Wind, Obst, Wein und Spaß - living in Germany and Austria: the autumn edition

[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 (particularly as the previous thread has been so quiet recently).

The thread title comes from this song btw - they're not the first four autumnal German words that popped into my head. (It could have been worse; I did briefly consider "Nüsse auf den Teller, Birnen in den Keller".)

I'm assuming you have to pay for Netflix, C4ro? We're already forking out so much to the GIS (nearly €300 a year for two channels! that we never watch!) that I really don't want to have to spend any more on watching TV. Luckily my family keep us well supplied with DVDs and I use Hola otherwise. I was asking DH recently whether there's any way we can "unsubscribe" from Austrian TV, but he said that we need a licence even if we're just listening to the radio - and as we have a radio in the car (about the only time I ever listen to Austrian radio) he's not sure we could get out of it.

I think it was (Netflix) something like basic 7,99 a month or 8,99 for HD/2-device or 11,99 for HD+any-device 4 in the house? We are just trying the "free first month" deal at the moment to see if it works for us.

DD had another go last night and watched something else awful with pink ponies in it!

I suppose 7.99 is nothing compared to the cost of a TV licence - just not sure I can justify spending any more money on the TV, though. I must confess I have no idea about HD devices and the like, but I doubt we have any; we just have an ancient and huge TV, which is stubbornly refusing to die so that we can get a flat screen one, and no iPad or any other tablet as much as I keep trying to find an excuse for needing one.

We had a parents' evening about first communion yesterday; DS's classes will be starting after Christmas so that's yet another thing to fit in to the afternoons. I think I've managed to get out of being a Tischmutter, which basically involves preparing the children by organising weekly classes for them for about four months. However, I'm not sure the mother who asked me was entirely convinced by my excuse that not being Catholic rules me out.

Thank you for the present idea I am going to display my vast ignorance here - why do I need a spoon with a hole in it to make sauce? Then I can tell the people why I've bought it for them!

Linzer our Tv isn't very new, not HD or anything like that - but we can connect the laptop to it so that we can play amazon instant video on it. We're prime customers anyway so it is "free", I think prime membership is €70. That's Germany though, it might be different for Austria of course. But there is a fair amount of stuff available on it, good for cold November evenings!

We're really on the countdown to Christmas now, organising Christmas parties and the Christmas bazaar etc. It's too soon! I need another month yet .

Sounds like quite a commitment, the first communion classes. Would you actually be giving the classes Linzer or organising someone else to do them and just provide the Tisch? We're not Catholic, but we did enjoy other people's 1st communion parties. Lots of cake!

I shall join you in your ignorance Heinous, as I also have no idea what exactly those holes in spoons are for - although I have seen them here, so assume they must have some purpose.

Our TV is so ancient that we can't even connect it up to my laptop. We watch iPlayer on the laptop, but have to have it right in front of us as the screen isn't particularly large.

The Tischmütter (and the occasional Tischvater) actually give the classes, so it's quite a commitment and a lot of work - teaching DS's class English once a week is enough for me, and much more my kind of thing. We obviously do first communions wrong here as we've never had a huge amount of cake, just one that MIL brought! Parties aren't common either; you usually just go out for lunch afterwards with close family and the child's godparent.

Christmas is definitely approaching here too; I've just bought (not basteled ) an Adventkranz, as Lidl hardly had any left and I was worried we might have to buy an overpriced one if we left it much later. We're going to a British Christmas bazaar at the weekend, which always helps to get me into the Christmas spirit even if it is only mid-November.

Spoon-with-a-hole - I imagine the hole sort-of whisks the sauce.. I think with an ordinary wooden spoon the sauce goes round the outside of the spoon as you stir, whereas it would go through the hole as you stir to make it smoother. It works for my gravy, anyway! I do use it all the time (not so useful for tasting said gravy tho)

What the hell is a tischmutter?

And talk to me about TV licence - how much is it in Germany? And is it the same as in UK where you pay annually and can watch all channels and listen to radio? I have a virgin box so have 100+ channels (most of which we don't watch) and we never/rarely watch films.

I tend to use a whisk when I make gravy - mind you, I make the cheat's kind using gravy granules which only requires a few seconds' stirring anyway. Having just googled, I've discovered that spoons with holes are also good for folding ingredients.

A Tischmutter, or very occasionally a Tischvater, is someone (usually a parent of one of the children) who helps children prepare for their first communion by holding weekly classes. I have no idea where the table comes into it.

And I bet TV licences are cheaper in Germany than they are in Austria. Everything always is.

TV licence here is (I think) about £140. Bearing in mind that pays for just the BBC and BBCRadio (and the other 100+ channels are paid by advertising) It's a bit of a rip off. As everything is in UK.

Spoon-with-a-hole is good for making white/roux sauce. It also has a flat 'corner' so you can get into the edges of the pan. Unusual, practical, beautiful, cheap - everything a present should be!

i'm off to Lidl today to stock up on Lebkuchen, pfeffernusse, bratwurst, gluhwein... love the xmas season!

We pay almost twice that, ptumbi - for two channels and no decent radio stations. I'm sure there must be things that are cheaper in Austria than in the UK (or indeed Germany) but am struggling to think of any; everything seems very bargainous when I go back to Britain!

I also have a spoon with a corner and agree that it's very useful for getting into the edges of the pan. I start making white sauce with a whisk and then swap to a wooden spoon when it's smooth, so can see that a spoon with a hole (surely there should be a name for it?) would save on washing up.

Have fun at Lidl! We bought our first Glühwein of the season there last week, but have yet to open it. But now that the Christmas market is open, I don't think we need to hold back any longer.

Clearly my life has been incomplete without a spoon with a hole in it. I still wonder am I being had here

German TV licence is about €18 pm ptumbi - that makes it a bit more than the UK one I think? A lot of people don't pay it, I understand. But we do, I am too dutiful!

Glug that Glühwein Linzer! Though I think it never tastes as good at home as it does outside in the cold. The DDs love Kinderpunsch too. We're all ready to go On Tour the Christmas markets. I might give up cooking during December and just take them up the road every night.

I can't beleive the price of your TV - for only 2 channels? Can you get Sky/satellite? What happens if you don't pay it?

Anyone in Hamburg? I'm flying there on Saturday for the christmas markets - wondered what the weather is like/ what the market is like ? Hoping it's not too cold or windy or damp!

heinous - I know! I'm so looking forward to gluhwein, bratwurst, kartoffelpuffen with apfelsauce, even the grunKohl; I could definitely live on it all for a month! Add in a few lebkuchen and some chocolate and it's definitely a balanced diet.

How was Hamburg ptumbi?

Happy Nikolaus day everyone. I managed to put together some chocolates and nuts and satsumas for my 2, no presents, they only want money anyway (teenagers)!

We also pay the GEZ, 17 or 18€ a month, far too expensive for what you get. Thinking of trying Netflix but have to figure out how to set the TV up to watch it - have only just recently figured out how to watch the channels in HD! We'd been watching in rubbish quality and thinking there must be something wrong with the cable connection but it was me not bothering to set the TV up properly, oh well, only took me a year to figure that out

Happy Nikolaus!
I don't get time.to.post much these days but I'm always lurking here

Our TV license bill arrived this week but I haven't opened it yet. it's.normally â?¬55 ish per quarter though I think.

Woolly, we also pay every quarter by direct debit, it hurts less if I don't have to be reminded of the utter waste of money by seeing a bill!

Dh is taking his last holidays from work next week so he'll be at home for 10 days and the Dc are having loads of end of year exams. I've just been given a treatment plan from my dentist who wants to give me 4 crowns in one go on 4 back teeth . I'm such a big baby when it comes to going to the dentist so I'm really worried.

Have any of you had a crown done in Germany? Just wondering what it cost?

Hi Ambling! And woolly

DH just had a load of work redone and some crowns put in. I don't know what they cost though because he has an old fashioned insurance which paid something like 80% of the cost. Apparently you can't get that kind of cover anymore

Poor love, he doesn't have much luck with his teeth. But he finally found a dentist he really trusted and he needed a bit doing. made good use of the insurance he's been paying for all these years

Anyway, I'll ask him & let you know.

Ambling, DH says it depends on the crown. But between 300-500€ he reckons. Hope that helps.

Thanks MrsNutella. If that's the case then I will have to speak to the dentist again as he wants to do all 4 at once but that makes the final bill abit high especially in January when all the other bills start rolling in (nebenkostenabrechnung etc). I'd rather do two first. This week I'm getting a professional clean and that'll be 110€
Was your dh in alot of discomfort after the preparation for his crown? I made the mistake of watching a video on it and I'm shaking already.

He had 8 Ambling he was ok actually. But it took a lot of work and of course he didn't like it. I pushed him to get it done though rather than leaving it and ending up with problems because of it - that's why he had 8.

8 MrsN? Wow. I've had 2, and that's enough; I pay permonth on an insurance thing in UK and even then have to pay for a crown - about £200 I think.

Hamburg was very nice - cold cold wind! But lots of Gluhwein, bratwurst and lots of walking... we went to the Reeperbahn as dP said the 'boys'at work told him he must (!) and there is a xmas market there too. I picked up a Gluhwein mug for ds2 (17) as it said St Pauli on it on one side (local football team, plus we stayed in St PAuli last year) - it also said 'die Geilsten Stadt' on it. i didn't know that word so asked - she said it means 'wow'! Ok. I gave the mug to ds2 when we got back; he looked at me in horror and said 'err, it actually means 'Horny'!' (Well, that's the Reeperbahn for you! - although how does a 17YO know this?? )

Hi all,

I hope you don't mind but can I ask a question to those of you living in Austria please?

My best friend lives in Innsbruck. Today a parcel arrived full of gorgeous Austrian chocolates. I'd like to send something similar back but don't want to ask her what she'd like as it won't be a surprise.

What sweets and chocolates can you not find in Austria that are readily available here in the UK?

I bet it'll be Cadburys, Aimless. I have a friend in Spain who I have to bring Cadburys to every time -spanish chocs just not the same!

Hi Aimlessly, I would second Cadbury's - I used to import Fruit & Nut by the kilo until they changed the recipe and I decided I could live without it. The other thing it's quite difficult to get hold of in Austria IMO is decent biscuits; I remember filling up an entire (admittedly small) suitcase once with Fruit & Nut and chocolate hobnobs! And if your friend likes tea, I'm sure she'd appreciate a box of tea bags as they're very weak (and only available in packs of about 25) here.

Heinous I finally took your advice and had my first proper (i.e. at a Christmas market) Glühwein this evening! We did go to the market last weekend too, but I stuck to punch then for some reason. Definitely agree about Glühwein plus Plätzchen (had forgotten that word - they're just called Kekse here) being a balanced diet.

ptumbi Glad you enjoyed Hamburg. "geil" is generally used to mean cool here nowadays by people much younger than me although it still has a bit of a risqué sound about it; our neighbour's 12 year old used geil the other day and then noticed I was there, so quickly apologised. Althoughit can't be all that bad as it's used in advertising slogans; one chain here claims that Geiz (stinginess) ist geil.

I have no idea what happens if you don't pay your TV licence, but we don't have cable or a satellite dish, so no Sky. But we do now have 13 channels as we bought a new TV on Black Friday - even if most of them seem to be regional variations of ORF1 and ORF2.

Ambling We're also thinking of trying the Netflix trial month; I just wish there was some way of finding out exactly what's on there beforehand (am sure there must be; I just haven't found out). Mind you, I suppose that's what the trial month is for.

Hello to Woolly, Nutella and anyone else lurking!

Thanks Linzer and ptumbi.

I did think Cadbury's was the way to go but wanted to be sure. Hadn't thought of biscuits! Will include a box of Marks and Spencers biscuits and some HobNobs.

I know her favourite chocolates are Ferrero Rocher. Are they readily available in Innsbruck do you know?

Yes, we can get Ferrero Rocher here - we're on the other side of Austria but I can't imagine it's too different in Innsbruck!

Thanks Linzer.

Will stick to some Cadbury's bars and biscuits then.