The Starbucks of Germany

Each day that I taught a 6 am class in the US, my friend Cox and I would venture out to the downtown or five points Starbucks for a morning refuel. I loved my morning routine and still miss it! So Coxie, this one is for you! Allow me to introduce the Starbucks of Germany...The Grimminger... You can see the signs everywhere...in every village and on every corner. Sure, there are some Starbucks locations...but nothing like this. It is not exactly like the "Bucks" as there is far more of a variety of food than coffee (as you can see below). I am sure the reason for this is partially due to the fact that regular coffee here is amazing, and of course there are cultural differences. Most people get their bread at a bakery instead of the store and get it every day or couple of days.
So what can you get at the Grimminger? Baguettes and coffee, of course, as well as pretzels, pastries, sandwiches, etc. They bake most everything in the back of the store and it smells great!
This particular Grimminger is in the Parade Platz (Shopping Square) in downtown Mannheim, so it is very big with lots of variety. Our village has a much smaller one although it is always very busy! When a go I get a small cup of coffee (kaffee tasse, klein) and add a little cream and sugar. SO GOOD:) It only costs .95 EUR. You can also get a hearty sandwich for about 2 EUR around lunch time. It is a deal! I used to go in the morning before we had a coffee pot. Tut put an end to that as the last time we went as he was pissed that I left him outside (dogs can go everywhere besides the grocery and bakery) tied up and he chewed through his leash. It freaked me out so I don't do that anymore...and I'm down to one leash! Lets just say we got a coffee pot two days later. (The day in between I was a bit grumpy!) In terms of coffee and tea there is more to choose from at the "Bucks", but it is far more expensive and much slower. I look forward to my parent's visit as we can do a morning walk with Tut and stop in my Grimminger to grab a tasse. They would probably appreciate it the most as they love coffee more than anyone on the face of this earth. So Cox, this is my new place...come and visit and we can hit an early morning class at the Pfitzenmeier and bask in the nostalgia of our former routine. Bring Jen with you...we would have so much fun!

German Sundays

In Germany, Sundays are nearly sacred as the Germans truly hold it as a day of recreation and relaxation. We heard from everyone several times the things that you do not do on Sundays when you live here because it violates the "German Sunday". It is a crime for you to cut the grass on a Sunday. We were told repeatedly that our neighbors would call the police and we would be cited. Some other no-nos are hanging your clothes on the line outside, washing your car, and making home improvements (including using a hammer to put one picture on the wall). All of these things would upset your neighbors on Sunday! The best news is that the workers may not work on the apartment on this day :) In addition, most places are closed and the cities are very quiet. You see a lot of people on bike trails running, biking, and walking their dogs.
TJ and I have decided to take full advantage of this day and it has quickly become my favorite day of the week. Most of the time we will be traveling whether it be far, or a neighboring village like we did yesterday. We woke up yesterday to watch SNL on our sling box as it was just getting over in the US as we were getting up (PS I love you Sling Box). And after laughing hysterically decided to hike a trail in a near by forest that we had seen on the way to Schwetzingen. It was awesome...Tut loved it too as his sniffer was in full swing! Here are a few pictures of the hike...

Part of the forest...

Here is a great photo of the man and, of course Tut, who constantly had his nose to the ground!

We were only there maybe an hour and a half...but this was Tut afterwards. He was so tuckered out! And this is how he spent the rest of his German Sunday.
TJ and I, on the other hand were thrilled to visit Heidelberg (a 20 minute train ride south) for a midevil festival. There were booths, performers, food, and of course beer!
TJ had something amazing, and we have no idea what it was!

We didn't stay at the festival long as we couldn't understand what the performers were saying and the beer was less than desirable. So we walked about Heidelberg...take a look at this beautiful town...

This is a very typical street and this one happens to be right in the middle.
This one is for all of you Catholics out there...The Church of the Holy Spirit.
This picture is taken across the river from the festival and right above the main area is the castle. It is one of my favorites as it is preserved authentically. It is a must see if you come to visit!

The town is seperated by the Neckar River and this is taken from the bridge. It was a beautiful day!
This is one side of the city's skyline.
Alot of people will hang out in parks on Sunday. They will have their dogs, books, friends, and food and camp there for the day. TJ and I found a great spot, but we only stayed their for about 45 minutes. TJ took a small nap and I people watched (what an education, by the way).
We love German Sundays! We ended it by having dinner and ice cream in the shopping district and then headed home for the evening. Next week will be much different as we will be coming back from Oktoberfest in Munich. Hopefully the three hour train ride will cure our hang overs...we'll see!

This week I will be blogging more faithfully as I have a two week break from school. Woo Hoo! Until tomorrow...

Auf Wiedersehen!

Audi, Benz, and BMW

I have never in my life seen so many expensive cars dominating the road as I have seen here in Germany. And I will have you know that I lived in Scottsdale, Arizona...for nearly three years and there were plenty! I will say that having one of the three luxury vehicles mentioned above generally does not cost as much as having one in the states. Obviously, or TJ wouldn't have just ordered one. Yes, he ordered a car and it supposed to be ready in November...and that is uncommitted. Apparantly everyone has at least one (or almost everyone) as we cannot get one at the dealership and it takes time to manufacture and deliver. Granted I think most of them are made in Stuttgart, which is not far from here.
Why are there so many? Aside form the obvious that they are German cars, it is my observation that people here desire these cars for very different reasons than people in the US. Most of it would have to do with function and energy vs. vanity, social status, and comfort. I will blog in the future about Germans and their energy and environment, but it is true that these vehicles get tons of miles per gallon (or liter over here). The Germans and other Europeans also need higher performing cars as the second you get on the autobahn you must be going at least 100/km per hour and usually more than that. So fast cars are necessary or you will be run over. This I know as our loaner car is a french car that many of the Deere people simply laugh at, and frequently gets passed on the autobahn:)
Lets use the Mercedes Benz as an example...
Not only do people have them in every variety (and there are many more models here that we have never seen in the US) for personal use, people also have them as "work vehicles". The taxi's here are mosty Benz hatchbacks. We got off the tram last weekend and all the cabs were Benzies...and the one we took had leather heated seats! This is sure diferent from the dragon wagons we have in Iowa! Also the buses and vans are also made by Mercedes. If you go to the grocery store most of the cars will be BMW, Audi, or Mercedes, and then you may have a few Volkswagons and a couple french cars. I have even seen one Ford Explorer...but just one.
If you don't believe me on this one, just come over and visit and I will pick up your jaw from the floor as it still amazes me!

One more thing...on a personal and way off subject note!
I want to congratulate my friend Jen on her new position with Les Mills!!!! She is living our dream of working side by side with the best in fitness in the world. Check out the company online at www.lesmills.com. They offer the best fitness programs ever including my favorites of BODYPUMP, BODYSTEP, and RPM! Great job, Jen!

Gifts from France

TJ had to spend a couple days in France for work and got home last night. Sure, I was a little disappointed that I could not go with him as he went with a number of his colleagues, but let me tell you I certainly won in the gift department! He came home with this lovely assortment of french wine and some others as well as a delicate cheese and fresh baguette.
I can tell you the baguette was awesome...especially if you are a bread person like me! I will let you know how the cheese is as you have to bake it and the German oven still confuses me. TJ is also extremely thoughtful as he knows my favorite wine is Muscato and he brought me two different kinds to try! (Aunt Terri, I will let you know if the rose is as good as the original). I promise to crack one open as soon as my huge paper for my law class is finished. The countdown is here for my class to end, five days and then a two week break. This rarely happens and I can't wait! We may have a trip in the works to kick off the break so I will keep you posted! I must go now and submerge myself in the legal and ethical ramifications of nepotism.

Auf Wiedersehen

Dirty, Noisy, Smelly Men

I have to vent for a moment please. As many of you may know the apartment building that I live in has four units, 3 finished and 1 to go. Really the three that are finished are clearly not as I have had work men in and out for two weeks. I think the first major problem is with me as I cannot communicate with them entirely, so that is one thing (this includes my landlord who only speaks Turkish and German...not a lick of English). Lets first talk about them in my apartment. I would love for the workers to come in in one shot and do everything in a day or two. This is not what is happening. They will drop in one day and put a mirror up, then two days later mess with the radiators, another two days and someone comes in to finish the kitchen...blah blah and we still aren't done. With each one of those workers comes a fine white dust from the new paving outside on their shoes and then they track it everywhere. I have washed rugs a couple times and have vaccumed and mopped almost daily! It has become more than an annoyance. The workers also create a mess for each job and then do not clean it up.
Lets talk about the noise. It goes from 7:45 to 18:00...all day! For two days I have had a man outside my door drilling through steel. Some days they are sawing tile or paving stones, and other days they are banging, yelling, and welding. It is so noisey here and it is bound to last another month. Tut and I might need ear plugs soon.
Here comes the next problem and the worst one. This is what is truly unfathomable, the odor that accompanies them where ever they go. The odor can be in the building or in my apartment and it has the same potency. It is the kind of body odor that has found its way deep into their clothing and festers there. No amount of detergent can cure this. The current situation right now is the man outside my door working on the railing. His odor has made its way into my house and I have 8 candles burning...I can still smell it! And to make it much, much worse each one of them smokes...chain smokes all day. They are smoking in the hall and in the to be new apartment and of course it finds its way right in here! The two odors together are physically nausiating!
Tut and I have resorted to going out more and longer, but the dirt, noise, and smell are waiting for us when we walk in the door. Wish us luck through this process as we wll need it!

Auf Wiedersehen

A Busy Weekend

This weekend we played host to a couple of US families that were over here visiting. Friday night our old neighbors in LeClaire were here house hunting as they will be moving here with Deere and Company as well. Isn't that funny? I think we talked to them more at dinner then we did when we lived in LeClaire! Saturday TJ and I went for a run in the morning and then braved the train system to Bad Durkheim for the Weinfest. We met up with our buddy family (another ex-pat family set up by Deere) and then some other ex-expats that we knew from Augusta. Apparently this is the largest wine festival in the world an goes on for two full weeks. There are rows and rows of tents, and each tent is a different German winery. We of course, sat at the Schaefer tent! Here are some photos...

Everyone loves a little German band, don't they? They would go up and down the rows of tents and play. My favorite thing about them is the drummer has glass holders attached to his drums, and I am pretty sure they had been "sampling wine" for quite a while!
This is living proof that my Dad's father's family is from Germany! This is the Karl Schaefer Winery, and I will have you know that all of the Schaefers spell their names the same as mine! Well at least as far as I have seen!
In the tent, a waitress comes around and you order by number which wine you would like. I got the sweetest Riesling (as I do) and was very surprised to see what they brought me. Yes, a half liter of wine in a glass. I paid a 2 Euro deposit for the glass, and 4 Euro for the wine. The glass has the name of the winery on it and lets just say that I lost my deposit on this glass!
We met our new friends as well as the ones we already new at the festival and had a great time! Pictured below starting with me counter clockwise is myself, Libby, Wesley, Debbie, Kristi, and Darren (TJ is taking the picture). We just met Kristi and Darren and found we have a lot in common...including a dog and no kids! As you can see from the photo we are all crammed in under the tent and there is barely any room around you!

Sunday another couple was in town for a week and we took them to Schwetzingen to the Schloss gardens. It happen to be the Mozart Festival this weekend so we did a lot of people watching! This was a little promenade dance they were demonstrating. Don't you love his tights? His legs happen to look better than most women I know!

All in all it was a very fun, but extremely tiring weekend. I was happy to hang out and write a paper today as well as take Tut for his long walks. These two pictures are from our walk today...we had a little bit of excitement!

Tut was on the trail of something in the long grass between the garden plots and the orchard and I couldn't figure out what he was sniffing...

And then I found out! A cat was laying in the grass and ran as fast as it could across the street and up into the tree. I let out a screech as Tut was on his long leash and nearly got its tail! I let a sigh of relief when the leash caught. Well, Mom, it looks like he hasn't lost his hunting skills...now it is cats because there aren't any squirrels around!
Who knows about next weekend's events as my huge final paper for Business Law is due Monday! There is talk of Munich as Oktoberfest will be beginning soon. Who knows!?! This week I am going to try to tackle grocery shopping and recycling for sure, so until then...

Auf Wiedersehen!

The Secret Gardens

The Secret Gardens are really not a secret I just thought they were. Actually that isn't true either as at first I thought they were really big nurseries that just happened to be beautiful and gated. I think it is one of the most unique things about our town and Germany in general that there are public gardens with plots to rent so that those who live in flats and do not have a yard can still garden in their own space. And it makes the town interesting and beautiful. There are over 100 plots in this particular garden and it is at the end of my block, only a few meters away. Here are a few photos...

Notice that people have little sheds on their plots and plant everything from trees to flowers and vegetables. Bec, there are even garden gnomes...everywhere. I like to walk Tut through and see what is going on. I like to observe which plots have flags of different countries flying on them, or if someone is entertaining. Today I saw a group of four 50-60 somethings having lunch on one of the plots, drinking wine and having a great time! It then occurred to me that we could rent a plot since we don't have a yard for Tut Anthony. Don't worry I would never attempt to garden it as I do not enjoy such tasks. I am not even looking forward to planting stuff in two pots to go on my balcony! Any way, I thought a German woman might like a place to garden for free...and of course Tj thinks I am crazy and Tut will be fine with his long walks 3-4 times a day!
TJ's boss is from our town and said that it used to be full of tobacco fields and known for its gardens. The street that TJ and I live on is called "Am Klumbengarten", which means on the Klumben garden (Klumben is a name, we think). I also think that we live on this street because it could easily be called Heidi Klumbengarten and that is who inspired my German blog! I hope you like the pictures and will come and visit the garden in person!

We are headed to the Weinfest in Bad Durkheim tomorrow and of course I will take my camera and let you know how the wine tastes!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Coffee With the Americans...and Some Others

Yesterday I spent the morning at another American family's home enjoying coffee and conversation with other John Deere wives that are settled in the area for assignments much like ours. There were mostly American wives and then a German and South African wife as well. It was so much fun! Not only did we have a great American brunch, but I was able speak to other American women who were speaking english. I know it sounds silly but I have no idea what anyone is saying here unless they use gestures!
It was fun and educational all at the same time. First, I will put it out there...I am the only one without children and that is okay because all of their kids were at school so I didn't feel like I was the only one without kids. They think it is great we don't have kids yet because then we can travel whenever without worrying about the school schedule or traveling the same time everyone else does. So that is helpful. I have also learned about what kinds of car stickers to get when going to other countries, when to fly, and of course when to take the train. One of the wives must have been here for at least a year and she is a wealth of information. This particular woman is also a TV junky so she has given me great pointers on how to get the best satellite TV (apparently some guy knows another guy...). She also has already emailed me an ex-patriot list of where to travel and at what times of the year are best. She also noted which ones were good weekend and day trips as opposed to which ones would be great to spend 5-7 days visiting. She has certainly made it easier!
I have been combing through that list since I have received it because TJ and I want to travel quite a bit. We will take a bunch of small day trips to places 1-2 hours away where we can take the dog, and also go to barrier countries for weekend trips. Right now T and I are deciding which big trip to book. I would like to do a cruise of the Greek Islands and Turkish coast and TJ wants to do Madrid and Barcelona. Both are warm in October and beginning of November so either would be great. If you have been or want to cast your vote of where we should go, let me know!
Aside from fabulous American conversation our little group has somewhat of a purpose in that we plan events for the ex-patriots. Right now we are planning Thanksgiving and will finalize next month. This is the great part about having a German Deere wife in the mix as she knows which places would host it. I love her, she is definitely the matriarch of the group and everyone loves her! We also do a Christmas party, and a 4th of July cookout, as well as our monthly get togethers. I look forward to the regular company and duties of helping this group.
All in all the day was a success...until I got locked out and that is a whole different story! Until tomorrow...

Auf Wiedersehen

Let's Talk Laundry

Here she is, isn't she a beauty? Actually she is not. She is actually they as it is a stackable washer and dryer with very little capacity! Take a look as they are about two and a half feet wide and I can see the top...just to put it in perspective. They also sit behind the bathroom door very nicely.
The thing about this laundry machine that you do not know is the four day history of me using it...or attempting to use it! You see, every word is in German. Do I know which is delicate? No. Do I know where the permanent press is? Nope. So I put it on "Mix" as it has a decent time on it. First load of course was sopping wet! TJ figured out that there is an extra spin button that dries them more. Why would you need to do that? Oh, because the dryers here are rather inefficient, in my opinion. I have to take out a tank after every and dump the water, yep, dump the water as there are no pipes or vents to take the water out. That isn't even the annoying part...the annoying part would be that it takes three times as long to do the wash, and do the drying. Again you must ask why? Because you cannot wash and dry at the same time due to watt issues here, and your loads are at max 1/3 the size, also it should be mentioned that the cycles on each machine are longer! I have been doing laundry for four days!!! Four days!!! And yesterday I did not even leave the haus! What would be worse? I have the answer...Annie carrying her 80 lbs. of laundry to the German laundrymat via tram. So it could be worse. Bottom line is that I iss my giant washer and giant dryer as my laundry load has gone fro 5 loads per week to an easy 15!
One more thing, in a German haus you must air out the rooms for a few minutes each day to prevent water spots on the ceiling because of the harsh water. But, while you shower and do laundry they need to stay open. I can assure you that it makes for a damp and drafty four days!
Enjoy your washers and dryer, and for me please don't take them for granted!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Home Sweet Home, I think...

So it is true, not only have TJ and I moved into our new home for the next two to three years, we also have internet! It is a very exciting day when I don't have to take the tram into Mannheim to finish school work or catch up on US happenings!
This post comes with some disclaimers, mostly for those of you who know me well, and then those who know nothing about Germany. We live in a neighborhood outside of Mannheim that the people here call a village. We would call it a suburb with great transportation options that people of all social status use. It is also different because normally there are people everywhere! The pictures might also seem odd because everthing here is very white, clean, and sterile from the bathrooms to the bedrooms to the balcony tiling...it is very white! Those of you who know me well know that I am the opposite. Although we have just moved in, I assure you we are not done decorating as we need rugs and wall hangings that have color and lots of it! Maybe we can look back in a year to see how much our home has changed, or not! So wilkommen to the Lucero Haus...please enjoy the tour! There are two floors with a kitchen, living room, bathroom, and office on the main floor and three bedrooms and a bath on the second. There is also a third floor that is open and we use as an attic for storage.

The pictures uploaded backwards so we will start with the master. Notice the shade is half way down and it is on the outside of the window and operated electronically. TJ and I love this as there is never any light that breaks through!

Next is the upstairs bathroom with lots of amenities. Usually bathrooms are not his big and rarely have a tub.


Across from the bathroom is the third bedroom or to us a closet. There are no closets in Germany, only wardrobe chests. So we had them put two huge ones in this room along with an ironing board and the rest of our stuff (my shoes)!
The guest bedroom is so WHITE! We must get very colorful things in here immediately! Tut loves this room as the afternoon sun shines right on him (and my mom slept with this duvet last and Tut loves his grandma so much...I think he goes in there to smell her)!
This is the downstairs bathroom and laundry. We will get into the laundry in the next post as I have a lot to say about laundry! Stay tuned!

The next two pictures are of the living room. Hmmm whats missing? Oh yeah a TV! TJ and I have to make sure we can drill a satellite in the roof before we get one, but I can't wait until we do!

Here is the kitchen. It is huge to German standards...and there is little to no cupbord space. Within the cupboards are a fridge, dishwasher, and vent. I have three cupboards and three drawers, we will see how this goes! Normally there are no cupboards, appliances, or fixtures in apartments here as you need to bring all of that in and then take it with you when you leave. We were very lucky in that we only had to put in the lights.
This is the office, it is missing a futon and our US TV as this is where TJ and his rock band reside.


Our apartment is the top two floors to the left of the entrance and there are two others that live here as well. There are no screens, no air conditioning, and radiant heat. It is like this everywhere in Germany. And no that is not our beamer out front...TJ just ordered ours and it is much smaller!

And this is my sweet little street on the Klumbengarten, we are on the left.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour. I hope to take you on a photo tour of the village later this week. Also to come...I have my first ex-pat coffee with the wives tomorrow, and we must not forget the Bad Durkheim Weinfest this weekend. And tomorrow we talk laundry. Until then...

Auf Wiedersehen

Could I be any luckier?

So I know that I said I would upload pictures this time, but I had to run by Starbucks to upload an assignment and quickly see what is going on in the US...and forgot my camera...Sorry! Tuesday I get the internet at home and I will do it then - promise!
So I have to tell you about some people I have met in our new village. Our neighbors are so great I could not be any luckier. They are a German couple named Oliver and Susan and they speak fabulous english! In fact they have come over to translate for me several times with the workers coming in and out of the apartment. Better yet, he lived in Chicago while working for Anderson Consulting and got his MBA from UConn. It gets better...Susan and Oliver have been ex-patriots three times that I know of in three very different parts of the world so she knows exactly what I am going through and has offered to go with me to different places to help with the language barrier and promised to help in any ways she can. She said she had someone like this in New Jersey that spoke German and she was grateful for it! I am sure she will pay it forward to me and then maybe I can do the same in the future. What a relief! They also have a daughter that LOVES Tut Anthony (and who wouldn't). My battery is low, so until Tuesday...

Auf Wiedersehen!

Such an American...

TJ and I were killing ourselves to get out the door this morning. He had to go to work today and we were moving some of our stuff to the apartment from our hotel, Tut had to be pottied, and we were starving. So I make the comment that most Americans make when they are hungry and hurried in the morning, "lets grab a quick breakfast at McDonald's". And what I get in return is, "McDonalds doesn't have breakfast in Germany". My world suddenly came to an end! Do the German's even know what they are missing? The sausage capital of the world is missing out on a fabulous opportunity to make the sausage mcmuffin better than it currently stands! The story ends here as I was dropped off in Seckenheim without breakfast. I am sure one of the many things I will miss out on while we are here. I am trying to make the best out of this devastation and hope that I will start to only crave a sausage mcmuffin while I am in the US, much like I was when I moved away from Arizona. I love Baja Fresh and eat it every chance I get but now only want it when I am there. We'll see!
We are officially in our apartment fulltime beginning tomorrow, so no internet until Tuesday unless Seckenheim has an internet cafe that I haven't located yet. I will post pictures of the apartment the next time, so be patient.

Auf Wiedersehen

We Made It!

I am very excited to tell everyone that Tut Anthony (my precious dog) and I safely arrived yesterday in our new home of Deutschland to join my husband, TJ! We were very tired and needed the last day to recover. And recover we did with a wake up call around noon! We filled up the day with various sites around the Mannheim area. We started with a long walk through the square and a light 2:00 lunch where Tut could join us at a cafe. We soon after grabbed a coffee (when in Germany...) and took off for Schwetzingen. It is a town 15-20 minutes away where we lost out on an awesome apartment earlier last month. Any way we took Tut and visited Schloss Schwetzingen (the castle) and the amazing gardens that surround it. I promise that if you come and visit me, we will go as I have never seen anything like it, and it is sure to please. We must have looked like tourists with our jaws dropped and our goofing around (take a minute to check out the photos below) ! After a late sushi dinner and the thought of moving into our new apartment in Seckenheim tomorrow, I must sign off...

Auf Weidersehen

TJ thinking

Me voguing

Tut posing

Blogga, Please...

I would like to introduce myself as this is formally the first blog posting I have ever written...ever! I have not so much as ever replied to any one of my friends posts or thought of doing this in the past, but now seems as good as any! My name is Annie, and the purpose of this blog is to communicate with my family and friends in the US as my family of three lives in Germany for a few years. I am not known for fine grammar, fluid thoughts, or being politically correct so readers please don't respond with stuff like "I can't believe you said that" or "wow, you are so off base" because I may not care if you like my comments. With that said, I hope everyone can can enjoy our experiences and take a small peek at life abroad!

Before I write another word, I must mention the inspiration for the name of my blog as I can't take full credit for it. It all started about two weeks ago as I was talking to best friend and blogger colleague, Kelly, and I told her I was gonna do the blog thing and she said she would name it Heidi Klum, What?! Needless to say I loved the name and love Heidi Klum so I decided to spin it in a different way. So any way, thanks Kelly! I do love the Heidi and am giving her a permanent spot on the blog (see right side of page). And in her honor have decided to sign off every blog with an...

Auf Wiedersehen!