I walk down through the back courtyard of the Brücken center (a mall) in Germany. This is the biggest mall around here and the closest thing to a real mall until we get back to the States. The polished floors gleam up at me as I walk through the sliding doors. There’s gum on the floor.”What’s that doing there? Can’t people be cleaner?” I think to myself after passing the information desk. The air feels stuffy and crowded as the mass of people move, dabbling about in different stores. My two little siblings run off promising to meet at the Chinese food restaurant in half an hour. They are going to look at the toys. I will meet Mom later to but I have a picture (or two) to take. 

So my circle around the mall begins.  Passing the clothing stores with their soft downy clothes, I windowshop, not looking at the shorter than short dresses but rather at the creepy mannequins. One of them looks out from behind her glass case at the passersby. Her eyes are barely visible and stringy “hair” droops miserably off her head.

As I make my way around the store I pass the döner and the bakery. I can practically taste the delicious fresh meat cooked perfectly at the döners. Just the wonderful smell of fresh bread and meat fried to perfection makes my mouth water and I hurriedly move on (before the döner guy asks me if I want something). The smell of biscuits, fish, and sausages assaults my nose as I walk past the foods. 

Often in the middle of the mall they have something going on. Sometimes they have an old west town set up, or sometimes they have the Santa clause train. But this time they have old typewriters set up in glass cases. I snapped a few photos and moved on, realizing with disappointment my camera was on its last drops of battery life.

Then I came to the bag shop. This store is very expensive, as most of its bags are made from leather or high quality material. The only problem is that many girls (not everyone but most) have made a bad reputation in stores (stealing items and such), so  the lady at the counter eyes me with distrust as I bend down to examine a cool bag that was completely leather and had  the words “fossil” written on the front. I thought it was cool. I moved on smiling and waving to the lady at the front desk of the bag shop.

The next place was a café. With ice cream piled up in swirling piles in a glass counter at the front, it was very tempting to go buy some. The crowd was nosily bustling around me. A baby’s cry sounded out from somewhere; an autistic lady stopped and started talking to me (I smiled and nodded along; she was speaking in German very fast and I had no idea what she was saying); a lady’s voice talking to the server as she bought ice cream for her son; and an old man’s voice as he ordered his coffee at the restaurant. All of their voices blended into the hustle and bustle of the mall.

I continued walking while looking at the (very expensive) jewelry shop’s necklaces and earrings. After this I was almost done with my loop, but there were two more places before I had to meet my mom. The pharmacy was not very busy. Only an old man, a young lady with dark hair, a baby stroller, and her little girl. Suddenly a voice comes in over the intercom announcing that a child got lost and asking the mother to please come pick her child up.
The next to final stop was the second clothing store. I finger the shirts that are soft and very light while thinking to myself, “So little cloth for so much money.” It is very sad how little material most girls my age wear.

Finally I came up to the grocery store. Circling this there are many other small shops and restaurants including a nail salon, an olive and döner stand (this is a different döner), and a Chinese food place. I walk through the grocery store and look at the foods. The variety of stuff you can buy here is amazing - pineapples, tomatoes, mushrooms, lettuce, dog food, jewelry, and random knickknacks are all available. I look around for Mom, and after finding her I add milk biscuits her cart (milk biscuits are very sweet and delicious). I walk out to the Chinese place to find my little siblings waiting for us. Mom then came out, we ordered and got our food to go, and then we left.
My walk around the mall had gone very well. And I had gotten all the pictures I needed for this article before my camera died.

Katie Wellman is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program.

All photos courtesy and copyright Katie Wellman