Rathaus Apotheke! Saves the day!…read more
Despite my best wishes and most humble efforts to rid myself of the cold I picked up somewhere between Newark Liberty Airport and MUC, the cold was sticking. Boxes of tissue, cough drops, gallons of healing tea (or I hope so, all the labels were in German). Coupled with jetlag, well...things were starting to get ugly.
I was pointed in the direction of the International Pharmacy near Marineplatz. It, like other German pharmacies, is very clean and orderly. And ONLY sells medicine. This is not like in the States where you can buy anything from pantyhose to hairdryers to whatever else you might dream up. MEDICINE things only. And face creams...haven't quite figured that out. I'll report back. But, my research leads me to this advice for foreign travelers unaware of German pharmacies...
Protocol:
1. Enter pharmacy.
2. Wait in line.
3. Speak with assistant or pharmacist, describe your ailment.
4. They will pick something out for you.
5. They will ask you several health questions as required by law. (do you take such and such, which will react conversely with this, etc)
6. They sell you the drugs.
Then you go home, you down that Nyquil with your last bit of effort, watch The Notebook through half-glazed eyes, fall asleep for 10.5 hours and wake up a new woman! Ok, well that part is not in the typical protocol, but there you have it. I finally got down on my knees and begged the sleep-inducing gods to bless me, and they did so here. At Rathaus-Apotheke.
