Day 25: (Different) Taste of Home

Too Fast, Too Soon

Feeling energized by my weekend adventure, I woke up early to get a head start on the day. Clearing off emails and work items, I decided to have my first call at the hotel. Normally, Monday mornings are usually pretty busy here, but today was quiet. As I took the first sip of my coffee, all of a sudden, the lights went out. A beeping sound, like a minor alarm, was going off near the kitchen next to the breakfast area. There was a power outage and the back-up generators kicked in. Unfortunately, the internet router probably went through a power cycle and the WiFi service didn’t seem to come back (probably taken care of by the corporate ISP). I had to use my mobile hotspot, which was a challenge, but I managed to make it through.

Finishing up my call, I walked down to the garage to head to the office. I watched a Tesla Model X driver struggle to pull his car out of the tight spaces in the underground garage. He rode a curb next to the automated gate, and scratched his car pretty badly. Thankfully, I made it out unscathed. There’s a wall of shame of all the paint scratched off the sides of cars lining the exit.

I spent the remainder of the morning on-site at the office. After lunch, I wasn’t feeling very well (throbbing headache and light-headed), so I came home to rest. Feeling refreshed after about an hour, I made it through the rest of the day. I think I may have overdone the number of coffees within a short period of time this morning. The little espressos, compared to a typical cup of coffee in the US, are subtly potent. I think the injection of caffeine got to me.

Not So Sweet Tea

Wrapping up my day, I went to the corner grill to grab a Cevapcici mit Pommes und Brot (translation: minced meat with fries and bread). It’s really filling, and I couldn’t finish it completely. Instead of having a glass of wine or beer today, I opted for an Arizona Iced Tea. I discovered Kaufland sells these in a 6-pack. They have the traditional Iced Tea with Peach, one of my favorites. As I took a sip, the first thing that hit me is that the tea is significantly less sweeter than what I’m used to in the US.

After a quick Google search, for the same flavor and content by volume between this bottle and what I normally have in the US, this bottle has ~87% less sugar comparatively. In general, one of the first things you’ll experience traveling around Germany is that sugar is not as widely prevalent as in the US. Corn syrup is not really a thing here. I would go out on a limb and say it’s not really prevalent throughout many countries in Europe. Desserts, sodas, juices, etc. all taste dramatically different. I definitely prefer this over what I get in the US. Sugar is a killer, simply put.

I definitely have a sweet tooth, but there’s such as a thing as too much. I’m tempted to buy another suitcase just to bring European-style Arizona Iced Teas back to the US with me. The only downside is that it is significantly more expensive per bottle / can (in the US, you can get a large can for $0.99). I also don’t have the convenient Pfand System back in the US to reclaim some Euro cents per bottle for recycling. I’ll need to enjoy these while I’m here.

Frieden und Liebe ❤️ (translation: peace and love)