I am constantly trying to figure out how it is that there are so few overweight people here. They seem to eat kilos of Fleisch (wurst, leberkaese, schinken, salami etc etc) every week and mountains of cream - and yet they are soooo much slimmer than the average Aussie.
One possible explanation is that they do love to walk. It's simply too difficult to drive - the roads are narrow, visibility is poor due to the rain and fog, car parking is non-existent and petrol is expensive. So they either catch trains or walk (catching trainings also involves a lot of walking).
Everyday the kids and I walk to and from school (along with everyone else) (3.5km/day). Then we walk to friends occasionally (2km/week). I do regular small shopping trips after school drop offs instead of the weekly mega-shop (food goes off here so fast - it's the only way to eat half fresh produce - and probably why they don't eat veggies much - unless they are frozen) (1.5 km/day). I walk to my German lessons twice a week (5km). Yesterday the school library was locked (they couldn't find the key) so quite spontaneously the teacher walked the entire class into the city to the Stadtbibliothek (6km). So far I estimate the children average about 20km/week and I walk about 30km.
But there's more . . . last week was the Catholic Saint Martin's Parade. It was a miserably, wet, windy, cold night. But everything stuck to schedule with the children walking at least 3km in the rain, singing songs and swinging home-made lanterns. It was really quite lovely - especially when accompanied by a mini brass band and a colossal Saint Martin upon his horse.
Despite all this - I still don't look Teutonically slim. I will have to start eating just a couple of slices of bread for dinner like the locals.
