Went away, then came back

[emmuzka]

Back from Germany. Will offer a report as a helpful bulletin digest:

Beer was really good, and cheap. Especially in the Freistaat Bayern, where I was situated, where beer is counted as a grocery product and not alcohol, and taxed equivalently. Good beer in 0,5 litre glass bottles costed something like 50 cents, and if one wanted the crap quality, you could buy a 6x0,5 liters for 1,60 euros. For two weeks, I consumed one bottle a night of this wonderful diet lager with only 0.6 grams of carbohydrate per 100 milliliters. (for me, one bottle a night is major consumption). On the other hand, no cider is sold anywhere.

German has a weird attitude about conserving energy and using non-renewable energy sources. Like, they give great monetary support for civilians to purchase solar power equipment, but the infrastructure forces families to buy two cars since things like using buss to go to work or walk to the nearest grocery store are impossible.

Everyone should experience a Middle European zoo. The animals are, like, right there. It's strange to have a giraffe almost in a petting distance. I even figured out why it felt so odd; While in Finland, the cages are structured to both keep the animals in, and the people out, in Europe there is no moron-safety precautions because everyone is given the responsibility to look after themselves and their kids. If some moron wants to hop over the meter-high fence and then slip into the elephant cage through the elephant-scaled poles? Well, good luck and have a nice life.

Bought some fabulous clothes from Ulla Popken . They were dumping their last season clothes and me and sis burned money like madwomen. Is this what it feels for normal-sized persons to shop in a sale, where everything fits and everything is so cheap?

Infrastructure: Hardly any store than clothes stores accept Visa. IKEA didn't accept Visa. What the hell? Also, There are places outside large cities which don't have good mobile phone network. Imagine the joy of people who buy two year ball-and-chain phones only to find out that their fixed service providers don't offer working connections in their homes?

Flea markets are like a national sport in here. My glee was only hampered by the lack of cash in the purchase decision moment and the knowledge of flying home. Still, I bought an antique East German Nukkumatti-doll and some pretty nifty jewelry.

There are no juice concentrate sold in Germany, or no-calorie liquids except Diet Coke. I couldn't move to Germany since I couldn't live without Fun Light ;)

Yes, actual Lederhosen are still sold and sometimes used in Germany.

Travel: I find flying physically unpleasant, but whatever. Too bad that Finland doesn't connect Middle Europe by land connection. I took a travel sickness meds while flying in, which caused a headache and zonked me out pretty efficiently. I left the meds out in the fly out, didn't find any changes in nausea levels, got a headache and zonked out when got home. So, stay away from the meds! Also, bought a bottle of vodka entirely based on the bottle being metal and not glass.

Cat: Cat was alive and well. One of my sisters had taken care of her while I was away, so the cat was only really companion-deprived. She bugged me with her demands for attention and physical closeness for non-stop for two days. I think that I actually petted my cat while sleeping in the first night.

Also, still two weeks of vacation left! Fell free to bug me, people in Helsinki and Turku!

Comments

[rowanna73.livejournal.com]

Everyone should experience a Middle European zoo.

I totally agree. In a sense to see what zoos shouldn't be like. I went to a zoo in 1992 when I was visiting my penpal in Germany and I was like horrified. The animals were kept literally in small cages (so they couldn't hide and were well almost within petting distance) and it was so sad to watch great animals like a tiger pacing back and forth in his limited living space behind bars. :( I remembered sometimes having complained as a kid that zoos are boring cause one can't often even see the animals, but there I understood how Finnish zoos are ultimately better for the wellbeing of poor beasts, if such can be said about zoos at all.

But I'm looking forward to our visit to Germany as well. Oi, twindouble, does the same e-mail address still work?

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

The cages weren't that small, except for the big apes and seals. The others were quite comfortable looking.

Dunno about Twin's email-addy, but comment on any of her lj entries, that will do it for sure.

[arye-sarin.livejournal.com]

In Switzerland the cages were also very big. Like huge yards with lots of private space for animals. Bad for the audience, but good for the animals. But the fences were really low (I have photos where I am like 6 years old and the upper half of my body is not covered by the fence. I could have touched the giraffes -lions were better protected though - if they had come near the fence) and it would have been easy for some lunatic to climb over them or really feed you hand to the animals.

[twindouble.livejournal.com]

e-mail still works, but I have been very lazy reading it (mobile phone and webmail don't do well together). Will do it today. *Makes a note to self* You are very welcome to visit us!

About those zoos. I have visited two in Germany. In Karlsruhe their zoo was exactly like you described. I felt very bad after our visit there. The Nürnberg zoo is better. They have had space to make the living area a little bit bigger for the animals. There is still room for improvements though, there always is.

[makepeace.livejournal.com]

Millos tuut tännepäin? Me viuhahdetaan äidin kanssa Saksan kamaralla ensi viikolla. Käydään hakemassa äiteelle kissa. =)

Muuten oon kotona loppukuukauden tulevaa viikonloppua lukuunottamatta. Hamina ja rippijuhlat odottaa..

[arye-sarin.livejournal.com]

Are you coming on Saturday? If you have to ask "where?", you probably are't. If yes, let's have a quick chat. I have lots of people to see and not too much time because of my condition and my mom taking care of the toddler while being not in a good contidition herself either. So my visit will be short.

It was nice to read your report. Lots of things I remember from my visits to Germany and Switzerland (which are in some respect so similar and in some respect not.For example the zoo thingy sounded very familiars. Having visited two different ones in Switzerland).
Availability of cider is also a great wonder to me. It was the same even in Ireland! Until we found some supermarkets that had more than 4 brands for real ciders at all in their selection. You'd think every place in Ireland would be filled with cider but nooooo. And Sweden was the worst place of them all. Just sweet Kopparberg everywhere. Not real cider at all. I mean dry cider like Strongbow etc.

They don't accept VISA. What then? Some day we will go to Germany and it would be good to know, although things may change.

Nukkumatti doll? You can scare me with that. You know I was really scared of that figure even when I wasn't so small anymore. Terrible man with a terrible beard. ; )

Too bad that Finland doesn't connect Middle Europe by land connection.

It does. At least via St. Petersburg. But I didn't say that it would be fast or easy or cheap. Too bad for us. I have mixed feelings for flying, but I am not too afraid of it and I fly so rarely that I don't even know how to feel enviromentally bad about it. Sorry.

And finally: a longer report would be nice. With photos. But I understand if you don't have time time or energy. I don't have either, although I babble in my lj. Mainly about the same things ove and over again. It's just kind of therapeutic. For me, not for the readers.

Welcome home!

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

I'm coming on Saturday, I will see you there.

They don't accept VISA. What then? The accepted local debit cards, so it was only cash for me! And pulling cash from the machine costs something like 2% from the sum withdrawn, yay.

I tok some pictures with my camera phone, so there will be a picture post later on :)

[mitzi007.livejournal.com]

You are coming to tha Smirblad's party, right? Don't forget my comic books!

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

I won't! They are already waiting!

[dlasta.livejournal.com]

You little anthropologist, you.:D