Big Move

In July 2016 my family and I moved to Germany. We sold our home and cars and left our jobs to live a different way of life. One of our goals was to downsize our home.

I remember discussing with a friend the bonuses of having a smaller home/apartment, she said "You can clean the whole place in 1 and 1/2 hours!" She was right. That leaves so much more time to do other things.

A smaller home means less time spent cleaning, less time for maintenance, less stuff to fill it, less time used taking care of stuff, more time to visit and entertain friends and family, more time to go bicycling and hiking and visiting all the neat events and sites of Germany and Europe!

To prepare for our downsizing adventure we had 3 garage sales, posted craigslist ads, listed offer up sales and gave things away.

Next week our mission will be complete. We will have left a 2,556 square foot (237 m2) home and finally after 2 and 1/2 months move into a 936 square feet (87 m2) apartment. We are excited to move into our soon-to-be, super cute, minimalist, IKEA size apartment!

Bedroom

Hallway

Usually homes in Germany don't include kitchens, closets or cabinets. There are empty rooms for kitchens to be built and installed and its a BYOC (Bring Your Own Cabinets) culture. Luckily after negotiation and an increase in the monthly rent the apartment will come with a kitchen. We will just need to buy and install the lights, build some IKEA storage units and move in!

Kitchen & Dining Room (with no lights and no kitchen yet)

To prepare, we went on a marathon tour to IKEA. What a store of inspiration and creativity! I LOVE IKEA! This poster at IKEA really portrays the essence of minimalism.

Doesn't it inspire you to buy a little wooden house and live with your family in a white, winter, wonderland?
My husby said, "No."
Me: "hmm ... Are you sure you don't want to pick up reindeer herding like this guy?"

Husby: "No."
So after 7.5 hours of winding through the departments and testing out the lights, chairs, mattresses, shelves and cabinets we have our plan and a scheduled delivery :)

Cute entry way shoe cabinets

Desk for a little niche

Artsy light department

Cafe 

Here's to next week and finishing the BIG MOVE!

Kaffee und Kuchen! Yummmm....

One of the best German traditions we are quickly assimilating to is Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake) time :) Traditionally it is a time to meet up with friends/family between lunch and dinner on Sundays, however I think everyone would agree everyday is a good day for Kaffee und Kuchen!

The bakeries and cafes are in abundance in the city town centers. Here is a photo of one of the many idyllic cafes.

All the customers food and drinks looked soooooooo delish we had to stop and join the fun :)

Then we decided to do some more market research for the blog and ordered this! at another cute little cafe. The cakes are tasty and beautiful all at the same time. 

Coffee has been in Germany since the 17th century. The city of Leipzig had its first coffee house established in 1694. Wow! Older than Starbucks! 

If you feel the need to tap into your German/ European roots and invite some friends and family over for your own Kaffee and Kuchen meeting, here is a cake recipe for you. It's plum cake. Plums are in season here and every bakery has its own version ready for your seasonal enjoyment. 

Plum Cake (translation and adaptation)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup Butter or Margarine

2/3 cup sugar

1 packet of vanilla sugar or substitute approx. 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

1/2 of a lemon peel shavings

2 eggs

1/2 cup of milk

2 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons backing powder

1 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup of syrup

approx. 7/8 cup  (200 grams) of whipping cream 

8-14 plums 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Whip the butter, then add the egg, sugar, vanilla and lemon peels while mixing. In a separate bowl

combine the flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients one spoonful at a time while mixing continues. Then add the milk while mixing till a classic batter consistency forms (see picture for consistency). Grease the bottom of a springform pan and spread the batter in to pan.

Cut the plums in half and remove the seeds. Place the plums on top of the batter in the pan evenly. Mix the whip cream with the almonds and the syrup and pour over the plums evenly.

Bake cake in oven at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour.

As they say in the friendly neighboring country, "Let them eat cake!"

Bike Heaven

It is 10 days and counting since we have driven and rented/owned a car! We are now a family without a car payment, car insurance, car repair, car wash, car commutes, car........ 

One of perks of not having a car is getting an awesome new bike and easily getting in 14 to 20,000 steps a day, piece of cake! To find bikes we looked high and low and did extensive research.... actually my sister-in-law showed us the sales brochure for the largest bike store in Germany and the following day we hopped in the rental car and went here 

Stadler https://shop.zweirad-stadler.de/

Once you are inside its bikes, bikes, bikes and more bikes as far as the eye can see.

There are many types of bikes :) 


Green bikes, red bikes, pink bikes, blue bikes, 

bikes with 1 wheel, 3 wheels, 

wheels and motors, 

bikes with baskets and 

bikes with little people movers. 

 

Before deciding on a bike you get to test them out on the BikeBahn and along the store aisles ;)

 

Finally we made decisions! We bought beautiful black Triumphs. Ten days later I picked up one bike and rode the 54 kilometers back home, piece of cake! 










The bike paths are AWESOME! Bike paths connect the towns like a pearl necklace. The paths follow the canals, travel along the train routes and make bike travel from one town to the next so direct, easy and safe. Here are some of the highlights along the way. 

The connecting bike paths were marked with posts

A windmill home

 There was beautiful scenery all along the way. Architectural highlights, corn fields and lakes dotted the path.

Happy Bicycling!