Cool Things in Germany | part 1

We’ve discovered some pretty cool things here in Germany, and I’m excited to share some with you every once in awhile.

If you’ve traveled abroad, or maybe even lived in Germany before, maybe these will seem pretty minuscule, but they’re exciting for us, which makes them pretty cool…pretty cool, indeed.

Plus, who knows; maybe you’ve never seen some of these and they’ll become your new favorite things, too!

So without further chit-chat here are….

Cool Things in Germany
(Part One):

One. The Bread Lady

Twice a week, every week, there’s this little green bakery truck that comes rolling through our neighborhood. It’s filled with fresh-baked breads and pastries, and it’s quite literally the highlight(s) of our week these days.

We’ve dubbed this sweet affair as “The Bread Lady,” and as soon as we hear the mini food truck’s distinct, high-pitched, “BEEP—BEEP—BEEP,” we run outside—sometimes without shoes on or jackets on, much to the Germans dismay—to see what’s in store for us that day.

The Bread Lady parks directly in front of our house, and lifts the side of the truck to reveal the day’s baked goods. She’s so patient with us as we try to pick our selection with our broken German. She speaks English (thankfully), and helps me as I fumble with saying the actual German name.

There are the usual staples of different types of bread (we get a loaf every week or so—my favorite is the wheat kind with sunflower seeds), but the real fun is seeing the different pastries that appear each week. We try to get one new thing for all of us to sample, and I can honestly say that they’ve all been wonderful. So wonderful that we’ve already discovered our personal favorites!

The Bread Lady definitely tops the list as far as cool things in Germany go.

Two. Ham Samples for Kids

You know how in America if you meander near the bakery area in a grocery store with your kids they’ll sometimes offer them a free cookie? Well, in Germany if you have a child with you near the butcher’s case at a grocery store* they’ll toss them a slice of schinken (aka ham)!

Okay, they won’t actually “toss” it to them, but they do offer up a slice of meat. As someone who favors savory over sweet (The Bread Lady is the obvious exception), this is totally up my alley.

Before the lockdown the kids would even argue who’d get to go to the store with me so that they could get a slice of ham!

*They’ve done this at two different REWE’s and an Edeka we visit. And it’s not every time, but almost always if it’s not busy, and if they’re feeling generous.

Three. Leftover Produce Bin

Speaking of the grocery store, another really cool thing they do in Germany (or at least at the REWE we frequent), is leftover produce bin!

Once you pick your produce, you can take the excess leaves (from a cabbage, for example) and put it in the specified bin.

The sign says: “Green Forage Collecting Box. Please serve yourself (free of charge), and make your little animal happy.

Then anyone is welcome to take the extras and give it to their animals. How great is that?

Four. Delicious Potatoes

One more fun find from the grocery store: these delicious potatoes. I stumbled on them on day and now they’re a total staple in our pantry.

It’s a vacuumed-sealed pack of ready to cook potatoes! The kind we like is flavored with onions, but they also have some that have egg and bacon (personally not a fan of that kind).

You just add some oil to a pan (leftover bacon fat makes them even tastier), and heat them up. It’s a quick side dish for dinner that the whole family loves.

What Cool Things in Germany do You Like?

I’ve been keeping a list of cool things we find out here in Germany, so I have more posts like this coming. But I’d love to hear from you: tell me about your favorite things from out here…maybe you’ll see them in a future post!

Which one of these from above did you like the most?!