You sure are right about the stores closing too early! I spent most of last week in Southern Germany, from Cologne all the way to Munich. Somehow, I managed to miss out on pretty much all of the stores being open.

I learned the hard way that the grocery stores (in addition to all the other stores except petrol stations) are closed on Sunday. It's a family day, or so I hear.

I'm glad you got some shopping done. I spent two days in Alsfeld and didn't manage to catch anything open except for the restaurants. Here's a pic from Alsfeld:

The town hall is on the right. It was built around 1250. In the background is a church that Martin Luther visited on his way to Worms. It's pretty neat! I just wish I'd been able to buy those shoes I had my eye on. :-)