Shopping/Das Einkaufen

          A blog by a woman must include a post about shopping. If you actually believe that, I need you to accept that you're slightly sexist. And now that I've made you feel guilty, here's a post about the differences of shopping in the US and Germany.
          First of all, size is everything. In America, everything is huge and each store is far away enough from each other experts suggest you should pack a light lunch when preparing to shope. In Germany, and most of Europe, everything looks condensed and shrunken together, but in a cozy and cute sort of way. I kind of love it. Back home, the closest store to my house is 15 minutes away by car, and 45 minutes when walking in blistering heat and under the sun. In contrast, my grandparent's home in Germany is a five-minute walk to the nearest grocery store. Edeka, is an adorable store. For everyone in Germany, it's a well-sized store. For me, I feel like I'm walking into a miniaturized version of and American grocery store. Even the products are tiny but they taste 10x better than the stuff in America. The produce actually smells like fruit and vegetables and look even brighter. When you go to the meat section of Edeka, there are about fifty different types of sausage and dozens of lunch meat assortments. Near the end of the store, right before the checkout line, there are delicious varieties of chocolates. Literally every thing you get tastes amazing. I love it. Then right at the checkout line are your essentials, like more chocolate, razors, chapsticks, condoms and lube, and an automatic box that releases your choice of cigarettes.

Things I've got from DM and other places.

       Another store that I am obsessed with is DM. It's a drugstore, like CVS or Walgreens but again, about 10x better. First of all, it's so clean and white and pure looking, it's like a pretty hospital, without the depression.  The products in the store are amazing. I love them so much. Once again, everything looks miniaturized, more like a travel sizes than full-sized products. The makeup is beautiful. I have found one of the best mascaras I have ever used in DM. It's from a makeup brand called Catrice and it's called Glam Doll Waterproof mascara and it's only about 5 euros. 5 euros for a mascara that's amazing, actually waterproof, and makes my eyelashes look amazing and almost like fake eyelashes. A lot of makeup products from certain brands, like Catrice, P2, and Essence, are made of good quality and in the $5-10 range. To summarize, everything is pretty amazing in this store. I love it.
          I've also gone clothes shopping. I have to say, I've been a bit disappointed with that world. It's not that the clothes aren't good or that there's not a huge selection. But I hardly ever find things that I actually like. There are the usual stores like H&M and Zara and other stores and department stores like Karstadt, There are a lot of clothing choices but I hardly ever find something to wear, and most of the times the clothes aren't that great or affordable.
          Overall, for things like food and toiletries, I think Germany is the best place to get these things, and everything is super cute and affordable. When it comes to clothes, I don't think it's really worth it worth it to fly over to Europe. But it's definitely worth the trip if you want good food. And if you're not someone who wants good food, I don't even know how to begin talking to you.

Food!!!/Das Essen

SCHNITZEL!!!

Hey everyone!
      My last post was about my flight to Europe, but I didn't tell you where I was going! I'm currently in GERMANY [!!!] living with my grandparent. While I'm visiting family, I'm also eating as much as I can.
      One of the best things about Germany, in my humble yet correct opinion, is the food. I love food. A lot. A "I'd rather get gift cards to restaurants than a Michael Kors watch" type of love. And everything in these country tastes like it's been handcrafted with love and affordability in mind.
      Since living with my grandparent, I've actually been eating three square meals a day, instead of TV dinners galore [being an adult is hard guys]. Every day I get breakfast (usually a brotchen/bread roll with homemade raspberry jam), lunch (something with meat, veggies, and starch), and dinner (bread with cheese or sandwich meat.) My favorite, favorite, favorite dish is SCHNITZEL!!! It's a pork loin that is beaten flat, covered in bread crumbs, and fried in a pan on both sides. It's then served with fried potatoes or french fries/Pommes. The schnitzel comes in various varieties and can be served with lemon juice, onions, mushrooms, or even goat cheese with olives.
       Germans are also classy and enjoy their coffee. Usually every day in the late afternoon, coffee is served with a slice of cake. Can't lie, not crazy about this tradition. There's only so much cake I can eat, and it's not great drinking super hot coffee when it's boiling hot and you're sitting inside without air conditioning. But that's the price to pay when you're in this country. I guess there are worse things, like politics 2016.
       I've also been quite good and been munching on fruit and veggies. This is quite a change, since for the past four years I probably could count on both hands how many salads I've had [just kidding, that would be so bad, right? heh. heh. heh....moving on]. In Germany, where everything is so freaking close together, people can get in the car and arrive five minutes later at a farmer's field and buy fresh produce. Most of the food is surprisingly affordable (today we bought a pound of raspberries, pound blueberries, pound apricots, a head of lettuce, and pound of tomatoes for about ten Euros) and tastes delicious. My body can't believe it's getting so many fresh vitamins. And, it's one of the few times where I've had fresh produce that actually has flavor  and doesn't just taste like blandly-tasted water.
       Now I've got to go for a run to get rid of these extra pounds. Hahahahahahaha. Jk, off to watch Gogglebox! :-)

Breakfast/Das Fruhstuck

Lunch/Das Mittagsessen
[Chicken Curry with Rice and Broccoli]

Das Mittagsessen
[Lunch can be something sweet.]
[Der Pfannkuchen]

SCHNITZEL!!! with onions and Bratkartoffeln

Coffee/Der Kaffee
[I had this plum cheesecake on a 3-hour river boat ride. There were a surprising number of elderly people. Fun times.]

Yummy, Yummy, Fresh

EuroFrau goes to Germany!

       

 I love to travel. Let me be more specific. I love to arrive at new places where I'm not used to hearing the language, can eat awesome food, and experience a new culture. 

I DO NOT like getting there and I hate flying. You have to get a second job to afford a plane ticket, you go through security knowing you're not a threat but panicking that you accidentally packed your full-sized lotion bottle in your carry-on, and then, willingly enter a metal tube that suspends in the air while you're crushed for space and choke down food that tastes like dehydrated rubber.
        However, this time I surprisingly had a positive experience. Through luck, chance, and generous family, I flew PREMIUM Economy on Thomas Cook Airlines. Don't ask me why there's now an Economy and Premium Economy. A good metaphor for it, probably, is buying an Express Pass at Universal instead of having to wait in the heat-coma inducing heat like the rest of the Plebeians. You get treated like a human instead of cattle for just a few hundred dollars more.

        The first thing I noticed when I sat in my [AISLE!!!!!] seat was that my knees didn't immediately touch the seat in front of me. I had so much room I could have put my bursting-full-to-the-brim carry-on in front of me. After I picked up my complimentary copy of Vogue, I saw FREE STUFF! Nestling on top of the fleece blanket and pillow was a toiletry bag. Inside was a pair of incredibly soft socks, an eye mask, earplugs, travel-size toothbrush and toothpaste, and full-sized lip balm that smelled like coconut.
        After I looked through everything I settled down to wait for takeoff. I didn't have to wait sober, for a wonderful gentleman came by with a choice of orange juice or sparkling wine. Since I am an adult I chose the wine, even though I hate the taste of alcohol, but I was flying Premium and deserved libations dammit!
        The rest of the flight was almost as positive. There was a slight hiccup when right after I got my soda I knocked it over and spilled the almost full cup all over the floor. Luckily, no one sat in the seat next to me [yeah, I had both seats all to myself] so I was able to sop up the mess with the dozens of paper towels I got from the bathroom. Oh yeah, when you're in Premium you never have to wait for the bathroom. Heaven.
         I should mention the food. Look, it's airplane food. It's never going to be fantastic. However, I wasn't disparaged. The chicken was decent and I got red potatoes, fruit and cheese, and a freaking cheesecake for dessert [it was delicious]. Breakfast was a simple vending-machine muffin and yogurt, but I also got a fresh-toasted chocolate croissant, which basically made the breakfast totally worth it. The stewardesses were also amazing and it was the first flight where I didn't gasp from thirst since I could always get a bottle of water from them. The rest of the trip I watched "How to Be Single" and "The Other Woman." I can never sleep on flights, and this was no exception, but I was able to close my eyes for some time while I listened to Adele's "25." When it was time to leave the plane, I almost felt sad, a stark contrast to my usual desperate urge to run off.
         Overall, this trip established to me that life would be pretty good if I could afford this regularly. And that if I ever by miracle of miracles flew first class, I would probably pass out from the extravagance. 

My seat with all my glorious leg room.

Free Stuff!!!!!

CHEESECAKE and dinner.
[The roll was super warm and delicious.]

Eh, breakfast. The croissant was long gone.

EuroFrau

Hello! I'm EuroFrau and I decided to write a blog following my time in Europe. Posts will be about traveling, food, adventures, food, sleep, culture, and more. Enjoy!