Wednesday, 14 June. Offenburg

It is just after 6pm as I sit here to write, which must be an important time as the church bell is ringing and ringing. Either that or there is a disaster of some kind and we should all take shelter. It’s stopped now and a dog has taken over.

Not a lot to report today as I have taken it very easy. Was about to head to the supermarket when I got a What’s Ap video call from Sally and Joe. I had just given them my landlady’s phone number instead of mine and they had rung the poor woman. We had a l-o-n-g chat which I really enjoyed. Very exciting to think we’ll be meeting in this country in a couple of weeks. 

After the call I walked in a different direction to the Edeka Supermarket, only about 8 minutes away. I filled my basket and even managed to order some olives and cheese from the lady at the deli counter. It’s so interesting in a foreign supermarket looking at all the labels. Some things are easy to understand or look the same, like pasta and some are very different. I bought a small plastic container of butter rather than a bigger foil-wrapped one and on checking the label back here discovered I had bought clarified butter.  It’s still sort of buttery but next trip I think I’ll try for the real thing.

Bought a small ciabatta loaf and a pretzel from the bakery section and the lady kindly corrected me with gender and pronunciation - eine Pretzel. It’s feminine. Had it for lunch and it was fresh and tasty with that little touch of delicious salt.

After a leisurely lunch I gathered up my washing and headed to the laundromat, only a 5 minute walk away. It was not until I was watching the clothes going round in the dryer that I realised the jeans I have been wearing for a very long time were not in there. That’s what comes of folding them really neatly in the suitcase. Looks like I’ll be hand washing them in the shower tomorrow.

After all my chores I decided it was time for an ice cream at the special ice cream shop on the big corner. Had to wait a while for a table but finally pounced on one as it was vacated. There is always a crowd there and people queued at the window for ice creams in cones and tubs. I don’t know what I had as the first one I ordered they had run out of and I just picked anything else that looked pretty. They have a whole multi-paged menu of ice creams. Mine had some sort of alcohol in the sauce, a crunchy toffee topping and lots of whipped cream. Delish! You can count on good whipped cream in Germany. Did one of my crossword puzzles as I sat and enjoyed my ice cream and a latte. It’s a tough life.

And tonight I’m having baked beans on toast as I’ve been hankering for that for some time. I’ve also got some beautiful, red, ripe strawberries that I couldn’t resist. Might even turn the telly on later though I doubt whether I’ll understand anything.