The Gritty Virtual Assistant Blog

Well, I made it safe and sound, and no other passengers were injured! I did really well. The worst part was having to be confined for nine hours. I was about to go stir crazy. I did watch a few movies and read some of my ebooks. Also, I had a nice companion in the seat next to me. We didn’t talk too much, but exchanged some pleasantries here and there and she gave me some direction for once we landed on how to get to baggage claim (she was coninuing on to Barcelona).

Here are a couple shots from the plane: 

This is coming into Frankfurt:

The Internet situation is not great right now, which is why it’s taken me this long to post. Rob ordered Internet for the condo and thought they would have it hooked up in time for me, but they didn’t. Every week we get a new letter with a new date. When I got here, it was supposed to be done 12/16. Now they say it will be after Jan 1. Grrr.

So we found a no-contract, prepaid aircard provider called O2 (not sure if that’s the brand or the provider name) and I was all excited, but when we got it home and tried it out, the transfer rate was atrocious. It would take 10 minutes to open up a page, and forget trying to log into LogMeIn! So we took that back. The only other option is to get a T-Mobile Web-n-Walk aircard, but they want a two year commitment and we don’t know how long we’ll be doing this back and forth thing. 

I did try to find some wifii hotspots, but it’s not that easy. Most of them want you to pay now, which I don’t mind, but I’d rather just have my own Internet so I can work at my leisure and not have to lug around the computer whenever I feel like working. So I’m back to square one until our Internet gets hooked up which is tediously and uncomforatbly standing at the dresser in the bedroom in the one teeny tiny spot we get some free wifii, LOL.

It’s very beautiful here, although cold and overcast. The architecture is amazing. So much history. It’s awe-inspiring to touch a building and think of all the hundreds and hundreds of years (and lifetimes) it has seen. My first night here, after getting a bit of a nap in, Rob and I strolled around the neighborhood and he was pointing out some of the buildings that were left standing from the war, but had parts bombed. You can tell which parts are original and which are new.

The old-time iron work is incredible. You just don’t find that kind of care and craftsmanship these days anmore.

This is a really, really old pre-war building Rob spotted:

Recognize this? It’s the fertility symbol that Starbuck’s borrowed for its logo:

This is just one teeny part of a palace that is now an university (I’ll have to get the name and info from Rob when he gets home). It’s astounding how expansive it is and to think about all the goings on that occurred back in the olden days of kings and royalty:

This is a house where Mozart lived briefly:

This is the water tower where one of the Christmas markets is located:

This is a store downtown. Rob thinks it’s ugly, but I was fascinated with the intricacy of the facade:

Rob’s mom is spoiling us. She is an amazing cook and my first night here we had wienerschnitzel (my fav) with mashed potatos and steamed, sliced leeks in a white sauce that she had sent home with Rob the day before. Soooo good!

This bag of oatmeal cracks me up every morning:

I just love to say it: Dinkel Flocken. Say it with me: Dinkel Flocken. How can you have a bad day when you have words like that to put a smile on your face?

Rob’s been taking Mondays and Fridays off so he can take me around and show me the sights and stuff. We’ve been eating like a king and queen, LOL. Here’s one of my first meals at a German resaurant (that’s the name of it on the napkin to the right):

I don’t know how I ate all that–but I did! The Germans love their wieners, that’s for sure, LOL.

They have several outdoor Christmas markets this time of year which are open every day until 9 or 10pm. It’s really festive and fun to be able to stroll over to the one by our place and watch the kiddie rids and look at the wares the vendors are selling. Oh, and of course, sample the food, LOL.

My favs there are the bratwurst (which are about double the size of U.S. hotdogs in width and length) that they put in between a round roll, and these steak sandwiches which they also put between a round roll along with carmelized onions. The mustard here is sooo good and I like to put the mustard, ketchup and curry powder on my bratwurst. On the steak sandwich, it’s a big round slab of tender, juicy beef. Just melts in your mouth!

On one of our walks, we went through this tunnel next to the Neccar river and I thought the grafitti was interesting:

Some Initial Observations

1. Germans LOVE their eyewear. Omigosh, you have never seen such uber hip and trendy eyeglasses. The funkier and more outlandish the better. It’s fascinating!

2. Fast food chains haven’t entirely infiltrated the place. Thank gawd! I’d hate to see the landscape uglicized with that crap. They are here, but just not all over the place like they are in the States. So far, I’ve seen McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway and KFC. Oh, and Starbucks.

3. Everyone is in such great shape for the most part. There’s a very noticeable difference in the general physique of the population compared to the States where obesity is such an epidemic.

4. The German women are beautiful and stylish even in their late ages. I love this. Just because you get older doesn’t mean you have to look like a grandma and give up on taking care of yourself and having a sense of beauty and style.

5. They don’t really drink soft drinks too much over here. And where you can get them, it costs an arm and leg, seriously. I was having some jet lag the first few days and wanted a cola for the caffeine (as some of my readers know, I gave up my cola addiction earlier this year, LOL) so we ordered one from the restaurant we were at and 3 ounces damn near cost $5!

6. Tap water (and ice in your drinks!) is almost a foreign concept to them at restaurants here. When you order water in a restaurant here, you usually get sparkling water from a bottle. You have to ask specifically for non-carbonated water if that’s what you want. But the bottles are typically small so you have to have a special conversation to get what we in the US consider a normal glass of water and they think you’re weird to boot.

7. As I already knew, they drink beer with everything, even in the middle of the day. Even the oldsters. It’s such a crackup. We were at this little hole-in-wall restaurant off the beaten track called Binsebub’s and there was a couple, probably in their seventies, sitting next to us. The fellow was a little flirt and jokester and kept everyone laughing. One of the things that cracked us up was his little quip when he ordered another beer, “One beer is no beer.” Oh, and the beer is stupendous over here. (I’m an imported beer drinker–can’t stand domestic crap–so this is like beer heaven, LOL).

8. They walk and bike everywhere here, even in dress clothes and skirts and heels. Mannheim is really flat so you can bike for miles and miles without getting funky, if you know what I mean.

9. And speaking of fashion, I purposely packed very lightly so that I could gauge the fashion scene once I got here and buy some clothes to fit in. The aesthetic here is decidedly dark. Rob’s mom confirmed my observation. She said colors lighten up a bit in the warmer months, but it was true that people here tend to like a lot of black and other dark colors. If you see color, it’s typically a splash in a scarf, tights, shoes on the younger people, and especially and most commonly in the eyewear. The women love their boots. Long patent leather or suede boots, in either flat or high heels, is the style. They wear them with jeans tucked in, with or without leg warmers. They also like to wear colored tights or thicker leggings and boots with skirts or long tunic tops and sweaters. 

10. You don’t see sweats and ball caps. They “dress” over here and are very stylish. You don’t see a lot of sloppy or overly casual dressers out in public. Sweats and ball caps are frowned upon as they consider it unkempt and not dressed for polite company.  

11. You don’t see many joggers like you do in the States. Probably because everyone already gets their exercise walking and biking everywhere.  The only jogger I saw was when we were in Heidelburg shopping the other day, which stood out to me because I hadn’t seen a one thus far. Rob said a lot of people here do that kind of stuff at the gym or really early in the morning or late at night. Might also be the time of year.

12. They also like to smoke over here. A lot. You’ll see people walking down the street smoking or standing around in groups smoking. You’ll even frequently see people smoking in restaurants (although there are many where they have to go outside to smoke, which is a good thing). Rob says lots of places let people smoke at work, too. He said everyone in his shop smokes except him and this other guy and it’s pretty unbearable at lunch because when everyone is done eating, they all light up. They even sell cigarettes in machines on the streets:

Don’t tell Rob, but I really love Heidelberg. We’ve been there three times already. It’s just gorgeous with the Rheine and Neccar rivers and the village nestled at the base of mountainside and the majestic Heidelberger Schloss (schloss = castle) sweeping the landscape in the background. We walked through several of the windy village streets where the homes are so darling and cozy.

I’ve a bunch of pix from there, but have to upload them still so I’ll save that for a future post. We also went to a Christmas market in a mountain forest (it’s an annual tradition that Rob’s family does). We’ll be going to Lahr for an overnight trip, and Rob’s mom is looking into booking us a week in Bavaria at the Alps. So more adventures to come!