Trains Planes and Automobiles

What a busy week!  We shopped for cars, a 16hr business trip to Cologne, several trips to IKEA, and final inspection and sign off on the apartment!

Car shopping in Germany is a bit unusual.  The Germans love their cars, and therefore it is an honor for you to apparently own one.  We had decided on the type of car, and after searching on the internet we found what we were looking for.  A 2008 Volkswagen Tiquan with about 100k on it, diesel, sunroof, navigation for traveling, and the rest of the bells and whistles.  Now the fun part!  You do not go to the car lot and become surrounded by eager slick sales types explaining why you need to buy from them.  Here you must make an appointment to see and test drive the car.  This we did!  The next step was to negotiate the price.  We clearly did not understand that meant -  we can negotiate a 200 to 250 Euro reduction, not quite what we would expect in Canada ($2000 to $3000 negotiated reduction).  After yet another appointment and squeezing out yet another 50 Euro, and having the dealer install the snow tires (must have snow tires in Germany or all season tires - it is the law) we are now the proud owners of a used car! 270 Euro off the list price :)
It must be registered, the license plates manufactured, and whatever else the 30 pages of documents we signed means (we may have bought the dealership), we get the car in a week or so!

My Car!

                                                                               Jayne's Car

                                                                         The one we can afford!



I had my first business trip to Cologne Germany this week.  It was a long 16hr day, as I am still trying to adjust to the 9hr time change.  Hopefully the time change is behind us this week.  The trip was great and the high speed train is such a civilized way to travel!  The train sped along at over 200kms per hour and it was quite comfortable and all with no airport security.  The food is rather exceptional at the stations and it is common to travel with sandwiches, treats, and coffee!
I was able to walk a store that is under construction and set to open in October and also visit an existing store location.

adidas brand is very fashionable in Europe and is one of the main clothing categories!

                                                                        How many Kawartha Dairy Cones will it take to pay for this signage?

              

Shit!  My bike was the only one there when I left at 6:30am, where the hell is it?  A little cranky after 16 hours of travel :(

It appears that the only fast way to furnish an apartment is using IKEA as the furniture stores require at least 6 weeks to order as nothing comes off the floor.  So Jayne has had at least six 5 hour trips there.  We have never shopped at IKEA, and apparently everything you buy can be broken down into a shoe box.  How many shoe boxes does it take to make an apartment?  We will let you know.  We have decided that we are going to pay for them to pick, pack, and assemble.  When we send the pictures of the apartment do not mistake it for page 27 from the catalogue, as it will be real!
We did the sign off on the apartment and now have confirmed the measurements, so Jayne has a 10 page spreadsheet and an appointment with the Relocation Agent (she is a godsend ) and she will be going to IKEA, armed with both, to make the order.  Might need a little translation help to ensure that we end up with furniture and not a truck load of Swedish frigin' meat balls!  See ya!