Sommer, Strand und Sonne - life in Germany and Austria

[LinzerTorte]

A thread for all those living in Germany or Austria, and for anyone else who would like to chat.

Just popping in to say a quick hello!

Hope everyone's well. I haven't had time to read back through the past week yet but will try this afternoon.

I hope everyone's enjoying the summer holidays and that the weather is holding out.
I'm also not a camping fan but think I could cope with one of the Eurocamp static caravan things someone suggested.

I'm off to Real this eevening so will check out the price of Heinz beans there and report back. I'm fairly sure they were over a Euro though (if that's of any use whatsoever to whoever was looking for beans!)

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I've only just realised what the wizard smileys are about - and I even have tickets to go and see the new Harry Potter tomorrow night! I wanted to see it in English as I've seen all the others in English and tomorrow is the only night they are showing it in English round here, otherwise I'd have happily waited a month or so.
[hsmile] (sorry, I had to!)

Did you get your beans Later? I'll be getting some tomorrow at Lidl and a few blocks of cheddar.

How did you get on back in UK Ernest? Good trip? I hope the builders are working out. Where do you fly to - London?

We were thinking of driving over to London for a short trip but then we were ina taxi recently with a verytalkative driver and he said he'd just been over to London to a wedding and he would never drive there again, total chaos and oh those roundabouts! Then I thought, if a taxi driver didn't like it then we would definately not enjoy the experience!

Quick update - Heinz beans are 99 cents in Real.

We bought a pram last night! I don't think either of us could have coped with one more pram-shopping trip, it's soul destroying! But we have one now and it's sitting nicely in the (soon to be) baby's room waiting to be used.

Admylin I don't think I'd like to drive in London. Apparently if you learned to drive there it's fine, but if even a taxi driver didn't like it then I'd be straight on the train :)

Hi - just quickly popping in and will try to catch up with all the posts later.

We had a great 2 weeks in France - lovely weather, great food, but very expensive. Have spent the last few days doing a never ending load of washing and ironing.

Just seen the last couple of posts about Lidl. I hope they´ve got the salt and vinegar chipsticks again - they´re addictive!

Just waving to everyone. Dd is still at home recovering from her op and ds2 has picked up another night feed, so I'm exhausted! Glad holidays are going well. Speaking of baked beans, going to World Market this weekend to get some too!

Enjoy your cheddar, Admylin - that's the one thing I really couldn't live without.

Hupa Good to hear you had a nice holiday :) I hope you made it to the bottom of the washing and ironing without going too crazy.

Jenny That does sound exhausting! I hope DD recovers well.

We survived our first ante-natal class last night! It was nowhere near as hideous as I was expecting - not a childbirth video in sight, phew!
I'm feeling a little more organised now we have started the classes, bought the pram etc. My Dr even randomly did a 3D scan last week too (out of the blue, didn't charge me) and the baby really, really looks like DH, which took me by surprise, as I wasn't expecting it to resemble anyone or anything at this stage. It's made it really 'real' now, if that makes sense, which means my excitement levels have gone through the roof - when I have the energy to get excited that is :)

Afternoon!!
Glad all is going well with the baby later - you sound really organised now. Did you find out if it was a dd or ds? Not that it matters - and feel free to tell me not to be so nosy - i never told anyone the sex of our dc!
hupa - glad you had a good holiday.
admylin - did you get your british supplies?

I got us 24 tins of beans, 2 blocks of cheddar (which i dont really like but its good for grating), some caramel shortbread and some salt & vinegar crisps! but they didnt have the chipstick ones hupa - dd was gutted.

Kitchen is coming along - the wall tiles & cork floor tiles are gone. Dh is going to pull the wallpaper off at the weekend then the electrician is coming on weds to move the sockets. Still feels like there's lots to be done but we're getting there.

Well need to nip to the shops - as well as wallpaper stripping, dh is doing a big bike ride with his boss tom - his boss is suggesting 60km (and a climb in height of 600m!!) which might kill my dh. So need to get him some bananas, chocolate etc to give him some energy.
Hope you all have a good weekend.

Jenny - sorry forgot to add - glad your dd is on the mend. Is she able to eat ok? Or us she getting the ice cream she deserves!!

Jenny, hope your dd is recovering well and she feels better soon. Did you get anything nice at World MArket?

Hupa, I didn't see the crisps at our Lidl, did you get some? I went with dd and sent her to get the beans while I got some veg and she came back with 1 tin! Anyway, stocked up now, cheddar too, now if only we could get a few jars of marmite and some branston it'd be great.

Canella your kitchen work sounds exhausting. I know when I had to get this place finished it was awful, all I wanted to do was fall into my bed after working on it but I had to feed the family and wash clothes and all the daily jobs too. What ha sit been like cooking with the mini kitchen?

Later, all sounds good with baby and you're getting all organised! Well done for going to ante-natal class too, I didn't bother and got told off by the nurse for not knowing how to 'breath and push' when I went to have ds! Get as much rest as you can.

Hi kids ! Busy busy busy getting the flat cleaned and packed. Parents here this Thursday and we're leaving Saturday next...

Going to try to get back this evening and catch up with all of you lovely ladies, :) these last few weeks have been exhausting for me so I've been falling asleep before I manage to get my daily 'list' done.... soon I'll have time on my hands again and then I can spend my time typing :)

Hope you're all well! x

Good to hear the kitchen is coming along, Canella. It sounds like an exhausting task. I'm sure it will look great when it's done!
We decided not to find out the sex of the baby, I quite like the idea of a surprise at the birth. Not that I'm not curious so let's see how long my willpower holds out. DH is happy either knowing or not knowing, so no pressure from that side to tip me into finding out.

Admylin Isn't it funny how we all want the same British products - beans, cheddar, marmite, pickle. Reading through the last few posts has really given me a craving for Walkers cheese and onion crisps - the ones they sell here just don't seem to taste the same. Well, maybe they do and I am just being fussy.

By the way, anyone still after Heinz beans - Real have them for 89 cents this week.

It's grey and wet and horrible here at the moment - where is the summer hiding??

Hi Bebe! Good luck with the packing and cleaning - is this the big move back to the UK? You must be really excited :)

admylin - glad you also got stocked up on the beans etc. I'm not a fan of branston or marmite so not craving those. But I agree Later - some proper cheese and onion would do the trick right now.
bebe - good luck with the packing. Hope your last few months in Munich were ok. And good luck with the birth of the baby.

Well all the wallpaper is now stripped of the kitchen walls. Wasnt as bad as I thought it would be. Not sure whether we need to re-paper the walls once they've been skimmed? If we do need to then the kitchen will need to be delayed for a few weeks. Need to speak to the tiler and see what he suggests. admylin - its been ok cooking in the cellar - just limits the range of meals a bit. Fed up of pasta or mash already! But it'll be worth it in the end.

Need to pluck up the courage to phone the cardiology clinic tomorrow - had that funny heart problem at Easter and have never been to see anyone. Its been investigated a few years ago and nothing showed up and I'm anxious as to how overly-thorough they'd be in Germany. But it needs checked out just to be safe. So on Saturday I got chatting to one of the dads at tennis and it turns out he's a heart surgeon working at the local clinic. He put the fear of God into me - telling me how i was at risk of a stroke but was also really helpful and said he would discuss me with the cardiologist but that I should phone to make the appt. I hate speaking in German on the phone but this is also difficult to explain. Wish me luck!

Thanks everyone, dd is doing much better now! Weather rubbish here and we're having our bathroom done so I feel your pain too canella. You also need to book that appointment.

Good luck with all the packing bebe. Hope you've managed to see some more of the area while you were there.

There's some good shopping going on too. I also bought some beans at the weekend and branston but forgot the marmite!

Glad everything is going well with the baby later. ds2 is cutting his first teeth already! It goes by so fast.

Hello everyone!

Glad your dd is on the mend. Hope the teeth coming isnt too painful for him. How long will your bathroom take before its finished?

I plucked up the courage and phoned the cardiologists secretary - she was helpful but wouldnt let me make an appointment without seeing either an ECG (which i dont have) or the letters from the UK when I had it before. So she asked me to fax them to her. We dont have a fax machine but I'm sure dh has got something on the computer that lets you fax documents. Failing that there's an email address on their website. But glad i phoned even tho it made me break out in a sweat doing it!

Well off to a friends for a cuppa now - have been overly efficient this morning - whole house is clean and the 2nd load of washing is on. Went to bed super early last night - maybe I should do that more often if this is how much energy I have

ha fell asleep again before being able to catch up, will try again this evening.

:) I'm thinking of you all even if I'm not around and wishing you all well :)

Glad to hear your DD is doing much better now, Jenny. How old is DS2? (Apologies if you've mentioned this before, pregnancy has turned my brain to mush).

Canella Well done for phoning the cardiologist! I hate phonecalls like that and really have to work up to them. Do you feel a lot more confident now you've done it? Enjoy your cuppa with your friend - after your burst of domestic energy it will be a nice treat!

I've been banned from doing anything that doesn't involve sitting around and resting in an attempt to keep the baby in for as long as possible so am slowly going out of my mind with boredom. I've even developed a new way of doing the washing which involves kicking the washing basket from the bedroom to the washing machine, then from there to the spare room (to avoid lifting it), and sitting on a chair to hang it to keep bending and stretching to a minimum.
Who knew you could reinvent doing the washing!!

If we lived in a different flat it wouldn't be so bad as I could hit the park, the shops etc quite easily from here, it's just that we live on the 3rd floor without a lift, half way up a steep hill - the look of horror on my Dr's face when I told her that!

Time for a cuppa I think!

Right I'm back, as I'm not working on anything because of strong BHs... only went back a few pages, but see that everyone's been out and about 'camping' and enjoying holidays which is good :)

We were in Lindau a few weekends back and saw some friends of dh's just outside of Zurich. We've also managed a few more trips around, but I was not particularly fit for travel, and because of a car accident, we only had a van (like a workers van- as this is all the rental people had) to drive for some of the time, and I found it dreadfully uncomfortable. Now we're without a car (as it's still being fixed) so we've not been able to do much again.
I'll be honest in saying I'm very happy to be getting back to my own things soon. Tho the last few weeks seem to have been very good and people are finally being talkative and friendly like I was expecting. Maybe it's because I'm now so heavily pregnant that I seem so much less intimidating?? or maybe it's because of the lovely summer weather (tho I could do without the sticky heat in my condition!) I managed to have a very basic conversation in German with a very nice, patient old woman we met on a walk just today. She spoke so slowly and clearly and helped me find the words I needed that I felt so pleased and happy afterwards to have communicated. :) It's a nice positive end to something which was so 'hairy' when we came.

Are you both due at similar times bebe and later? Is your doctor being overly cautious or are you likely to go into premature labour? I'm glad you are finally enjoying yourself a bit more bebe and people are friendlier. Have you been to the castle at Dachau? The cafe used to do amazing cakes when I lived there, but that was 16 years ago.

The bathrooms are nearly done and I'm really pleased with them. Both ds2's lower front teeth came through yesterday! He's 23 weeks already. Can't believe it.

Got to go and pick the other 2 up from school. Bye!

Teething! Jeez time flies Jenny! :) OOooh I shall be careful not to mention bathrooms to my dh as he keeps wanting to redo ours ...tho they're only 3 years old... However, if I could somehow manage to get a HUGE bathtub in one I'd consider it, but they're all too small really. He just wants to retile top to bottom.
I bet you're excited abt the fresh lines and colors you've chosen! (I'm struggling with having not done any painting in this 'nesting' phase -tho when we get back to the house it'll seem like I have nested because everything will seem fresh and colorful compared to the whites of this flat)

I'm due 18th of Aug. I cannot remember when Later is due now I really have a feathery brain this pregnancy. :) Dh has given me strict instruction to 'take it easy' today as the BHs were very bad last night. (He's terrified the baby is going to come early ) I, on the other hand have come around, after all there's nothing I can do about it at this point. (and heaven knows I'd love to give the squirmy thing a big cuddle) tho I will admit that I'd still rather she wait as it'll be really tough getting home with a new baby because we don't have the seat etc here. I'd really rather not have to buy all sorts of things that technically I already have.

My parents are coming tomorrow and the car is still not finished so we're going to take the train to the airport and pick them up (I would just have them sort it themselves but being as we're from the Midwest we really have never come in contact with trains as transport so it's a little more stressful -plus they'll have been travelling for 24 hours by the time they get here and it's not something to do the first time on a tired brain I feel).

Oh I didn't know there was a castle at Dachau! We've been looking for castles etc so we could compare them to UK ones... the one in Nurnberg was a lovely walk tho the hill I walked up was a bit steep and I paid for the next day. :) There's one apparently just North too in ...I cannot recall now.... which I was thinking of taking my parents to (assuming we get the car back this weekend)

Hope you're all well xx today's rainy and cool and Moo has just tossed all my clean laundry out onto the floor so she could make a 'rockabebe bed' for herself ah well :)

bebe the castle in Dachau is actually a palace not a castle - tbh looks more like a stately home, and most of it is only open occasionally - took dd when she was 3 and she was rather disappointed as I had not done my research and told her it was a castle. The cakes did compensate somewhat but somebody recently told me the cafe is now closed, not totally sure if that is permanent or was just short term. Well done on the German conversation the other day.

Canella hope that baby stays put, when is your due date? How annoying to be stuck inside due to the hill and stairs! Are you intending to do slings not buggies when baby is born or can you keep a buggy somewhere on the ground floor?

dd was ill in the night so she and ds1 are off kiga today - ds1 isn't ill but usually let both stay home when one is ill, though have made it clear that changes when dd is at school!

Well done on the German conversation, Bebe! I'm glad you are feeling a little more at ease here now and that people are friendlier.
Have a lovely time with your parents! I agree that if you're not used to public transport and have been travelling for 24 hours, getting a train in a country where you don't speak the language probably isn't the easiest of tasks.

Jenny Good news on the bathrooms! Doesn't a freshly decorated/renovated room make such a difference.

5more Hope your DD feels better soon!
We have bought both a pram and a Baby Bjorn thing for when the baby is here. We can keep the pram (Gestell) downstairs and just carry the bit that the baby is in (Wanne, I think) up to the flat. I have the sling thing just for quick trips to the shop etc when the baby is tiny so I don't have to lug the pram around all the time. Plus if the snow here is as deep as it was last year, I don't fancy my chances with the pram. We shall see!

I'm actually not due for another 10 weeks (5th October) but as I've been having contractions for so long they are worried that I might go into premature labour. A friend contacted me on Facebook to say that I must be due at the same time as her, judging by my bump size - she's due on 4th August!! I thought I'd take that as a compliment.....

Torrential rain AGAIN today. Please come back sunshine, I miss you :(

yes take it as a compliment Later - I am always huge when preg, some people just are! My children are very healthy so it must be a good thing :)
Fingers and everything crossed for you that baby stays in there at least another 7 weeks - 37 weeks is full term technically isn't it? Both my boys have been 38 week c-sections with no ill effect - and better than waiting the extra 4 weeks from then like I did for dd, who was still an (emergency) c-section at 42 weeks!

Babybjorns are not the best thing sling wise, only because they will hurt your back if you wear them for long esp once baby gets a little heavier, and also baby dangles by the crotch which is not great - they are absolutely fine for occasional short trips but just not for extended wear - I am quite into slings (my second lived in a wrap sling for hours at a time and this time a friend from the UK passed on something she'd had made for her whwen hers were babies - very like a mai-tai www.meitaibaby.com/ - it's a revelation, it's brilliant and very easy to use. If you want to talk sling just say :) But you probably don't! ;)

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been on here recently, have been busy trying to keep up with the flying thread doing housework.

I haven't read everything yet, but wanted to agree with 5more about the Baby Bjorn, we also had one and I found it very uncomfortable compared with my Didymos wrap. I think I've seen people with better ones now, though, with ours all the weight was on your neck and shoulders. Having said that, the wrap was fairly impractical as well, it was so long that it trailed on the floor while I was putting it on, which was a problem if I was in a car park after it had been raining, and it was very warm to wear (DD was a summer baby).

Linzer (to pick up on something from the other thread) did you teach your DD2 to read and write, or did she just pick it up from her siblings? I'm not a Tiger Mom wannabe just curious.

Have to go and appreciate DD's duplo "house" now. Hope everyone is well, may be back tomorrow to report on meeting Canella for first time in RL!!!

Morning!! Taking a break from what feels like a constant round of calling/speaking to workmen! Its the window man today.

Also looking forward to our meet up tom silken - will have to leave at 11.45 at the latest to pick up my boys but it still leaves us plenty of time for cake .

5more - think those sleepless nights are getting to you - you got me mixed up with Later and asked me when my due date was!! No babies here in the future . Hope your poorly dc are feeling better today.

Later - sounds like your doing the right thing resting up - the more weeks the baby spends in there the better but i can imagine it must get a bit tedious sitting all the time. Ans shame the weather isnt better or you could have lay in the sun. Oh well - maybe the weather in August will be better (hopeful emotion for Bayern school holidays!!).

bebe - have fun in your last few days here with your parents. Fingers crossed the baby stays in.