photos cannot do them justice.

Partnach

We have found that our kids are happiest when we have them outside and in nature, where they can go at there own pace and explore.  We have also found that we never seem to have enough snacks along.

Breitach

These photos somehow depict that we had the trails to ourselves, but that is far from reality!  Both trails were absolutely jammed with people.  

Partnach

There are so many interconnecting trails through the Alps that people can choose paths vary from easy wandering paths to week-long mountain treks.  There are also many mountain huts scattered throughout the trails for hikers to overnight.  There are also a lot of mountain top restaurants that people can hike to, eat and have a beer, then continue on their way (often you can also take the easy way by means of a cable car, which suits us a bit better!)

With all the toys we have the kids are
happiest to play with sticks and rocks!

Since our daughter is still only five, we do our best to keep the hikes short.  Hopefully as the kids get older, their endurance will improve and we will be able to explore the trails a bit more.  When we lived in North Carolina, we were in a very flat area with few hiking possibilities, so we hope to capitalize on our mountain experiences while we are here in southern Germany.

Photos from Strasbourg, France

Cathedrale Notre Dame de Strasbourg

Back in the Summer we headed over to Strasbourg, France to check out the Alsace Region, which is famous for storks and wine.   If I remember correctly, it was about a four hour car trip from Ulm. 


We enjoyed this restaurant and got to sit down by the water!

Ryan loved this fountain

We visited the typical tourist sights, did a lot of walking, and poked our heads into a few souvenir shops.  Unfortunately, we didn't do a lot of wine tasting.  Despite the fact that we take our kids everywhere with us, we didn't feel that having the kids along would be a very relaxing wine tasting experience.  I did buy a few bottles to taste at home though!

 



Protesters camping outside the European Parliament

What a lovely bakery window!

We visited the Parc de l'Orangerie in search of storks, and found only a few.  Now that we know what storks look like, we see them frequently in Germany!

This looks much more relaxing than it actually was...
the kids fought over the oars the whole time!

Ryan was really looking excited to try escargot, and he really liked them!  He wanted to order them at every restaurant we went to, but they aren't exactly cheap!  He was also in crème brulee heaven.  Eating regional foods and trying new things is definitely our favorite part of travelling!

Ryan eating Escargot

 

Strasbourg was nice because it was an easy city to visit with kids, and great for a quick dose of French cuisine and culture.  It was a great base for visiting some of the smaller (quainter) towns in the area, and if I had to do it again, I would have only spent one night in Strasbourg instead of three, and then also a spend a night or two in Colmar, which is south of Strasbourg along the 'Route de Vins' (wine road).  Hopefully we will make it back to Colmar, and I also hope to travel much more in France!

 



Daily Life in Germany: Grocery Shopping

Seeing as how I am a housewife, dietitian, and mother of two, I do a lot of cooking, and with all that cooking comes a lot of grocery shopping.  Grocery shopping in Germany is a bit different than shopping in the US, mostly due to the fact that I have to put a little bit more effort into the process.
 

 There are some larger grocery stores here (such as Edeka and Kaufland), but there are also many smaller neighborhood stores (such as Aldi and Lidl).  I typically shop at a larger Kaufland, and my neighborhood Aldi.

My two shopping helpers

I will admit that I actually drive past one Kaufland to go to one further away simply because I don't have to park as far away at the latter location (Who wants to have to park in a parking garage and push your shopping cart a quarter mile?)  The parking lot where I do my shopping is actually on the roof of the store, and I bring the cart down to the main level via conveyor belt.

Coin slot for unlocking the shopping cart

Every store that has shopping carts makes you pay a deposit of an euro, which you don't get back until you have returned your cart to the proper location and hooked it into another cart.  I always try to keep a couple of euro coins in my car, but occasionally they get used and I have found myself unable to get a cart!

Unrefrigerated eggs would horrify American shoppers!

In Germany all cashiers sit in chairs while they work, and in the US, cashiers have to stand throughout the shift, so they can bag everything for you.  Cashiers in Germany do not bag groceries, and they scan the food so fast that you cannot even bag the items yourself during the time of checkout.  I have seen people with items falling to the floor because they don't move everything to the cart fast enough.  Most people just load everything back into the cart as fast as they can, and then organize everything when they get back to their car. 

If you need a bag at the checkout, you have to pay for each bag you take.  For years in the US I have been using my reusable bags, so it is pretty ingrained in my head that if I go into a store I need to bring bags, even at stores like Toys-R-US.  Most clothing stores give you bags for free though.  I have actually started using milk crates to carry groceries because they are faster to load, which is useful when you are standing in the rain or it is freezing cold! 

In the US, I would do one major shopping trip per week, and maybe one more smaller one if I forgot something.  Here in Germany most people go to the store many times throughout the week, and often everyday.  Therefore, at checkout, people are usually only buying 5-10 things at a time, and the line goes pretty quick.  If you have an entire cart full of food (in typical American shopping style) the people waiting in line behind you will be quick to give you impatient stares.  I have found that I have also fallen into the routine of shopping every couple of days instead of once a week.  My refrigerator/freezer here is much smaller and cannot hold that much food. 

 Prices for prepackaged food are about the same as in the US, but often cheaper (organic whole wheat spaghetti is only 0.99 in Germany, and I think I paid about $2.50 in the US).  My favorite thing about buying groceries in Germany is how inexpensive the produce is.  In Germany I buy red peppers for 0.99/pound, and in the US the price was often $2.50 for one red pepper!!  We eat so many more fresh vegetables and fruits here than we did in the US.  (please note that I am comparing the prices from eastern North Carolina, and hopefully other people have lower produce prices elsewhere in the country).

I find myself dreaming of the day that I get to go shopping at Harris Teeter again, where I get to park right in front of the store, have everything bagged for me and then even smile while they offer to help me out to the car!  I know that time will come before I know it, and I am sure I will then be saying how much I miss shopping in Germany...maybe.