Did you know...

...that almost no one in Germany uses (or owns) a clothes dryer? It didn't occur to me that the folding drying rack in our small bathroom was for anything other than delicates. But when I dried off with the clean white bath-towel the first morning, the feel immediately harkened back to my youth when my mom used to hang all the laundry on the clothesline. And then the stiff, rather scratchy sheets on the bed made sense, too (I had thought the fitted sheet felt like some sort of terrycloth, but erroneously decided it couldn't be because it was far too rough). Jeff and I agreed that the brisk towel rubdown Mr. Armstrong recommends in his autobiography for improved circulation could also provide deep exfoliation in Germany! But not only is their method more energy efficient, they feel it preserves the fabrics and prevents wear and tear. And, as one older German woman assured me, it usually only takes half a day in a warm bathroom to dry (almost no one has outdoor clotheslines either)!