From Practical to Cultural

At one point in history, great caves underneath the ground were needed to keep beer cold. These caves were covered with dirt and had trees planted upon them. All of this in an effort to provide as much insulation and shade for the beer as possible. When the breweries started selling beer directly, people started noticing the nice parks that had sprung up nearby. Shady grassy spots are just as nice for family picnics as they apparently were to keep beer cold. Thus began the biergarten(beer garden) concept.

The idea has developed from then a fair amount. Biergartens attached to breweries traditionally allow food to be brought from outside although no beer(understandably). So bring a picnic and buy the drinks there. Nowadays, the beer gardens I have seen do definitely offer food for sale, although sometimes a fairly limited menu.

Here we are talking about the beer gardens that are traditionally attached to breweries. In an odd twist for Germany, apparently the name is not regulated so almost any outdoor place with beer service will be called a Biergarten. Most pubs label their seating like that and don’t really like the bringing of food. But definitely seek out the “real” Biergartens attached to neighboring breweries. These are special.

Communal Drinking

Germans are really into nature and being outdoors. They open their windows to get fresh air and sit in the last patch of sun in autumn. Beer is of course a popular thing as well, so beer gardens, the ability to be outside with beer, are very popular and will be full on a nice day. The Biergarten is however also a family thing. Far more so than other places with outdoor seating. It is a communal place to hang out with other people.

Traditionally an open park feel and often next to a river (breweries use a lot of water), this is just a perfect recipe for a nice place to sit outside in the summer. Every one that I have been in has the really long picnic tables and benches, so you can’t avoid being shoulder to shoulder with others. Add the social lubricant of beer and it becomes a place to be out in society enjoying both the outdoors and being around people.

The European Cup football(soccer) championship is coming up this summer. Every spot with a power plug will have a TV attached to it will people watching. I like going to the biergartens for this kind of thing too. Places to sit and more communal feeling and with better bathrooms than the open air public viewing.

Biergartens In Freiburg

Although started in Munich, they are not exclusive to breweries in Bavaria. Freiburg has several really great ones and all close to the center.

Feierling Brewery

I have mentioned Feierling several times on the blog and for good reason. It is my favorite brewery in town. It is small but great. The small two level garden backs up to Augustiner Museum and is across the street from the restaurant-brewery with its great copper brewing vats. Large trees shade the many large tables in the small garden. Waitresses offer table service for their own Inselhopf unfiltered beer and other drinks. The food menu in the garden itself is pretty limited, but in traditional fashion outside food is allowed. You can also order from their restaurant across the street and bring it back. No food delivery for that unfortunately.

Ganter Brewery

Ganter is the largest brewery in Freiburg. Their logo is on most pubs in town. The brewery is not far from where I live and I bike by the river to work and back. As the weather gets sunnier and warmer their biergarten becomes much more active. The space is large and open and attached to the back of the brewery (the entrance is near the Aral gas station if you happen to be in Freiburg). There is no table service so go stand in line for the beer window. Food is basic German pub style sausages, schnitzels and fries with the odd salad thrown in. There are grills for your own food and a playground for the children.

This is my favorite place to watch the national football games for things like World Cup and European Cup. Ganter also does a 4th of July party that is neat. To see the German interpretation and summation of all of American culture is a sight (I’ll try to do a post on it this year.)

Kastaniengarten

Ok, Kastaniengarten is not a traditional beer garden. It is on top of Schlossberg and not near a brewery. Though it has some of the best views of Freiburg. Head up Schlossberg at Schwabentor and take the steep paths and stairs to the garden. It spans both sides of the narrow mountain giving views over the town. Again no table service, order everything up at the window. Though they give you the beer direct and a little buzzer to call you for your food. Food options are standard German pub fare, but decent. Despite not having an attached brewery, this is still built in the beer garden style and will fill up in the summer months easily.

Beergardens Mean Summer

I have been in many a beer garden with and without attached brewery all over Germany. Pretty much no matter where, you will see someone out on a warm summer day enjoying a beer or two with friends. Adding outside to drinking seems to be natural for the German culture interested in doing both. A word on opening times, they are seasonal things, so rarely if ever open in the chill winter. Though they will often open on warm spring days and then close again if it gets cold. So even if it feels a little early, definitely check them out on a warm day and see if you are in luck.

Check out the rest of the Blogger Stammtisch group on the topic of Parks.

Biergartens – From Practical to Cultural is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

Although I admire them, I am not interested in becoming an eternal nomad that travels from place to place eternally. I want time to rest and feel at home. If I was even to contemplate that movement lifestyle, it would have to be very slow. As in several months in a place. I need that time to let my mind absorb everything and let the creative juices flow in purposeful directions instead of outward everywhere.

Hyperactive Mind

Peace and quiet in the physical realm does not mean for me to stop thinking either. I am constantly in motion mentally. It is one of the reasons that things overwhelm me. The mind overheats and spins too fast. I seek out quiet to let that spinning take in everything. So after a few weeks of high octane experiences like travel, I need some time to just sit and absorb what has stuck. To contemplate that which has been seen.

My mind is always moving and going in usually a dozen different directions. This is true even on routine days. Travel fuels this to an extent. There is something wondrous about walking through a completely overwhelming thing like the spice market in Istanbul. Though it runs the edge of getting to me. That edge gets too keen sometimes. So that always-on mind needs a time of routine to cool off and allow the new ideas to be worked through.

Seeking Peace

I definitely fall on the introverted side of the line and need my quiet and space. I find that I crave that peace. Not just that I get overwhelmed by going to a new place, but that once I get settled, I kind of regret moving on before I can dive deep and really feel connected to a place. To get to know the people there takes time.

This is not to say that I want to stop traveling. Of course not, that is one of my life’s passions. Ali shares this passion and we enjoy traveling together a lot. So we will still strive to go out and see things, break up the pattern and experience new places. We will however likely always keep a home base somewhere. A place with a comfortable bed and a solid wi-fi signal.

And this leads back to Expat

One of the main things I like about the expat life is that I have a home base and have carved out a refuge to be in. And yet the travel and the new experiences are just outside of my door. I need the fuel for the ideas as well as the time to let them grow and lead in good directions. The balance is the thing as always though.

This post came up in my head after some reading other posts this past week.

• One of my first and favorite guest posts was at Dangerous Business. Stability versus Freedom.
• Justin wrote about the Need to Travel and starts out talking about how routine vs excitement work out in the brain referring to another interesting article.
• I met Juno in Hong Kong last winter and ran across one of her older posts about when did it get so hard to find silence.

No Nomad Here is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

I’ve gotten a lot of odd questions over the years of living here. It is interesting to see what people know or think based on their experiences. It shows to an extent that although the American culture is fairly well known in movies and TV shows, the details are not. The interplay between expats and locals is complex sometimes and it is nice to be able to share back as well.

Doctor Seuss

I have taken it upon myself to start to explain Dr Seuss to anyone that will listen. Especially parents who want to help their children with English. There is no complex language and yet the depth and engagement of story is there.

Dr. Seuss wrote some of the greatest whimsical English language children’s books I have ever read and I loved then as a kid.  Despite him being of German heritage, the books are nearly unknown here. I know it is a small survey of just the people I have mentioned it to, but I have not yet talked to someone that knows them. This is odd given that a few of the movie versions have indeed made it to Germany. I don’t know how well the movies have done, but apparently not running on nostalgia’s sake. I guess it is just hard to translate the goofy rhymes into German and keep the sense of things, though there definitely have been some attempts when I do some Amazon searches.

English Phrases

An awful lot of what I get asked are pure language questions. Germans on average seem to have a pretty good command of English, most likely owing to school and university requirements. Mix that with a cultural bias to “genauigkeit” (exactness) and I get a fair number of questions of how I would say something in English. The odd part is that I haven’t lived in an English speaking country in a while, so often my brain gets confused and falls into the same traps as a German speaker. Even weirder is when a question requires a longer culture explanation to understand, like the greetings and signature line of a letter depending on who you are sending to.

I do get to share some good English phrases that don’t seem to have German cognates. These are two of my recently explained quotes.

• Like water off a duck’s back.
• Enough rope to hang himself with.

Do Americans…

The other type of question I get involves direct questions of American culture. Though so much is exported in TV and music, but that is the flashy stuff, not the daily life details. I was asked the other day if we had sausages in the US. The answer is “of course, but not the same.” I got to explain about hot dogs, delis and enormous grocery stores. Although I only very rarely miss hot dogs, (they have them at Ikea if I ever get a real craving) I would really like a more New York style deli here.

The subtype of this is the “why do Americans do…”. These I find almost more interesting. The most common one involves cars and driving. I like this question as I get to compare the size of the countries and tell stories about driving 45 minutes each way to work and that being a relatively short commute. Or the 5 minute drive to the grocery store “next door”.

Politics

I try to ignore and avoid politics as much as I can. Not just national ones, but also office politics and the like. Though I have learned that Germans in general are far more aware of the American politics than even most Americans. When it gets to be around election time, this will likely be the most common topic to get asked about. I don’t watch German TV either, but even glances at the newspaper headlines show how interested they are here. And seriously, again, the average(from my experiences, including random people on the tram) German seems to know more about the political system and candidates in the US far more than even I did when I was there.

So beware if you, like me, has no real interest in politics and finds both choices (pretty much no matter the race) to be poor. You will get asked your opinion. Be ready to have an answer and know that “I don’t really know or follow it” will be seen as odd.

Ambassadors

When I went for study abroad in both high school and university, they made us go through orientation each time. The one point that gets harped on a lot in this sessions is that “you go as an ambassador of culture to these other lands.” I think they try to make it a point so the students are less likely to be an ass while out on a study abroad program. I would like to think most people don’t need it in those terms, but culture shock does wacky things to the brain.

As an expat living here long term, I have become a representative of the American culture in a similar way. This even though I am definitely not a typical (statistically or culturally) American. I still try to show the good bits and step around the less good ones.

Culture Flows Both Ways is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

Sweet vs Salty

One of the big popcorn differences comes as the debate between sweet and salty popcorn. I don’t mind caramel corn or the like, but to sprinkle sugar instead of salt on a movie style big bowl of it, seems wrong. I am definitely in the salt and butter category. Even microwave popcorn is available at most grocery stores in both a sweet and a salty variety. Though only one brand and individual packaging instead of the vast array of brands, flavors and packs at home.

A Note on Butter

Butter in the US is very often salted. It lasts longer this way apparently. You can buy unsalted butter, but you have to search for it. The big piles are usually salted.

This is not the case in Germany. I have not seen salted butter here. (I also haven’t dug too much for it either.) The upshot of this is two fold. First, butter tastes slightly different here. Secondly, I find I need more salt on my popcorn in order for the buttery taste I am looking for to come out.

Melting Butter without Microwave

Microwaves are not unknown in Germany, we just decided we don’t need one. The hardest part has been figuring out the melting of the butter. We are both used to having a microwave to melt butter back home. The solution has been a measuring cup (thanks Mom for bringing me them a couple years ago) in a bowl that has very hot water in it. It takes some patience but works pretty good. Adaptability is the hallmark of a successful expat.

Another option is apparently to pop the popcorn and melt the butter in a frying pan with the popcorn. This is how my roommate used to do it to get the sugar on it. It seems like it might coat the popcorn better, but with a lot more work. And really I don’t want sugar on it, so it would really only be for the butter.

Popcorn in Photos

Again the nice popcorn bowl comes from home. We packed it in one suitcase or another. Filled with clothes it doesn’t actually take up much room. The cleverly crafted foil shield is a new trial. We were having issues with the popcorn going all over the kitchen. Seriously I find kernels, both popped and unpopped, all over and under things. I fashioned this shield to see if it worked. It seems to help a lot. I didn’t see so many flying kernels this time.

So really, not as easy as just tossing a bag in a microwave but it feels better making it. I remember the sound of the popcorn machine from Sunday afternoon childhood. Having the smell and taste of freshly popped popcorn is something I am quite happy to be able to get here in Germany. Pretty much the best 25euros we have spent in a while.

Popcorn without a Microwave is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

Sometimes nothing seems to go right and it seems like the society and culture is crushing. Sometimes I feel like breaking down and crying. Sometimes I wish I was not here. Although often wonderful, living as an expat somewhere, especially in a different language, does indeed suck.

Not a Pity Party

I am not writing this as a rant or searching for pity. I know I live a great life. I definitely choose to live here and really wouldn’t have it any other way. It is that sometimes I have a few days where everything gets to me, and I want to share that frustration to show that living as an expat is work. Life can be challenging anyway with a few bad days, but add another culture that takes energy to live in and the overwhelming factor can be high. Maybe others can see this and know that it is ok to be frustrated sometimes and it is normal to have bad days.

This week was a great example. Ali and I spent the past few weeks in Turkey and Italy. We had a great time, though it was tiring. Especially the trip home on Monday was pretty trying for me. In total six trains and a flight encompassing nearly 13 hours home. (We could have been better on the train, but whatever.) The flight was fairly smooth and yet I had a panic reaction. I’m fine, but exhausted. I still had to work on Tuesday, so no rest for me. By the end of the week everything seemed to be against us and it just felt overwhelming. Even for me with my years of experience here.

When Energy Runs Out

Living in another culture from that familiar one that you grew up with is energy intensive, especially at the beginning. You offer the brain no comfortable routine to fall into and yet change everything. Eventually you learn a pattern in your new home and things get easier. You build a home to take refuge in and perhaps a job or some friend to hang out with that all make it feel more like home. “Home” being that effortless state of being.

Yet that culture that takes energy is still out there. Especially when I am tired I definitely get annoyed at the Germans around me far easier. I’m sure this sort of annoyance at life happened in the US as well, but here it seems that the points that come through the most are cultural ones. It leads me to being annoyed at them in a way that I am normally not.

..there was none to be found..

Missing Cheddar Cheese

Germany has pretty good food. The concept of freshness and eating local products is strong, especially around here in Freiburg. That means the veggies and meats are usually local and high quality. The flip side is that the selection of things that come from far away is lean to say the least.

After a long week of poor rest and readjusting to the routine, we just wanted to make our favorite “home-like” meal of Fajitas. We went to the store looking to buy cheddar cheese. Nope, they were out. Nothing even similar showed up in the case, only all kinds of things only labeled by the valley in the alps it was made in. Our tired brains had retired to American mode and we couldn’t recognize anything.

Normally we like the block to shred for the tex-mex-y goodness. Though they had nothing in the case we thought maybe slices down in the case. Again no, at this point the annoyance was getting going. “Why can’t I just find normal cheese?” the brain screams inside. “What is with all of these cheeses we don’t understand?” We know the cheese here is odd and have known it for a while, but in this state of mind the detail becomes so much worse. It somehow gets blown up into a symbol of annoyance for the culture.

I kind of just wanted to cry. “I just want a nice quiet evening with normal food and not have anything to do with Germany,” I was thinking. Was I really losing it over cheese?

The cheese thing was a “last straw,” not a reason in itself. The half annoyances of the week, the feelings coming down off of a vacation high and readjusting to a routine without a lot of rest all rolled up and got sparked off by the “one thing” that felt familiar that I was being denied. In the end with the cheese, we were disappointed, but it wasn’t tragic. They will restock the block of cheddar and we will buy more next week. We sat together watching TV and it was a good night anyway.

This Too Shall Pass

Most of these feelings are transient. Things get overwhelming and I just want to cry, but I don’t. I play video games or watch American TV with some popcorn and try to get some sleep. Things will look better in the morning.

This sort of frustration is normal. The brain gets overwhelmed and can’t handle it anymore every so often. It is to be expected when you ask it to rebuild an entire lifetime of cultural knowledge. The key is to be patient with yourself and with others, especially the host locals. They have no clue what you are going through.

Sometimes it DOES suck, but it will be awesome again soon too. Just try to be patient.

It is never about just the cheese.

Sometimes it sucks is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

You buy for your friends

Maybe this is the consumer driven “me” culture of the US. There, when your friends go out to celebrate your birthday, it is pretty common that one person picks up your tab or they all chip in a few bucks. “It’s your birthday, you shouldn’t pay.” This is normal in the US and in addition to giving gifts. You just get taken out for drinks or dinner.

In Germany it is the reverse. It is normal  to pay for your friends. This comes in varying degrees, but the most common seems to be paying for the first drink of everyone that comes to hang out. I’ve seen this several times. At our office, it comes in the form of the birthday celebrator bringing cake or other baked goods for the entire office. This can be nice for the rest of us as it means a fairly even distribution of birthdays means a steady stream of afternoon cake breaks.

This can lead to some cultural misunderstandings I’m sure, though I have thankfully not run into any problems myself. It does feel awkward to go to a party and have drinks paid for instead of the other way around. And for the outsider to not bring anything may seem rude. I constantly forget about it until my birthday comes around and then I scramble.

Difference in Cake

Cake, especially birthday cake, in the US is light and fluffy, usually bright yellow, and under a half inch of buttercream frosting. Add candles and something written on it in even more frosting. The whole thing is mostly butter and sugar in some form or another. The happy joyousness of the party is often fueled by the sugar high. This is far more common with children, though if an adult gets a birthday cake that is what you expect.

German cakes are different anyway. For one thing, Coffee and Cake is almost a fourth meal, so cakes in different forms are far more common. Cake is usually fruit based in some form and less sweet. Frosting is nearly unheard of on cake. You might get streusel with powdered sugar or today I saw one with meringue. There is nothing light and fluffy about cake either. It is usually drier and more solid. A nice practical German cake often with fruit suspended in a custard.

I have never seen candles in a German cake, though I have seen them in the store, so perhaps it is just a dangerous thing to bring to the office.

Language Class : How to wish a happy birthday in German?

Happy Birthday is a perfectly normal German phrase that I have seen on cards and heard. You see, English is cool and hip. Though the most common greeting to wish someone a happy day of oldening is “Herzlichen Glückwunsch” or “heart-felt wish of joy”. Although the word for joy here could also be “fortune” in the sense of “good luck”.

The well known birthday song is sung to the same tune, but with different words. “Zum Geburtstag, viel Glück” meaning “for (your) birthday, much happiness/luck.” It is unfortunate though that such a nice set of words to be friendly is so hard to pronounce with so many umlauts.

Otherwise much the same

So the birthday is still celebrated here. Gifts are still given and cake is still served. Friends come together to celebrate and toast your good health. It is a social occasion just like back in the US, though with a few changes.

Germans and Birthdays is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

Pick Me Up

Perhaps my office is just like any workplace in that the coffee machine is the center of the social life. This machine makes all kinds of combos of coffee and milk. Frothy milk with less coffee or even just plain espresso. I don’t remember our machine in the US doing anything other than just plain ole American black. Everyone seems to have their favorite type and it is a tragedy when the machine breaks. Even the few minutes to refill the milk holder can mean a line of 4 waiting behind you.

But, you say that is a normal office. Ok, maybe it is. Perhaps it is typical to offer coffee at the end of a meal after dessert. Even so it just feels like the national drink somehow. “Coffee and Cake” is almost another meal in the afternoon.

Maybe there is something more than just coffee here. Perhaps it is a sense of well-being and medical help from the rich blackness.

A form of Herbal Medicine?

Winter is a time of colds and sniffles. Even more so here than in the US. Population density is higher, we walk outside more and ride public transport all packed together and then there is the thing with opening windows. This past winter I noticed the oddest trend at work. Lemon Ginger “tea”. At some point large ginger roots and a pile of lemons appeared next to the coffee machine. People would cut a few slices of fresh ginger and a few slices of lemon and pour hot water over it.

This must be a health thing. To the point that I can find the powdered form of honey and ginger tea in the supplements section at the drug store. In classic American form I would rather the prepared than the fresh version, but whatever.

They also have Hot Lemon in powdered form. It is what it says, hot lemon juice perhaps sweetened. I can so see it as a form of home remedy, yet it shows up on menus. Though on the menus I would expect a fresh version. I actually like the powdered form of it. There was apparently also a German physician who wrote of the medical benefits of coffee on the stomach. (Wiki)

Although Americans aren’t so far different in that Coke was originally touted as a medicine too. German society seems pretty heavily bound to these herbal and home remedies, so maybe coffee and hot lemon and hot ginger tea became some big thing because doctors said they were healthy.

This theory would also help explain the “taking of the waters” concept of drinking smelly hot water from the ground for medical purposes. This being the idea of health spas. I honestly don’t know, but health is a big part of German society. I’ll write about that at some other point.

And Calm You Down

You came and clicked on a post about Germans and drinks, most likely expecting something about beer. Right?

Beer definitely exists in Germany and is drunk in great masses for any occasion(celebratory Tuesday anyone?) at nearly any time of the day. Beer is definitely still king in Germany, but coffee and hot drinks are queen and court.

Though I would to say something like “the Germans could do without beer, but not without coffee”, but it isn’t true. I don’t actually think society would work without either. Both are integral to the smooth running of things.

Bit of Language

So as a parting word here are a few German words.

• Etwas zum trinken – Something to drink.
• Zum Mitnehmen – To take away, also seen as “to go” or “takeaway”. Remember English is cool.
• Kaffee – Coffee
• Heisse Zitrone – Hot Lemon
• Heisse Ingwer (mit Honig) (mit Zitrone) – Hot Ginger (with Honey) (with Lemon)

What is the strangest drink you have seen in your travels?

This is my entry to this month’s Blogger Stammtisch. Click below to see some of the other entries. May’s topic will be “Parks” with posts, as always, going up on the 15th.

Drink it Down is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

German Vacation Culture

Germany has a culture of allowing and requiring vacation. The minimum is around 4 weeks and I don’t ever hear statistics about people not using it. In fact, I read one of the demands of some recent strike was to do away with the tiered vacation structure in some company and let the younger workers have full amount as well. The quality of life idea of having vacation time is deeply a part of the German working culture.

True, much of this time is spent inside of Germany or in nearby European countries, but with so much time off there are bound to be people that go further abroad.

Some of this is perhaps the weather. The German winters can be oppressive, cold and dark. Summers are gorgeous, but not hot. So if you are a sun seeker (as many Germans seem to be), vacations have to be elsewhere. With so many places even in Europe nearby, it just kind of makes sense to jet off to Greece or Turkey even for a few days in the sun.

Germans Study Abroad

I have heard of schools in Germany having relationships with high schools in the US so that entire towns go to visit the same place in the middle of the US during their high school for one amount of time or another. Study Abroad semesters are very much encouraged at the university level as well. An ex roommate of mine spent a summer in the very tiny town that my grandmother grew up in.

This study abroad is a part of the curriculum in places and from listening to people talk figures like “extra curricular activities” back home. In the “you gotta do it to be more attractive to future schools/employees/opposite sex”. Just in the US these activities are local, while studying in a foreign country for a semester is the way to go. This is just a big difference in priorities between the US schooling system and the German one.

This study abroad extends to apprenticeships as well. Foreign work experience seems to be seen as a good thing for young German workers to have. Especially in a highly competitive field in Germany, getting some experience outside of the system can be beneficial.

Tour Agency Overload

Germans go everywhere because tour agents are on each corner. In a place where it is far more common to walk on the streets and every block has a tour agent, there is bound to be more interest in travel. Not just that these agencies must be able to support themselves, but the advertisements help bring in customers.

The best marketing for us seems to be the agency with the big window of ads right around the corner from the ice cream place. We get a cone and wander up to look at the latest crop of places to dream about. Ok, yeah most of these are resort trips and all-inclusives that we would probably never go on.  Yet it is so cool to read the places and realize that people are going. They are traveling.

The travel agencies almost out number the shoe stores on some blocks (ok, maybe not as the show stores keep opening, but still there are a lot.) Travel is in the air as people stroll around.

Where have we seen them?

German tourists look pretty normal in most respects. You notice mainly when they speak. In Carnevale in Venice this year we saw and heard a bunch. One group of women in particular sticks in my mind. They were a group of about 8 women in matching robes. We saw them a few different times on opposite ends of the cities.

I met a couple from Cologne in Mykerinos a few years ago. In New Zealand, we met a group of backpackers in hostels both in Wanaka and Dunedin. Ali has run into Germans in nearly every stop on her round the world trip. If not German, at least German speaking Swiss. They do seem to be everywhere. Even Katie met a German on her Black Sea ferry cruise, amongst the Russian truckers. And all of this is ignoring the trains running to and from Germany.

They’re Everywhere

Ali and I now have this as a running joke. Every time we hear German in a crowd one of us will lean over and whisper knowingly “they’re everywhere.”

What are your thoughts? Do you meet Germans every where you travel? Are you a German that travels everywhere? Weigh in!

German Travelers are Everywhere is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

Here is a look in pictures of our day around town.

Trinkhalle & Tourism Info

The first stop needs to be the Trinkhalle. Not only is this a cool colonnaded building, but it also holds the tourist office (which is closed on Mondays). This was once a building to “take the waters” and still has a fountain in the main hall. A sign next to it details the minerals and what it is good for.

Banks of the Oos

The river in Baden Baden is called the Oos. I imagine it is actually pronounced “oo-s” not “ooze”, but it is still funny to read. Along the banks is a 3 km long park with many little bridges that cross it. According to a sign and map this was a place to see and be seen by the Parisian society in the summer. Baden apparently was once the place to retreat to from the Paris heat. It is still a nice place to relax and enjoy the paths and grass.

Flowers

It is last weekend in March and spring has just begun in Germany. The early flowers were out and the trees and shrubberies were starting to bud.

Pedestrian Area with Shops and Restaurants

Baden-Baden is very walkable. The pedestrian area with shops and restaurants is right where the bus lets you off. Despite the McDonalds in the middle, the places look fairly upscale. We didn’t go shopping, but did have ice cream and watch the people go by.

Water Water Everywhere

The main attraction of Baden-Baden is the spa atmosphere. The spas are up on the hill above the pedestrian area. A gentle climb leads you to Friedrichsbad. Underneath and next to this building are the ruins of the roman era baths. The ruins are not the highlight of the town and so not open very often. Not in the winter and only a few hours a day in the summer. But still you can see through the windows. There are several other modern spas in town in addition to Friedrichsbad, although all seem to be owned by the same company.

The town is centered around water. There are numerous decorative fountains spread around town both in the spurting up variety and the dripping into a basin variety. As well as mineral sources that allow anyone walking by to partake. We found one behind Friedrichsbad called Fettquelle. The alcove contained a faucet pouring hot slightly salty water from the wall.

Getting Here: Take the train to Baden-Baden station and then one of many buses into the center of town. For us, the Baden-Württemberg Ticket (german) offered by the Deutsche Bahn let us on all the slow trains and buses in the region for 25 Euros for 2 people. For us out of Freibug it is only an hour and a half on the slow trains and thus a great chance to try out the Baden Württemberg ticket for a day trip on a sunny Saturday. This was  great deal and took the worry out of things. This would work from anywhere in the state that you could easily get here and back on the slow trains. There are ICE trains that stop here too.

Baden-Baden in Pictures is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.

Choice of Meat

Germany is a country of pork. If it isn’t labeled as one thing or another, assume the meat is pork (schwein). Next in popularity is beef followed by turkey then chicken. The order in the US is more chicken, beef, turkey and then pork. If you want a big slab of meat or even chunks for stew that is fairly easy to find in any of those types. Though your selection shrinks as you go down the chain. Anything is available in pork, but only two cuts of chicken show up in our store. Salami or other types of sausage, yup, no problem. If you are looking for cold cuts, well….

Ham is prevalent. There are indeed several words for it in German depending on the part of the pig and curing method. For something akin to sliced turkey breast for piling on a sandwich, look in the plastic packages and not the deli counter. Also expect the packages to be small and comparatively expensive. Germany is not the land of the meaty sandwich. Roast beef? If you are really lucky and don’t mind it pretty rare.

Grape Jelly

Jelly, jam or preserves, however you want to call it, we definitely have plenty of it in Germany. Jam on bread is a breakfast staple. There is even pretty good selection of it. In our market, there is several brands and a number of flavors. The issue is that the flavors to an American mindset may look weird. Current (Johannesbeere in German) in both red and black is pervasive. Plum and apricot are very common as well. What we haven’t found is grape. The standard PB&J of grape jelly is no where we have looked. We have even asked around and most people seem to think it is weird. This is including several Australians.

I’ve seen grape juice although not as common as back in the States. I even buy table grapes for eating, but as of yet no jam. Perhaps with so much wine being produced grapes are not really thought of as something you would preserve as jelly. Is grape jelly just an American thing?

Peanut Butter – Finally

Peanut butter is one that has gotten better. When I first started traveling here over 10 years ago, the only brand was an organic salty gritty kind. Now there is a brand that has both a chunky and a creamy kind and shows up in most stores. This is real progress, but a far cry from 60 different choices in the average US market.

Reduced Fat, Low Sodium

Talk about choice in the States, everything comes in a normal and a lite (yes, often spelled like that) version. Low sodium soup and reduced fat butter. No fat cookies and no calorie sugar. Germans are not into that so much. I would think it is partially a desire to not have so many chemicals and want to know what ingredients are in things.

Maybe it is also tradition. You make things properly in the old way and balance it with lots of fresh ingredients. Maybe they just don’t feel the need to be able to eat anything they want. Though I do miss the lowfat cookies. Sure I know the fat is replaced with sugar, but still…

Lack of Packaged Foods

A lot of things I remember from the US that I miss here are packaged things. Pop tarts and frozen toaster waffles. Ready made freezer meals and boxes of mac and cheese with powdered cheese (just add butter and milk). We can get some prepared sauces, even some brands from abroad, but again the selection isn’t very good. Ditto on salad dressing.

The up side is that most of those things are not so healthy. The balance of not having so many prepared foods is having access to a lot more fresh options.  So I have to make different (hopefully better) choices here. An example of this is the lack of canned pumpkin (a Thanksgiving stable), so I have had several pies made by friends over the years from fresh pumpkin.

Really nothing?

A big limiter to choice here seems to be space. The population density is higher and grocery stores are much smaller than their American counterparts. So things get stocked differently. Add to that different tastes and a desire to buy local (or at least German), the choice is small compared to the mega stores back home. There is almost nothing I have not be able to find in one form or another here. From an eating out point of view though there is a lack of good Mexican and of New York Style Pizza around.

I have lived over four years in Freiburg, which although a city is not an enormous one. I would assume better selection in bigger cities and less so in villages.

There certainly are a few specific food types that I have not seen at all here. Maybe in the bigger cities I would have better luck, especially near American Army bases, but here I haven’t seen them. Things like..

• Sweetened Condensed Milk – the basis of many a holiday goodie
• Graham Crackers – my favorite afternoon snack and also the basis of so many pies

How to deal with it?

So, you can’t find exactly what you are looking for. The main thing is to improvise or accept. The adage “change what you can’t accept and accept what you can’t change” seems appropriate to paraphrase here. “Make yourself what you can’t accept. Accept what you can’t make. Don’t eat what you can’t make or accept.”

• Look for recipes of your favorite things online and try to make it.
• Try to get used to the things you can find. Different brands and textures and seasoning.
• Get friends to bring things from home when they come to visit.

This is my entry for this month’s Blogger Stammtisch with the theme of Foodpicked by Tiffany of No Ordinary Homestead. Read more entries for this month here. We post a different theme on the 15th of each month. Next month is Drink.

American Foods We Can’t Find in Germany is a feed post from Grounded Traveler.