Today it is cloudier than it has been. Every morning I look out the window of our apartment and see the wind and the people in jackets and assume it is colder than it is. Then when I go into town, I wish I hadn't worn a jacket. Today maybe it will really feel that cool. We'll see.
Last night I went to bed with a headache and I woke up with a sore throat and an earache. I'm trying to figure out if it is allergies (It's that time of year but I am taking my allergy meds.) or if I'm coming down with something or if it's something else. My ear has bugged me for months but it really hurts today. It reminds me of when I was a kid and drank milk. I'd get an earache then too. I didn't eat cereal this morning. We'll see if that helps.
Yesterday I went out on my own to search for a jewelry store that Len and I had seen the night before when it was closed. I walked all over but never found it. After supper, Len offered to show me where it was. He walked straight to it! (and it was in the opposite direction of where I had looked.) I had come withing a few stores of it but never went quite far enough. I found the deep red (burgandy?) beaded necklace that I was looking for as well as another necklace which was on sale for 3 Euro. A Euro is about $1.65 but we just keep pretending that it is a dollar. As long as we do that, the prices are quite comparable. :-) While Len was buying it for me, I found another necklace I liked which was also on sale. I might go back and buy it today. (If I can find the store!) Len and I walked around for awhile and found another jewelry store. As I looked in there, I thought the necklaces looked the same but they were in different places and they didn't have quite all of the ones I'd seen. When we left that store we compared the name to our receipt. It was the same name! Amazing! I walked around town for hours and couldn't find a jewelry store and Len finds 2 of the same one in one walk.
We also found a bookstore and I bought a book on the Bremen Buskars (also known as the Bremen Town Musicians). It was clearanced for $2.95. There is no tax here. Actually we think there is a 16 cent tax but it is figured into the prices as marked so the price you see is what y
ou pay.Jacob found a large park yesterday. He is blown away by how big it is. He went there yesterday afternoon and walked around for a few hours. When he came home, he showed us on a map where he had been in it. He was only in 1/4 or less of it. It must be kind of like Central Park in NYC for Bremen.
We've all agreed that it would be fun to have bikes here. Everything is certainly designed with bicyclists in mind. Even the pedestrian bridge over the water has ramps up the side (only a few inches wide) so you don't have to bump your bike up the steps. And on the side where you go down, there is a narrow "gutter" in the ramp to slide your bike tire in so you don't lose control on the downhill. Maybe Len will have to ask around at the University to see if there is a place we could rent bikes for a day. Then maybe we could check out that whole park. In this picture a bike tire would fit into the darker slot on the left of the narrow stairs. A stroller's wheels can be put on the ramps on either side of the narrow steps to roll it up or down. The steps to the right (which barely show) are a larger set of steps for people to walk up.
Last night for supper we had fried potatoes with leeks and green onions, fresh green beans, and brats fried in a pan. Len was about the only one who liked the brats that we bought in the market. (Jacob commented that we would have to come to a country known for sausages. He doesn't like sausage.) The potato stuff was fair. I had scrubbed the potatoes and boiled them to make them a little softer but we still felt like dirt gritted in our teeth as we ate them. The beans were terrific! After supper we walked into town for our 70 cent ice cream cones. Jacob identified my mystery flavor from before as raisin. (No wonder I didn't like it!). Len realized that it was familiar from his having had Rum and Raisin before. This time I got Tiramasu. It was good. Michael had a yellow fruity one that he said he liked. I tried it but I haven't told him yet that it was pineapple. (He says he hates pineapple.) :-) Len got the mocha one that he tried to get before but I ended up eating for him.
I now know why Len and his family never drink the last little bit of the coffee in their cups. The coffee maker here has a reusable filter. The last swallow or 2 in your cup is sludge from all the grounds that make it into the pot. You'd have to sift it between your teeth if you were going to drink it.
The students are great. They are easy to get along with and are really quite self-sufficient. During the afternoon and evening we keep our apartment door open so they feel free to come in and ask questions about their homework. We have also offered to let them use our games but so far they've played Euchre and Uno which they have. The girls are on our floor and the boys are on the top floor. They often hang out in the girls' rooms (I think they smell better) so we can hear and see them then as well. Most of them are just finished with their freshman year (Ali's age). It does seem weird to have them drinking beer and wine at that age. One guy and one girl doesn't like beer so they aren't having any. I respect their willingness to just say they don't care for it instead of pretending.
Well, that's all my news for now. We are celebrating not having to do paper routes today! :-)
Ann
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