Disgusting Cigarette Vending Machines

One thing that continues to bug me about living in Germany is the street vending machines for cigarettes. I find them disgusting! Thankfully in 2007 they finally passed a law that you have to insert your driver's liscense to buy from the machines, however that still means anyone can buy. I see smoking in Germany as a HUGE problem. It shouldn't bother me because I don't smoke, but yet I find it gets on my nerves when I am at social events and can't get away from the second hand smoke. Obviously being pregnant I notice it now more than ever. Sometimes it feels as though everyone smokes, despite the fact that I know that isn't true. According to Wikipedia, "Germany has the largest number of cigarette vending machines per capita in the world: 800,000 per 82 million people." SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevalence_of_tobacco_consumption The cigarette vending machines can be found all over our little town on the street corners and are accessible 24 hours a day. In this day in age with the research on smoking how can they not ban these machines?

Insiders View of a German Wedding

Saturday August 11th we attended our one and only wedding of 2012 for friends Simon & Carina. They had a beautiful ceremony in a Catholic church with both a Catholic priest and Protestant minister officiating. It was unique! The father of the bride walked Carina into the church, which I believe is not a typical German practice. The ceremony was a full mass including communion and lasted over one hour. We greeted the couple outside of the church and then everyone drove in a long line to the reception where they honked their horns in every small town. It is a very traditional German practice and something that you often hear or see on Saturdays. Each car is usually given a white ribbon to tie to their antena. Upon reaching the reception hall there was a champagne toast with finger food. The wedding party snuck off and took pictures while the guests enjoyed a sort of happy hour. A young woman came around and took every guests/couples picture and will develop them to create a personalized guestbook. Each guest is asked to write a few words to the couple and then their picture will be added to that page. I believe there were around 100 guests at the reception so it was a managable task, but still a lot of work.

At 7 pm the buffet opened and we enjoyed an appetizer area in addition to the main course. The menu was very large but a few of the favorites included tomato/mozzarela salad, melon & grape on a tooth pick, carrot salad, potato salad, noodles, chx breasts, beef, pork, potatoes, gravy, shrimp, and even a french fry stand. It was not a traditional spread of German wedding food, but very delicious. Later in the evening the wedding cake was served with a spread of numerous dessert options. The wedding cake was two large hearts with one being chocolate and the other being a white cake with cream layers covered in fresh strawberries. Delicious! Friends of the couple put together a picture slideshow and the parents of the couple performed a nice reading/skit about their hopes and dreams for the couple. The music ramped up around 10:30 pm and by midnight the dance floor was hopping. I would imagine the party went on until well past 4 am. As the pregnant lady I had the honor of driving a few prominent guests home before driving back to my inlaws for the night. It was a beautiful wedding and we are very happy for Simon & Carina to start their new life together.