I knew that my overindulgence would wake me up early, and no amount of podcasts or youtube videos in the dark could lull me back to sleep. At dawn, I tried to jump in the shower, only to find that there was no water. I could hear guys showering in the adjacent stalls, but I couldn’t get enough water to even wet myself. Coffee wasn’t much solace either, but I soldiered through my very onerous morning of browsing the news until it was time for Kaufland to open.
Saturday–aka my last shopping day in Germany–was quite the contentious affair. I have a lot of sweets, particularly Haribo gummibears and Rittersport chocolate bars, that I want to purchase just for the sake of purchasing them. I assume with some family gatherings up ahead it will be easy to crack open one, divvy it up and enjoy a treat without eating an entire package on my own. Otherwise, there are a number of children to consider and I have been overthinking the possibility of gifts.
I was shocked when I reached the chocolate aisle of the Kaufland to find the Rittersports selling for 1.19, when I knew for a fact that they should be 1.09. What nonsense is this!? I held off on the gummi bears as well because I was suddenly suspicious of their prices as well. The small salad I bought confirmed that this Kaufland was not the super cheap supermarket I had come to know and love.
After a light lunch of salad and a nap, I was ready for round two of comparison shopping…after a quick eiskoffee at a standing cafe that was only one step above a kiosk. But, the price was good and it was the right amount of sugar to power me through the afternoon. I spent some time in the Gallerie Kaufhof (department store) looking at the Toy section and deliberating over options there.
Aldi doesn’t sell Rittersports, but I check the Rewe and the Penny to find consensus in the pricing. On a hail mary, and after buying a couple higher tier Rittersports from the Penny, I tried the Muller department store to find the price I was expecting. After kicking myself for overpaying 60 cents (on 6 bars), I still had to swing by the Rewe to get Peppermint and appropriately cheap gummibears. Again, one necessary flavor was missing, so I had to go back to the Kaufland for that.
It was kind of insane how much running around I did to try to get the best deals on my sugar (but not always necessarily getting the best price). I was pretty tired and with a snack for myself (mixed lebkuchen and paprika chips) I chilled for a bit in the hostel because I needed to kill time before going out again.
My luck in timing was with me this weekend because there happened to be a 2 or 3 time a year “festival” with the castle involving fireworks, but that wasn’t scheduled until after 10pm. So, I would need to plan my last bit of shopping and dinner so that I was on that end of town at night.
I set out again after 6 and spent more time deliberating in some department store toy sections without making a definite decision, and ultimately ran out of time on my indecisiveness.
For dinner, I wanted to go to the Red Oxen, which is apparently quite famous (Mark Twain ate there). However, hitting peak dinner time, they refused me service (though I’m sure I could have squeezed in at a table somewhere). The second traditional German pub I tried also refused to serve me. Argh.
I popped into a bar at the Fischmarkt (i.e. next to the Church of the Holy Ghost) to buy some time to think. After a good think, I decided to try this one restaurant that I had passed on a side street that looked pretty good. It was not packed and I was able to get a table. I splurged on the veal schnitzel. It was good and came in a set with soup, salad, and fries. So it was a good deal overall and even the beer was reasonably priced.
While I was slowly finishing up my second beer, a party of three with a dog came in and shared my table. Their drinks arrived just after I finished mine. After asking me in German which I didn’t understand if I wanted another beer, they switched to English and chatted me up. There was a little old German lady–now American after being there 30 something years–who was visiting her friends that she met when they were also living in America for more than 10 years. They were quite friendly and curious about my life and plans and all that.
It was 10 o’clock so they were off to take a car up the hill to watch the fireworks and I headed to the riverside. There was still a bit of a wait and I resisted the urge to get another drink while waiting even though some entrepreneurs were rolling crates of beer along the street.
The colored lights and fireworks were far more elaborate than I was expecting. It was a good show. The whole thing is a commemoration of some victorious battle over invading French forces or something like that and a trumpeter belted out a tune that sounded like an anthem of some sort.
When the city turned the street lamps back on after the show, I followed the river back west to return to the hostel and go to bed.
| Shopping | 18.3, 8.34, 11.1, 7.21, 11.75 |
| Eiskaffee | 2.8 |
| More shopping | 18.99 |
| Beer | 4 |
| Dinner | 27.5 |
| Total: | 109.99 EUR (857.92 RMB) (USD 120.46) |
Running Total: 34776.1 RMB (USD 4882.91)
Daily Average: 369.96 RMB (USD 51.95)
I suppose it is worth asking the question of whether this gift shopping should count towards the daily costs in Europe. Though I have a strong suspicion that I am going to end up consuming roughly half of all the goodies I bought…so…