Traveling Without Actually Going Anywhere: Universal Yums from Germany

In October 2023, our subscription box of global treats came full of snacks from the European country of Germany. It was an appropriate choice for this month since Germany is host to Oktoberfest, a beer festival held every year in Munich, Germany.

Our first treat from this German box was stracciatella bonbons, which were creamy and delicious! The inside had a cookies ‘n cream and/or cookie dough filling, and it was covered with a thin chocolate coating. I loved this treat! It was made in Germany’s oldest chocolate factory, which has been making chocolate since 1804! I learned that stracciatella is a gelato flavor of cream and chocolate flakes. I wish I could eat more of these spheres of chocolate and cream!

Next, we ate onion rings, which I am almost positive that I have had before! I just searched my published blog posts, and yes, we did have these same onion rings with the word “zwiebels” (translated to ‘onions’) on the label back in March of most likely 2022! I liked them this time around, but I didn’t like them when I first tried them over a year ago! Next, we munched on ketchup potato sticks. I thought they smelled gross. There were air puff sticks similar to Veggie Straws, but with a slight ketchup flavor. My husband liked them, but I did not! These were the same from the previous Germany box! How disappointing! I would have liked to have tried new sweets. I didn’t like the ketchup potato sticks back then, and I still don’t like them.

Our fourth treat happened to be new: a lemon wafer bar. This was good at first, but then the lemon flavor gradually became more and more intense so that I did not like it at all. Next, we ate milk and honey caramels that were chewy, but not as chewy as we thought they would be. I didn’t like them because they had too much honey flavoring, and I did not like its consistency. David thought it tasted like gross peanut butter! Lastly, we chewed on assorted sour fruit candy that was gross! I ate an apple flavored candy, and it tasted like a sour green apple Starburst — yuck! David had the black currant and hated it!

From the booklet, we learned that October 3, 1990 is celebrated as Unity Day — the day that Germany’s separate states were reunited back into a single country. They had been separated since 1945. This was a fun fact because it’s our wedding anniversary! We were not married in 1990, but we were married on October 3!

We also learned that it is bad luck to say “cheers” while toasting with water, and the Chinese checkers game was invented in Germany, not China! I was stunned with this second fact. It was invented in 1892 under the name “Star-Halma,” but it was renamed to “Chinese checkers,” when it was brought to the U.S. in 1928. Confusing! Furthermore, we learned that the Autobahn, a German highway, does not have a speed limit! The booklet says that this highway is one of the safest in the world, but I find that really hard to believe when it doesn’t have a speed limit! I would be so scared on that highway with people driving super fast around me, and some even drive over 100 miles an hour on the Autobahn!

I have no idea what country our November box is coming from, and I am excited that I do not know! It will be a surprise! I am hoping I don’t accidentally find out from Facebook or by opening up the email with the tracking number. Hope you all have a wonderful day! Cheers!