M40間諜米格魯的秘密日誌

想要在德國享受Tax Free/VAT Refund 退稅服務的觀光客，必須遵守以下規定：

1. 想退稅的觀光客必須持有非歐盟護照，並且其長期居住地是位在歐盟(European Union)以外的國家。

持有非歐盟護照,但是居住在歐盟境內工作或讀書者，不能享受德國/歐盟之退稅服務。
在英國和愛爾蘭居住超過三個月以上的持非歐盟護照之觀光客，可能無法享受退稅服務（除非他們能夠提供六個月之內不再返回英國或愛爾蘭居住的證據）。

雖然大家都說全球氣候在暖化,可是今年德國西部還是冷得要命;到底北極的冰山還要溶掉幾座,這裡的氣候才會變得跟西班牙一樣呀???

進入冬天還沒多久,我的手已經開始龜裂了,這幾年來試用過的護手霜不下十幾種,什麼 Crabtree & Evelyn, L'Occitane, Body Shop, Nivea, Neutrogena, L'Oreal, Vichy, La Roche-Posay .... 還有一大堆其他的牌子都試過了,但是效果都很有限.不是太油膩,皮膚很難吸收,就是擦了沒什麼用,手還是照裂;到後來我連用護手霜都懶得用,手要龜裂就讓它去裂吧,到了春天就會好了.

幾個星期前,在 DM 看見這一款的護手霜: Alverde Handcreme Calendula (金盞花護手霜).

以前在英國念書時,有一次在一本經濟史的書中讀到, 1930 年代全球經濟大衰退時期,什麼東西都賣不出去,就只有女人用的口紅唇膏一枝獨秀,不僅銷售量沒減少,而且還增加...  

那時侯覺得這怎麼可能,都已經景氣不好了,怎麼還會有人把錢花在買口紅這種非必需品上;所以也沒把這段話當真.直到前幾天在替家人和朋友們選購聖誕禮物時,才突然間開始理解這段話的意義...  

Staufen im Breisgau is a picturesque little town in the foothills of the Black Forest. It attained immortality thanks to Goethe's 'Faust', in which the town was the place where the ill-fated alchemist and astrologer Faust had lived and practised his trade. Thus Staufen is also known as the 'Fauststadt', i.e. Faust's town.

The ruins of the Roman castle perched atop the Staufenberg is the backdrop of Goethe's 'Faust'.

For those who have never seen the real thing before, Black Forest cake is just a piece of cake with lots of  chocolate flakes all over, decorated on the top with a piece of cherry taken from a can. No matter where I go - the US, Asia, or Africa - this over-simplified version seems to be everybody's answer to what constitutes a 'Black Forest cake'.

As a result, it is now absolutely impossible to have a piece of authentic, original Black Forest cake, unless you are at one of the Black Forest towns, of course - but even then, you never know if you are getting the real deal.  Also, don't think that you will be able to enjoy a real piece of Schwarzwalderkirschtorte anywhere in Germany - because most German chefs do not know how to make a good Black Forest cake. 

To make a good piece of Black Forest cake, you need to know how a good piece should look and taste like. I have been trying out Black Forest cakes in the past 15 years all over the world, and I can honestly say, the best ones are made by traditional cake masters in the city of Freiburg and nearby Black Forest spa towns (such as Staufen). The further away from Freiburg and the Black Forest, the worse the quality of the cakes become, so beware: this is how a real perfect Black Forest cake should look like: