Shopping day

It's Saturday, which meant that I got to sleep in and had to go shopping, because nothing will be open tomorrow. I decided to put on my big girl panties (sorry Patrick, I know you hate that expression) and brave some of the places I've been avoiding. First stop: the outdoor market on the appropriately named Marktplatz:

Sorry, it's not a great picture, but I think you get some sense of the busyness of the area, with all the stalls set up in the central area, trams coming and going, and people walking everywhere. It was like a big, fabulous farmer's market with tons of produce, lots of flowers, and all the cheese and bread you could want. It's open everyday except Sunday, though today it seemed bigger and busier than on weekdays. I managed to buy bread, leeks, Swiss chard and parsley though I wound up with some random amounts due to my unfamiliarity with ordering things in grams. So I have lots of leeks and very little chard. But I did manage to communicate what I wanted and how much, in German, and pay with the correct amounts of money!

I decided to stop back at my apartment, which is only a few blocks from there, before finishing up at the supermarket. I neglected to remember, however, that those few blocks are entirely uphill. Here are some shops along the way:

I haven't been in there yet, but it's on my list of places to check out. Notice the angle of the sidewalk in front of the shop.

Here's one of many cheese shops, with a funny cow display:

They also apparently sell cheese from goats!

This is a Christmas themed tchotchke shop, which was featuring a big display of what seemed like wedding-cake toppers in the window (sorry about my reflection):

I think I'm going to have to buy one of these. Did you notice the ones on the top level? Oh yes, two grooms!

Here's a knife shop:

For some reason the front of their display is lined with toys. Because nothing says knives like little children's playthings!

After dropping off my produce, I headed back out and returned the stupid USB wifi thing I bought when I first got here and my landlord and rental agent confused me about how to pick up the internet signal in my apartment. But I got my money back! I also found a large supermarket/department store that I think will become "my" store and I was able to buy just about everything on my list - a hairdryer, a baking pan, yogurt, muesli (the only even somewhat reasonably priced cereal here), etc.

And now it's time to stop procrastinating and do some grading! I've been putting it off since I got here and I just can't do that any more. If I finish today that means I can treat myself to some museum or something tomorrow. I'm itching to get to the modern art museum! Plus maybe I won't be sore any more from my run on Thursday and I'll be able to walk more than a few blocks without hating every step...