The Entry In Which I Try To Sound Interesting

...so please help me and pretend to be amused. Southern Germany shuts down when there is a holiday and this time it is Easter. And with Hubbo gone on business I may be going nutty with the easter candy I bought myself.

A friend asked how Germans celebrate Easter. Well, it's not so different than how Americans do it except they get more days off and relax better while doing it. Here in Germany, the Easter weekend started Thursday afternoon; people started shopping for last minute items (food, any small gifts) as everything (and I mean everything except for the streetcars) would be closed by late afternoon. Then it is like a ghost town--no people to be seen until Saturday morning. People are off visiting with family and friends.

Then on Saturday things open up again. I had to go to the Lidl (the name of the grocery store around the corner from us) to get some of those Nutella-filled croissants (god help me if I have to cook for myself when I wake up in the morning), get some milk, and then I just start grabbing food as I remember that things will be closed for two more days.

Sunday--Easter Sunday. How do I know this? Two things: no people are out and the church bells are ringing like they are trying to play every song in its playbook by sundown (we live on the block across from it). Oh, and add a third thing: Elvis movie marathon all day on tv.

So today is Easter Monday. This is something we don't have in the US (but should if you ask me). My upstairs neighbors have been gone in Italy all week (they even took the dog, Chico) and will still be gone all of next week. It's an annual thing they do. I wonder if Chico went to mass at the Vatican. He was probably so pissed that it rained. He hates the rain.

Tomorrow everything will open up again and people will reappear. I will attempt for the third time to get the car out of our Easy-Bake-Oven-sized parking spot in the underground garage without dinging the fender and go do some errands. Which reminds me, I need to get my bike to the repair shop so I can stop driving when the weather gets better (it has been snowing or hailing here for the past 4 days or so).