Der Lenz ist da (we hope) - the spring edition of the Germany/Austria thread

[LinzerTorte]

A thread for all those living in Germany or Austria or anyone who just wants to chat/ask a question about living in or visiting this part of the world - all welcome.

Previous thread here.

[BertieBotts]

I wouldn't feel bad about buying baby clothes from the UK! I do like C&A actually and am quite impressed with their clothes, but DS is older. I haven't looked for baby clothes. If you have the option available, I don't see why not. John Lewis recently started shipping to Germany which is great. We also have a Primark and TK Maxx here (Karlsruhe) so I can get British type clothes. H&M is far more expensive. For us it's very expensive to visit the UK so we just buy clothes here. I'm also on an expat facebook group where everyone passes on children's and baby clothes for a couple of euros each.

I import most children's medicines because the ones you get here taste horrible and it's a pain in the arse getting DS to take them. So calpol, children's ibuprofen and also Ovex because it's hellishly expensive here.

[BakingEating]

Wow Ambling I hope your DD is ok. Is she wearing her wound like a trophy or still feeling sore?

Ok, so buying clothes & painkillers in the UK is normal, phew. Tell me, what baby things should I be trying out here?

In terms of German friends, my midwife and I get on pretty well so I've asked her and her family over for a BBQ. The rest of my friends are centred around my work. We're all expats.

[AmblingAlong]

Baking,she is wearing it like a trophy! She had a skin coloured plaster over the cut and yesterday she went out to a school concert and I noticed she'd swapped it for a white one! Much easier to notice!

Anyway, it hasn't put her off cheerleading, she's at a team members house this afternoon doing extra training in the garden.

I also get a lot of the dc's stuff at C&A Bertie. Another good place is Ernsting's Family, good prices and nice kids clothes. They have an online shop too. Now my dc are teens they shop in New Yorker, H&M and TKMaxx.

I am really looking forward to going to the UK in August. We're taking 3 big half empty suitcases and can't wait to go shopping!

[BertieBotts]

I must find my local Ernsting's Family. I keep hearing them recommended.

[MrsNutella]

Hello everyone! Welcome baking!

I have a DS who is 18 months old and because we left the sex to being a surprise I ordered most of his newborn/ 3-6 month stuff in nice neutral colours from the uk. Here it is either pink or blue. Even at the Drs they wondered if it was a DS or a dd because he had a pink dummy.... Well I buy him blue ones and pink ones so that when the blue one is dirty I can give him a different colour and I don't mix them up... As if it even matters!

Oops, bit of a rant there... But Anyway...

baking I was really disappointed by the selection, quality and price in some places for small people. Definitely don't feel bad about ordering from the UK! I try and get to the Kinderflohmarkte regularly but it isn't so easy now. I buy a lot of stuff in the sale at H&M. Nice bright colours and it wears quite well. C&A I find good for basics and they often have some nice bits and bobs.

I'm still pregnant. Officially due this week... Pretty sure I'll go over though. This baby is still an aerobics nut and when I had a CTG at the doctors last week they did comment that there was still "ganz viel los" in my belly. I would be more amused if it didn't hurt!

[BakingEating]

Ooh there's an Ernstings family not far from me according to google maps.

MrsNutella, I hope it isn't too hot where you are. This time last year I had horrendous morn

[BakingEating]

Urgh! As I was saying, I had bad morning sickness in the warm weather, but I'd hate to be 40 weeks. I hope you're ok.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Hello all! We have had our first of four weeks in Vienna. Haven't had the chance to do very much, have mainly just got to know how to get about, where the local shops are and where DH works.

The weather is hot but I'm not tanning at all. It's so unfair! We get by eating watermelon and going outside when it's hot and finding somewhere shady with a bit of breeze to sit. Haven't yet resorted to throwing ourselves in the Donau, but might well do.

Hope you are all enjoying the summer and managing to catch some sleep on the hot days/nights.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Can I ask what people who have family members with eczema or intolerance to most washing powders, liquids and fabric conditioners, use in Austria? Do you know of one which is good (both for cleaning and allergen free)?

We have only used Tesco non-bio for donkey's years and I really don't want to set off DH's or DD's skin complaints by experimenting. Even so, not really worth a trip to the Tesco in Bratislava just for that.

[MrsNutella]

yegods it depends on how bad the eczema is. I have mild eczema, normally, and DH has reeeeeally dry skin. We use less powder than the recommended dose on the packet and no fabric softener.
Because we both have sensitive skin I'm careful with DS's stuff, but fortunately his skin is usually pretty good.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Thanks, we could just go for a really cheap brand of non-bio (we think it is the bio/enzymes that affect DD and the conditioner that affects DH). It just affects them in small areas, but is really very nasty - itchy, seeping and crusty sores which take months to heal.

[MrsNutella]

I used to get it like that. On my feet around my toes especially.

[MrsNutella]

Sorry, I'm in Germany not Austria so I've no idea what's available there.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

It probably isnt all that different. Well we have Lidl, Billa and EuroSpar nearby. I'm wondering if bigger pharmacies might stock something, or Müller.

[AmblingAlong]

My dd has eczema and I use the sensitiv-waschmittel from DM - not sure if you have the DM chain in Austria though www.dm.de/de_homepage/denkmit_home/produkte/produkte_fuer_allergiker/ also Frosch is supposed to be good but I haven't tried it.

[suenanlostamboresdelarebelion]

hi yegods

There is dm in Austria, so you may want to try the one ambling suggested.
I have 3 family members with eczema and we use; Persil Sensitiv-Gel. I get it from BIPA, and there are loads of BIPAs in Vienna so must be one near you!

I am not sure Tesco in Bratislava will have the washing powder you use. They have some UK products but no all. But then I have only been to the smaller Tesco in town, not the bigger one that Linzer goes to.


hello to everyone else!


Must dash as rushing from hospital (dh is in hospital getting treated for his jaw pain) and to get the dc from their sports day camp. I`ll write a proper reply when I get a chance.

[YeGodsAndLittleFishes]

Thanks all! Will look out for a dm (DD says she's seen one) and yes, there's a Billa near I've never been in.

We do have access to the Commissary at IAEA, so have got some Ecover for now which is a safe bet (but not the greatest at getting anything clean, imo!)

Hope you're all coping well with the storms and long holiday.

Hope your DH's jaw is soeted out, sue, it sounds really painful.

[suenanlostamboresdelarebelion]

MrsNutella been thinking of you, and hoping that you are not too hot or frustrated, or uncomforrable while you wait. Hope it goes well for you soon. I could also rant for hours on the blue/pink divide. I had my three dc in the Uk,and noticed a lot of pink=girls, blue=boys. I think it got worse as they got to the toddler stage though.

baking I reckon that these days of internet shopping, where you shop or order from is no measure of your integration into a society (see, I have just put my social science degree to good use! ). Are you able to go out and join groups with your dd? Do things quieten down over the summer where you are? They do here...

ambling how is dd's injury? sounds like she is really into cheerleading? Hope you have a good time in the UK. Are you visiting your family?

Only four weeks (out of nine) of the summer holidays left. Seems to be speeding up now. Spent a week in Bavaria, and the German there sounds really different from the one I am used to here. dd got teased for asking for an ice-cream in a Tüte (cone), but dh was finally able to ask for a Tüte without the rest of us choiring "Sackerl, wir sagen Sackerl hier" beside him.

Hope all other bumps are doing well!

[doradoo]

Morning all - back in the Fatherland now after a sunny (if windy) couple of weeks winetasting sunning in the south of France!

Wilkommen baking I'm in NRW too - whereabouts are you? we're just outside Essen. If you're near Holland their baby shops were quite good IIRC when stocking up for DS1 (almost 10 now so may not be same though)

We're gearing up now for school - only a couple of weeks left to get ready before they go back..... how I'll tear them off minecraft I'm not sure!

[MrsNutella]

Ooohhh I'd love to be able to pop to holland

Still no baby here. I prepared mentally to go over... But I'm still really fed up. Now 40+6. fortunately some lovely friends came over and distracted me this morning. And all the kids (they both have two each) played really well together. It was lovely actually. And I only had to steal and hide one irritating noisy toy.

[FrauEnglischLehrerin]

Good luck, nutella. I guess whenever your baby comes now it won't be too long to wait, but too hot and overdue can't be much fun.

Hi, baking! My tip for integrating would be to go to as many Krabbelgruppe as you can. If you are breastfeeding you could look out for Stillcafe as well, but there's also PEKiP, baby massage classes, baby swimming, etc. Anything really where you can meet other mums/dads - eventually you'll meet someone on your wavelength. I also bought all dd's baby clothes from M&S and Next, in fact she's now 5 and I still get most of her stuff from the UK (more Boden now, though ).

suenan is Tüte what they say in Bavaria, then? Round here people tend to say Waffel, which means DH always asks for ice cream "in a waffle" in the UK...

woolly I never managed to comment on your name thread, but I think that's a very pretty-looking name. I wouldn't know how to pronounce it, but don't let that put you off. We've now decided on a name which is pronounced differently in English and German (but which doesn't begin with A or have a TH), but haven't decided which pronunciation to use yet.

I'm 29 weeks today and still feeling fairly comfortable. Maintaining my comfort is starting to get noticeably trickier though - have to sit upright, not eat too much, not drink too much in the evening, walk a lot, but not stand around and so on . October still seems a long way off!

[doradoo]

here we say 'hoernchen' (been here 7 yrs and still can't umlaut...)

[BertieBotts]

We can pop to France which is pretty fun

dora I have a German keyboard but I use it in English most of the time. If you're on Windows then you can put a little widget on the start bar to switch quickly between languages (for your keyboard) which I use quite a lot. The ü is to the right of the P.

Here it's "im Waffel".

[BertieBotts]

O and A are to the right of L.

[juneau]

Hello lovely ladies who live in Germany,

I was wondering if I could ask for your help with planning a holiday? Is that allowed on this thread? We're considering taking our two-week summer holiday in Germany next year, but we're pretty clueless about where to go. We've been to Berlin and Munich (we preferred Munich), and DH has done a few business trips to places like Frankfurt and Cologne, but aside from that its embarrassing how little of the country we've seen (particularly as DH is a quarter German!).

We would be driving from the London area, we have two boys who will be 7 and 4, we like picturesque towns/cities, lakes, mountains, swimming, theme parks in small doses, historic sights, good food and wine, but the destination doesn't have to contain all of that list - some is fine.

If anyone can shed light on an area we should look at (please not too hideous a drive from the UK with small DC in the car), then I'd be delighted. I know our criteria point towards Bavaria, but we're open-minded and any other picturesque region with lakes, etc, would be good. Is Baden-Wurttemburg nice? I had a quick glance at our LP Germany book and it looks promising. Has anyone visited this area? Where would make a good base? We like to hole up in one place, if possible, rather than packing up multiple times and moving around.