10 Things About Living in Germany

Surprise - hubby and I were in Germany for the month of July. He's got a fellowship at a consortium near Bremen, in northern Germany, and my job was kind enough to let me tag along for the month and work "from home".

Other than being horribly, HORRIBLY allergic to something (seriously, I got an eye infection it was so bad), our time in Germany was amazing. We had a beautiful apartment in a small-ish town, got to do some traveling and sight-seeing, and even managed to squeeze some pretty incredible riding in. But here were a few of the highlight about living in Germany:

1. The weather there is AWESOME. Highs in the low 70s every day, with low humidity. It's usually near 100 back home in Austin, so was paradise. I only wish we could have brought the horses!

2. We brought too much luggage. Because when you bring jousting armor (yes, seriously), it's always too much luggage.

I swear we left most of our house back in Austin.

3. Beer and wine more important than water. Note the contents of our cabinet in our apartment. Red wine glasses, white wine glasses, champagne/sparkling wine glasses, beer glasses... and two water glasses.

Priorities are clear.

4. The trains are super fast. And ALWAYS on time.

That's 125 mph for the rest of us.

5. Public restrooms are a serious business. You often have to pay for them, or get a key. Or in the case of Starbucks in Bremen (I was desperate for a chai, no shame), you needed the key code that was on your receipt:

Door to the ladies'.

6. There Are Slugs Everywhere. Like, huge, giant, slime-trail slugs. I don't even know why I'm telling you this, but there are slugs.

This dude was like 6 inches long and an inch thick. Gah.

7. You must ONLY cross in a crosswalk, and ONLY when the light says you can. They are very serious about this and you can apparently be arrested if you do not follow the crossing laws. You must also walk on the red brick sidewalk, and never on the grey brick sidewalk, because the grey brick sidewalk is for bikes and you will be run over if you walk there.

Don't mess it up or you will get yelled at or squashed.

8. Everyone buys their bread fresh daily. Which means I needed to walk down the hill to the bakery to get rolls for lunch sammies. And possibly something delicious for dessert.

I really tried to save some for my husband, I swear I did.

9. Buying boots is an Experience. When we went to the boot seller, the guy measured my husband 9 ways to Sunday. He then ordered the style of Cavallos hubby prefers, but because we have his measurements, the boots will be custom made to those specifications. Once they arrive, the cobbler will make additional adjustments as needed. 

Hubby is basically getting custom boots. And while I LOVE my Cavallos, I am jealous.

10. Audis and Mercedes pulling horse trailers. I find it kind of hilarious considering the size of the rigs we have here in the US, but when you factor in the cost of gas and the fact that one generally doesn't haul more than an hour or two, it makes sense to have a more efficient setup.

Maybe I should trade in my F-350?

We're back now, and although it was a great experience (more on that soon), I'm glad to be home. We both missed all our critters, although we definitely did not miss the Texas summer!