DAY 23, MARCH 23, 2024: COME SHOP WITH ME
Good Morning, Everyone,
Shopping has always been a challenging task for me because I don’t like it. Regardless of whether it is to the grocery store, an apparel shop for women’s clothing, or shopping for something that is needed in the house. I see it as a waste of time, but I like eating. 😋
Since I have gotten used to cooking and eating fresh foods instead of canned or frozen foods, shopping is a must. I go shopping three or four times a week, as I said in one of my blog posts, and that takes care of my exercise. Looking at my fridge below, you can see why I often go to the grocery store. When I first moved here, the giant USA refrigerators sold in the USA were only in the Housing areas where soldiers and their families were living.
For women’s clothing, I use the internet. That gives me flexibility, and I shop when I can no longer put it off. It is different with grocery shopping, though. Our stores open between seven and eight in the morning and close between eight and nine-thirty in the evenings. But that depends on the stores. Stores for household goods are included in these times.
However, pharmacies have stable but irregular hours that Americans are not used to. They close on Saturdays between twelve-thirty and one P.M. Also, pharmacies close at twelve-thirty and open back up at two-thirty or three PM during the week.
Therefore, I left my home earlier today because I needed to pick something up from the pharmacy before it closed, and I also decided to take a couple of pictures of some of the stores I visited.
I hope the pictures delight all of you who have lived in Germany. You would be amazed how much this country has changed.
Take care and enjoy your Saturday.
Shalom shalom
Pat Garcia
Hi, Pat,
I love your photos of the area where you live. As you know, I once lived very near to your town. Aldi is the only store I know of in our area that carries German Christmas chocolates and Lebkuchen. I love shopping there on the few occasions I actually leave the house to buy stuff. My hubby is our shopper. He LOVES finding bargains and can happily spend all day shopping when he has the chance. He also stops and talks to people he knows (many people in our area know him) and those he hasn’t met yet. He often regales me with stories of the interesting strangers-become-new-friends he meets along the way. It’s one of those benefits of a happy marriage between an introvert (moi) and an extrovert (mein Mann).
One of the drawbacks of the strict store hours in Germany would be for those people who work night shifts and must sleep during the daylight hours. I guess those folks find a way to work around it, though. Thanks for sharing Germany with us!
Blessings!
Patty
Hello, Patty,
Yes, it is a drawback for people who work night shifts. They have to interrupts their sleep during the day and go shopping.
I am smiling about your Bill. I find that so cool. You two are a perfect fit.
Have a lovely day, and take care.
Shalom shalom
Pat, my visits to Germany and the many towns/cities mostly had limited car parking near the city centers…everybody walked everywhere and carried their grocery bags with them. That, too, has to be a reason why folks shop as often as they do. Then, after 6:00 pm, these cylinders rise up from the ground and block the street after hours. People who live there have special remote controllers to lower/raise them when travelling to/from home.
Here, Kroger delivers food to your home providing you join their club for $19/month. You go on the computer and choose brand & everything…as close to a personal shopper as you can get. They had to hire lots more people who do nothing but fulfil these orders. They also purchased refrigerated trucks that they use for deliveries. We haven’t used them yet. Jan retired as a cashier at Kroger and enjoys going to the market to bs with her old friends. These trips are often a couple of hours long for a single bag of groceries. Your town looks more modern than others I’ve visited.
Hello, JP,
The parking space are no longer limited. Whenever, a store is built, parking space is also built before it and around it. Yes, my village is on the way to modernisation. We now have counters in some stores where we can check out our groceries self. It seems like technology is doing its best to change Germany,
Thank you for coming by, JP.
Shalom shalom
Hi Pat, Happy Sunday to you! I share much of your shopping sentiments, though I’m fine with wandering the aisles of my favorite natural foods market. 😊
Hello, Gwen,
That’s good to hear. You would enjoy shopping in the natural foods markets over here. They are fantastic.
Have a lovely Sunday.
Shalom shalom
Thank you so much for the pingback. I appreciate it, greatly.
Have a lovely Sunday.
Shalom shalom
Hi Pat!
Nice photos.
Its 11:25 pm here. Going to bed now.
Hello, Shirley,
Thank you. Germany is a beautiful country. By the way, you will find a surprise on my blog post from DAY 24, March 24. I hope you enjoy it.
Take care and have a lovely Sunday.
Shalom shalom
I found your surprise. WOW!!!
I’ve enjoyed learning about shopping in Germany today, Pat. While I don’t enjoy grocery shopping it must be done, but I’m seeing more and more of the personal shoppers in our grocery stores. I don’t know the correct name for them, but they’re everywhere! I often wonder if I could afford their services. It’s pleasant to see the familiar Aldi sign in Germany. Thank you for sharing this.
Hello My Dear Linda,
We are beginning to have delivery of groceries in our country. We haven’t got to the point that we have personal shoppers.
Aldi is one of the best markets that come out of Germany, and I love shopping there. My Aldi is seven minutes from where I live. 😊
Linda, I am still not getting your blog posts. I don’t why or what I am doing wrong. I will look again tomorrow.
Have a lovely Sunday.
Shalom shalom
I will look also! I don’t post often, but I’ll check the site. It is wonky sometimes.
Like you, I do NOT like shopping, but when I need groceries Aldi is my stand-by. The store, now expanding all over the USA, boasts prices like those I remember from decades ago. When I have to shop for clothes, I insist my daughter goes with me. She has an instinct for what’s right for me, and she LOVES shopping. Ha!
Hello, Marian,
It is so nice to know that someone else doesn’t like shopping. 😊 I divide my shopping up between Aldi and REWE. I am glad your daughter goes with you. Some people have that instinct. I truly believe that and it is good that she loves doing that.
Have a lovely Sunday and take care.
Shalom shalom
I am enjoying your posts and pictures. Pat. How different things are in Germany, where huge freezers and twenty-four hour grocery stores don’t exist.
Hello, Karen,
The business people who own large stores tried to get a rule pass where we would be opened twenty-four hours seven days a week. Well, we had a strike that closed Germany down and that was immediately denied. So everything is closed here on Sundays, all holidays are protected, and almost everything in the small towns close between six and eight PM.
And that is marvelous in my opinion.
Thank you for stopping by and have a lovely day.
Shalom shalom
Hi Pat,
A great take on food and clothing shopping. I hate food shopping but like you enjoy eating. And of course we have to eat to live. Take care.
Hello, Joy,
Thank you. Yes, we have to eat to live.
Take care, my dear.
Shalom shalom