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Die Apotheke

 Gruß Gott aus Regensburg!

At nearly three in the afternoon the sun is peeking out from behind clouds that have been drizzling rain on and off all day. Temperatures are remaining moderate, in the high 50's, so that a light sweater is enough to go out in. Well, for an Alaskan, at any rate. The Germans I see on the street are wearing coats and caps, and sometimes gloves. 

So, I ventured to the Apotheke today, known in English as a pharmacy. I think I explained in a previous post that they are separate from any other business, and are never found in stores like they are in the US. That's not where the differences end. All Apotheken are identified with the red letter 'A', and are about as ubiquitous as bakeries. Since I could see to the bottom of my prescription bottles, I thought it time to take the doctors scrip and head to the Apotheke nearest our apartment--maybe 500 feet away. I was served by a very friendly woman who I told that this was my first experience with getting a prescription filled in Germany. I asked if I had to wait or come back later to pick up my meds. She said no, I would get them right away. She spoke clearly in standard German so that I could readily understand the process. She took the scrip and entered something into the computer, and in a few minutes she went to the wall behind her and took some little boxes out of an opening. The meds come pre-packaged, in small boxes with the tablets on punch-out cards. Someone in the back took the order and delivered them to the front through the wall opening. How clever! I don't think anyone is in the back counting pills and filling bottles.

Today is Halloween, at least in the US. It's not such a big deal in Germany. I saw small displays of Halloween make-up and props in a few department stores, but no one decorates that I can tell, and the children don't go trick-or-treating. In fact, there were no supplies of the cheap Halloween candy that's piled on shelves in the US. You can find Christmas cookies and candies already, though. The school kids get the whole week off, for tomorrow, at least in the two southern German states that are predominantly Roman Catholic, is a public holiday known as "All Saints' Day." All stores and businesses, except restaurants, will be closed tomorrow, so I made sure to get my shopping done today. 

For one week we are 9 hours ahead of Alaska, rather than 10, which sounds odd, but Germany actually observes Daylight Savings Time (I had always thought it was just an American thing), but goes back to Standard Time on the last Sunday in October rather than the first Sunday in November. It's dark by 6:00 pm (1800) now. 

Bis bald!



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  1. AnonymousOctober 31, 2023 at 5:22 PM

    Wow! You’re a fast learner! You’re learning a lot so quickly! I’m impressed! We still don’t have snow, but it’s cold!

    ReplyDelete

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