German hobbies :)

As Ludwig says it, 'one of favorite German hobbies is recycling'.  Yes, Germans LOVE recycling, they love it so much they made a hobby out of it.  This morning I got a full experience of this hobby in all its glory and saw real Germans having a bit too much fun at the recycling site.

So here is the rundown.  In Germany you have to pay per trashcan-volume for your garbage, which by the way is only picked up once in two weeks.  So to pay less you recycle, which is free.  To even further minimize your garbage volume, most people compost their plant waste.

Ludwig is a recycling machine! 

There were SO many categories it was just overwhelming, we even had to ask for directions (action– shot bottom right corner).  

It seemed like there was a category for everything, even things that did not belong anywhere, ha.  It was quite overwhelming for me to take all of this in.

Our recycling trip is not over yet.  Next stop–'Tengelmann', a little grocery store that advertised a discount for Augustiner Lagerbier.  First thing first, you have to time your parking with a simple time meter inside of your car.  I just have no words for this one.  It is so proper it almost makes me want to do something to break this 'perfect' rule.

 Parking is no joke in Germany.

Now we are recycling the accumulated beer bottles.  You can put the whole case of twenty 0.5L bottles of beer into this machine, you also can feed it single bottles.  We got €3.34 for 23 bottles and the plastic beer case.  A case of beer like that, depending on the brand, can cost between €6-15.

Recycling beer bottle machine.

Then we went on a shopping spree for groceries and bunch of other random stuff.  The stores were packed because everyone is preparing for Easter.  Everything will be closed on Good Friday, Holy Sunday and Monday.  To reward myself for doing all the proper German things I decided I needed a decadent pastry.  It was ridiculous expensive, I think over €3, but it was so worth it.  I picked the one with a yellow dome and split it with Ludwig and his father for after-dinner-desert.

It was made of mango custard cream, with pistachio cookie bottom.  It was heavenly and had a taste and texture similar to ice-cream.  

Just looking at these pastries makes my mouth salivate.  Sometimes I go into these shops just to look, and then I feel satisfied with the sensory abundance and do not feel the need to eat those decadent treasures anymore.

Tomorrow it is my first hiking trip in the Alps.  I will try to document it as much as I can with the footage of me rolling around in the grass singing 'the hills are alive'.  You will not want to miss this :)