Eis

First, I must point out that ice cream is Eis in Germany, pronounced ice which is slightly confusing. I was teaching English and the topic was travel tips for foreign countries. One of the tips; don't use ice if the water is bad. I said this outloud and he looked back at me with a blank stare. Feeling stupid, I explained how ice is formed out of frozen water and then he laughed and told me he was thinking about ice cream. The second the sun is out, you can bet you will find ice cream cones in people's hands and all of the seats filled at the down town eis cafes. I'm not sure why the Germans at URI loved American ice cream so much when they have Italian Gelato so easily avaliable. There are Eis Cafes everywhere. There are two on the same street as my office in fact. Most of them also have walk up windows for easy access. However, I would like to point out the rising cost of one scoop of Eis. When I first arrived in Germany, one scoop cost 60 cents (about $0.90), as the weather started to get warmer, shops began to increase the cost and now almost all shops charge 70 cents for a scoop. I even saw one selling a scoop for 90 cents. While I don't feel like they are over charging, I was shocked to see prices instantly jump everywhere. Where is the shop that keeps charging 60 to get more business? Then I wonder, are all the Italian Eis cafes run by the Mafia? Is there price fixing involved? Maybe they are just money washing schemes?