Happy New Year from Maichingen

On December 31, I went to ALDI to stock up on supplies for the holiday. I caught the 704 bus and rode it two stops (a 5 minute ride v. a 15 minute walk in 30 degrees). The bus comes every 30 minutes, so I only take it if it's going to shorten my trip. Otherwise, I'm just standing outside in the cold.

The grocery checkouts are different here. There are two credit card machines. You bag your own groceries. While you're bagging, the clerk rings up the next customer in line.

The gal next to me was having a problem with her card. When she ran to the car for another card, her bill came onto my credit card machine. I ended up paying for her groceries and part of mine. So then the clerk in German and hand gestures told me to re-scan some of my groceries. The other gal had to re-scan everything too. Then the clerk refunded my card. In the end it was only a difference of about $30.

While I was waiting to sort out our payments, I saw the cigarette cases. Apparently, they sell cigarettes by the bucket. Some of the cigarettes were locked up, but some cartons were available to grab. Yes, I did the math. This bucket has 240 cigarettes. That's 13.25 packs or a carton plus 3.25 packs. So it's $40 for a carton (+3.25 packs). $3 for a pack of cigarettes. So cheap!

The timing all worked out, and I caught the 704 bus home. This was a nice treat, because I had many pounds of Coke Zero. I called Dave and had him meet at the bus stop below our house to help carry the groceries.

We finished re-watching Breaking Bad. We watched El Camino. I really liked seeing the end of Jesse's story. It was a lot funnier than the original. We started Better Call Saul and that's good too.

Like home, fireworks are a thing on New Years. After dark we started to hear the boom of fireworks. At 11pm, it really ramped up. Between 11:50-12:30 it was constant.

This afternoon we walked to the community garden (Schrebergarten) on the edge of town. As we have been riding the train and bus in and out of town, we pass by this little area of tiny houses with garden plots. It is so cute. I wanted a closer look.

This community garden is way more elaborate than our community gardens in the US. These are leased plots. They have cute little sheds, fences, and landscaping. The one we saw had over 100 plots.

Apparently this community garden movement was started by a professor at Leipzig University. He worried that city kids would miss out by not having green space. During the world wars, the gardens helped some survive starvation.

Nothing is open today for the holiday. We will probably watch more Better Call Saul. I will do a bit of cleaning. Our time here is winding down. We leave for Munich on Saturday.