Shopping Center Experience

Today, I decided to try to find an area similar to shopping centers that may have larger stores than the small neighborhood corner grocer or health/beauty aide store in my neighborhood. I was hoping to find something similar to our shopping centers. Successfully, I found an area outside of the city central that I could reach by tram that would only take 10-15 minutes of travel time. Google maps is an amazing app that has saved me so many times. I hopped on the tram and went the correct number of stops but I did not press the button to stop the tram and no one else was getting off, so the tram went passed my stop. I hopped off at the next hub and went under the tracks through a tunnel and waited for the next tram. Since it was a Saturday, the trams were running at half the rate of weekdays so I waited 15 minutes for the next tram. I finally got off the tram at the correct location and found my way through the highway interchange, down a path and through a parking lot to what resembled an American suburb shopping area. The area had a store similar to a home depot, a large car wash, and an indoor shopping mall. There was a parking lot that had cars parked in it, there were actually more cars there than bicycles. Inside the shopping mall were about 3 clothing stores, a pharmacy/heath and beauty aide store, a small discount department store, an electronics store similar to Best Buy, a shoe store similar to Rack Room, a few local take-away food kiosks, a nail salon, a pet supply store similar to PetSmart, a floral store, and at the the back of the mall, was the closest store I could find to a Walmart. I had finally found a store that could provide me with the household items I needed for my apartment and larger variety of groceries that I could cook in the microwave or on the hot plate in my “tiny house” apartment. I felt like I was home, shopping at this store instantly made me feel at ease. To finish the American shopping experience in Bremen, on the way out of the shopping center, there was a corner McDonald’s. Luckily, I have yet to eat at McDonalds in Germany.