Autumn has arrived, and with it cold weather. The last week has been really cold, but at the weekend it warmed up enough to go out for a walk in the woods and visit the playground. It was strange to see that the trees are still green, and yet due to the cold weather they have lost a lot of them and the ground is covered with the brown leaves more typical of autumn.
Having settled into our new flat we are now trying to re-let the old one - not an easy task, especially as it is difficult to find a painter to come and decorate it first!
The weather was good enough for a trip to the playground
To find out more, listen to the podcast:
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KiKa is a German television channel for Children. Last week their summer tour visited Wiesbaden, so we took a break from moving into our new flat to go there for the day.
We arrived early enough to get a good view of the main stage and at the very front there was even a special area for children. After the first few acts we tried to get autographs from the mainpresenters, but the queues were so long, that by the time we got to the front they were in the process of leaving.
The main presenters - Singa and Juri on stage
Although there was plenty on offer, the number of children present meant that anything you wanted to do you had to queue for, which is why in the afternoon we spent 2½ hours queuing for the chance to climb up a giant loaf of bread!
Climbing up "Bernd das Brot"
To find out more, listen to the podcast:
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Today in the Monday Podcast I talk about our latest adventure: buying a flat.
A few months ago we saw a flat for sale a few streets away, and after going to see it we did not take long to reach a decision - we wanted to buy it.
But buying a flat in Germany is a complex process, which includes not only the seller and the buyer (and the estate agent), but also a lawyer called a Notar as well as various German offices that deal wish issues such as land rights. The Finanzamt also sends you a bill for so-called Grunderwerbsteuer.
Of course, that’s the official side of the business. There is also the financial side so we had to present our case to the bank for a mortgage - not an easy task being self-employed.
The bank and the Notar both presented us with a list of things that we needed to supply, mainly documentation such as proof of building insurance. We spent several weeks getting all of these together, until finally the flat changed hands at the beginning of this month.
Now we are in the process of moving from one flat to another. More about that next month.
To find out more, listen to the podcast:
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Today in the Monday Podcast I talk about how to pay for things in Germany.
Cash still rules in many parts of the country and people and some businesses are vary wary of paying with cards.
Restaurants, for example, often prefer you to pay cash. Supermarkets accept ec-cards - a debit card linked to your bank account. But only larger businesses such as petrol stations, out-of-town supermarkets and shops in larger cities such as Frankfurt will normally accept credit cards.
As Germany no longer issues eurocheques, payments between private people are often done by bank transfer - called Überweisung.
Paying bills can be done with an Überweisung but often you will be required to agree to direct debit - Einzugsermächtigung or Lastschrift. Except in special circumstances you can require the bank to return any money within six weeks that has been wrongly taking using this method.
If you order goods online you may be required to pay in advance - Vorkasse - but some online shops will send their goods by Nachname, meaning that you pay the postman when the goods arrive.
To find out more, listen to the podcast:
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This week the Monday Podcast visited the castle ruins in Königstein.
The castle is located on a hill which is accessible by foot and well sign-posted from the town centre. It cost 2EUR for adults and 1EUR for children to enter and contained a maze of different levels, doors, steps and tunnels.
In the centre is the tower which was very windy, even inside. The wooden staircase is stable but small children should be taken by the hand and good footwear is advisable.
For current opening times, visit the town website.
