First...
My husband and I made the trip out to Markt Kauf, one of the bigger grocery stores again. Walking around, we continually stumbled into things that are out of the ordinary for us.
In Germany, many bottles (plastic and glass) require a bottle deposit. Every grocery store has a bottle return center. If you look carefully, you can see the woman with a cart full of mineral water and beer. Later, she will bring each of those bottles back, loaded up in another cart.
Here is someone waiting to return his bottles!
Drinking tap water (Leitungswasser) is not common at all even though the tap water is perfectly clean. If you ever ask for water at a restaurant or anywhere, you will get sparkling mineral water unless you specify that you want Leitungswasser.
As we were browsing the grocery department, we came across the alcohol isles. The drinks here are noticeably marketed to a younger crowd (and very cheap). Many are decorated with cartoonish characters and bright colors and catchy names.
There was half of an isle dedicated just to whisky. I had no idea that it could be so expensive. One whisky option offered here contained smaller bottles , each containing 15, 18 and 25 year old varieties for a whopping price of 37.99 Euros. A full sized bottle of aged (18 years old) whiskey ran around 50 Euros. I have no idea what that would cost in the states.
Interestingly, the non-alcoholic drinks were mixed right in with the grown-up drinks.
This Hannah Montana drink was right below the margarita shelf.
Another interesting thing we noticed is how inexpensive alcoholic drinks are here. There are two versions on Moet on this shelf. One costs 35.99 Euros and the other costs 39.99 Euros. That is less than the U.S., right?
I noticed these sausages on a previous visit and wondered if they were perhaps a vegetarian friendly sausage. I was in the dairy area so I knew they were not meat. On closer inspection I saw that they are tubes of soup!
Once again I have found "American" hamburgers and hot dogs, complete with buns!
Here is a sausage with a curry sauce - If you are ever in Germany, you MUST try this. The brand is Dinner for One, made popular by the Skit these Germans love to watch around New Year's Eve.
And Next...
As mentioned earlier, Markt Kauf is huge. We walked over to the garden center area and couldn't resist some herbs. Spring is finally making its way to Münster so we decided to liven up our apartment with some new planter boxes.
I picked out the lovely herb pack, but as soon as we were home, My sweet husband took over the planting responsibilities. We planted petunias in-between the herbs. Later, hopefully, the petunias will drape over the edge and look lovely off the balcony.
Ok, I couldn't resist helping a little. The herbs were pretty root bound, so after I pulled them out of their pots, I loosened up the roots by pulling them apart a bit.
The roots will be much happier and healthier now.
Isn't that pretty?
We will keep them inside for a few weeks, until the plants are over their transplant shock and we are free of frosty mornings.
This Sunday is Easter. One of the Catholic churches here is supposed to have an extraordinarily beautiful service that we are going to try to see. Later that day we are hoping to visit friends just outside of town. Hopefully we will be able to ride our bikes, unless it SNOWS!
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