Mini-OE to Germany–Day 15

The plan for today was to meet with Lilo’s relatives form her mum’s side. But before we went shopping. I decided to spend the money I got from my parents wisely. First we thought that we would put the money into our account. But our bank accounts are a black hole and everything you put in there will disappear into the great void of the banking universe. One thing I am always thinking about is to get a proper digital camera. One with SLR technique and lenses I can change and lots of settings etc. I loved to make pictures in the past when you had to buy films and get them developed. I made many hundreds of slides because they were cheaper and the colors are more brilliant than with prints. So after some research I decided to look for a Nikon. I also looked up the prices in New Zealand to check if it is cheaper.

But before we went shopping  shopping we visited the rowing course on the Beetzsee. This is a high tech rowing course for kayak and canoe rowing competition. There were the German Championships at the moment.

We then went to Media Markt which is a big electronics discounter. There were some Canon and Sony which were more expensive than in New Zealand. But the Nikon D3100 was a good deal. After some trying and thinking I decided on buying it and also a 70 – 200 AF zoom lens which was on special. Combined with a SD card and a bag it was a total of 585 EUR which is a bargain compared to how much they cost at home. But then they told me they don’t accept credit cards. This is something we experienced again and again. To us coming from a country where you can buy a newspaper at the corner store and pay by credit card it is very unusual that a big store is  not accepting this way of payment, even if you spent almost 600 EUR.

I had half the money already in cash from my parents. So I needed to withdraw some money. Off we went to the next bank branch. After some problems on my side to put the card in the right way I went to the counter. The lady told me I can only withdraw money using a credit card at the ATM. But she showed me how to insert the card the right way. So now I was ready to get some money. But the next surprise was that there s a general limit of 50EUR per transaction when using Credit cards. Great, so I had to withdraw 6 x 50 EUR. And after every withdrawal the ATM spit out my card and I had to start again. Later on I found out that the money was actually withdrawn from my cheque account. The ATM never asked if I want to use credit card or cheque account. But it still applied the 50 EUR limit for credit cards. I found the whole situation a bit strange for a modern country in the 21st century. But eventually I had my money and picked up my new toy.

Lilo and her aunt meanwhile went shopping and came back with some real good bargains. While we were waiting for them Klaus and I were talking about the shopping behaviour of the female  Homo sapiens. How they are confused when we men just go into a shop and buy the first pair of jeans or shoes instead of looking around, comparing different models and then ending up buying the same pair of shoes anyway. We were also talking about how a real man never enters a shoe shop on his own will but is rather dragged into it by his female partner. When Baerbel and Lilo eventually showed up we were greeted by the words “Peter, I found some nice shoes for you. You have to come with us and try them”.  Ahh great!

So off we went, I tried the shoes but didn’t like them. But while I was already in the dark vaults of this shoe seller I tried some more and even found some which fitted and looked good. And even had a good price. So I got some shoes. That’s the end of  this story.

After that adventure we went home to prepare everything for the rest of the day. We were expecting Lilo’s uncle Dieter, her uncle Klaus who is called “Rosby” without anyone knowing why. These are the brothers of Lilo’s mum. We were also joined by Lilo’s cousins Diana and Frank. Frank and I immediately started off on a good level. Some people just extend each others. We were joking and making comments. One started the other finished the sentence. So much laughter, so much fun.

After coffee and the probably most delicious “Streuselkuchen” Baerbel made Klaus was starting the BBQ German style with charcoal. We were joking that it looked like the Olympic Flame but it soon burned down and Klaus started grilling steaks and sausages. Dinner was huge and we ate too much again. Our bottle of Ramazzotti fell victim to the party which unfolded and was later replaced at the Duty Free shop in Frankfurt. We had a splendid time and the visitors left at around 12:30 am. Lilo then showed her aunt and uncle some pictures but I preferred to go to bed.