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Question for the Europeans ITT: what's the easiest country to get prescription medication in? I'm travelling long term and in a couple of months I'll need to re-fill medication for a non life-threatening condition. I'm asking mainly because even as a citizen it was a huge pain in the arse in the UK because I wasn't registered with the NHS. Are there any countries where I could basically walk into a GP's office with a letter from my Australian doctor and a recent (Australian) prescription, get a local prescription and then have it filled at a pharmacy without it costing hundreds of Euros? Note that I don't have the EHIC despite having UK citizenship, as I've never actually lived there.
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Oct 3, 2017 16:40
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webmeister posted:Question for the Europeans ITT: what's the easiest country to get prescription medication in? I'm travelling long term and in a couple of months I'll need to re-fill medication for a non life-threatening condition. I'm asking mainly because even as a citizen it was a huge pain in the arse in the UK because I wasn't registered with the NHS. Are there any countries where I could basically walk into a GP's office with a letter from my Australian doctor and a recent (Australian) prescription, get a local prescription and then have it filled at a pharmacy without it costing hundreds of Euros? Note that I don't have the EHIC despite having UK citizenship, as I've never actually lived there. It depends on what your problem is, and on what the medicine is. In Switzerland for instance, you can generally only fill an Australian prescription if it is for a life-threatening illness/condition, or if the medication is not prescription-only in Switzerland. For some prescription-only and not-life-saving drugs, pharmacists have it up to their discretion to give you one month of whatever it is, even without a valid prescription (i.e. an Australian prescription), but this is only if your medicine is not on the restricted medicines list. If you're looking for like, oxycodone, you're not going to get any with an Australian prescription (in Switzerland anyway, but it's probably the same anywhere in EU). Medicines are usually quite cheap in most European countries, though it depends what you take, as if it's still under patent it might still be pricey.
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Oct 3, 2017 17:20
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poo poo. Is it safe to travel to Barcelona this week? G-Mawwwwwww fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Oct 3, 2017 |
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Oct 3, 2017 17:22
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Saladman posted:It depends on what your problem is, and on what the medicine is. In Switzerland for instance, you can generally only fill an Australian prescription if it is for a life-threatening illness/condition, or if the medication is not prescription-only in Switzerland. For some prescription-only and not-life-saving drugs, pharmacists have it up to their discretion to give you one month of whatever it is, even without a valid prescription (i.e. an Australian prescription), but this is only if your medicine is not on the restricted medicines list. If you're looking for like, oxycodone, you're not going to get any with an Australian prescription (in Switzerland anyway, but it's probably the same anywhere in EU). I'd rather not mention it for privacy reasons (PM me if you're super curious), but it's definitely not an opioid or anything like that. It's pretty common, and there are definitely generic versions available as I've had them before in Australia. Will just start getting in touch with doctors I guess!
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Oct 3, 2017 17:56
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CaptainScraps posted:poo poo. Safe, yes. Smart, probably not since strikes have been announced. There's at least one poster in EU politics thread who lives in Barcelona so you can ask there. https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3767159
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Oct 3, 2017 19:09
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CaptainScraps posted:poo poo. God I hope so, I need to fly there on Thursday for work, and will be staying until Tuesday. My boss has been there since Saturday though and has been posting nonstop photos on Facebook about how quiet everything is near where we'll be staying. I'm not as concerned about safety as I am about getting in and out.
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Oct 3, 2017 19:09
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webmeister posted:I'd rather not mention it for privacy reasons (PM me if you're super curious), but it's definitely not an opioid or anything like that. It's pretty common, and there are definitely generic versions available as I've had them before in Australia. Will just start getting in touch with doctors I guess! If you find yourself in France, go to a Pharmacy and ask. The pharmacists there are really nice, knowledgable and will help you out how they can. I don't know if there's a guide to ones with English speaking pharmacists or anything though. PM me or Facebook me or whatever if you want me to write a letter in French explaining what you need. Alternatively, you're in Italy right now, right? I would be willing to bet you can find a pharmacist that'll just give you what you need.
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Oct 3, 2017 20:24
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Drone posted:God I hope so, I need to fly there on Thursday for work, and will be staying until Tuesday. Ditto. Flying in to Barcelona on the 15th and then flying from Barcelona to Seville on the 18th. My hotel is two blocks from Plaça de Catalunya  I told my friend we should take the train to Seville but noooooo, it's slightly shorter to fly she says
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Oct 5, 2017 00:47
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gently caress tilting trains. I was on a Frecciargento from Venice to Florerence and even after 2 MG of Xanax (which is a shitton, I usually take 0.5-1 mg for flying) it still sucked. The one from here to Rome is a faster train (Frecciarossa) but not tilting. The only other high speed train I've been on was non-tilting (TGV from Lille to Paris) and I had absolutely zero problems.
actionjackson fucked around with this message at 10:53 on Oct 5, 2017 |
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Oct 5, 2017 06:39
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Entropist posted:It's much easier to find a spot but a large number of those spots are very sketchy. Pretty much yeah  Sort of a random question but I will be stopping by the Netherlands for work. Anyone know a good stroop waffel place? I'm so addicted to them
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Oct 5, 2017 17:45
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caberham posted:Pretty much yeah "I'm going to visit the state of New York. Anyone know a good McDonalds restaurant there? I'm so addicted to them" Seriously, tell us where you're going and we might have some recommendations. But they sell those things in every supermarket everywhere. Y'know, a ten-pack for 2 eur. If you want a freshly baked double-sized one, your best chance might be to look for a stall on a touristy market. Carbon dioxide fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Oct 5, 2017 |
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Oct 5, 2017 18:22
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caberham posted:Pretty much yeah i will take you to all the stroopwafel places, every day, until your blood is syrup
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Oct 5, 2017 18:50
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Cacator posted:Ditto. Flying in to Barcelona on the 15th and then flying from Barcelona to Seville on the 18th. My hotel is two blocks from Plaça de Catalunya I'm at Plaça d'Espanya right now and things are pretty completely normal. Will see if it stays that way... theyve been saying Catalonia will be declaring independence (whatever that really even means) on Monday.
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Oct 5, 2017 19:01
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caberham posted:Pretty much yeah
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Oct 5, 2017 21:27
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Amsterdam/Rotterdam whoops. But hey Netherlands is small enough to get around and goons there cross the country all the time  But my brain is damaged enough to go across the country for the BEST PLACE EVER. caberham fucked around with this message at 05:24 on Oct 6, 2017 |
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Oct 6, 2017 05:22
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Vienna: good Venice: good, but too many pigeons Florence: good, but too many vespas those are my hot takes
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Oct 6, 2017 06:13
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My dog loved Venice for much the same reason
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Oct 6, 2017 07:55
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Anyone here been to Georgia? Could anyone recommend where the best hiking spots are?
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Oct 9, 2017 18:28
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Whats a good place to visit in Europe in January; skiing excepted? I think I may do a few days skiing in Switzerland or Austria, and then a couple days in a city in that area. Flights are real cheap from the mid-atlantic right now.
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Oct 9, 2017 21:35
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What do you like to do on holidays? Museums? Eating? Partying? Nature/outdoors? What's your budget like?
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Oct 9, 2017 22:04
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Whorelord posted:Anyone here been to Georgia? Could anyone recommend where the best hiking spots are? I've been to the ski area around Bakuriani once in the Spring. There was nothing in the sense of organized hiking trails like you'd have in national parks in more organized countries, but you can just walk up a mountain if you want. On the way up, you'll see kids riding horses without a saddle and barefoot, and old broken down Soviet ski lifts. It's kind of awesome.
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Oct 9, 2017 22:37
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Thoughts on flying to Ireland and renting a car and driving around for a week in december? No set plans, just landing in Dublin or Shannon and getting a car and looking at cool old ruins and getting a hotel when the sun starts setting.
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Oct 9, 2017 23:25
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FAT CURES MUSCLES posted:Thoughts on flying to Ireland and renting a car and driving around for a week in december? No set plans, just landing in Dublin or Shannon and getting a car and looking at cool old ruins and getting a hotel when the sun starts setting. Ireland owns, you'll have a great time, though stretch it out to more like 9 days if you can. Definitely include: - Ring of Kerry - Skellig Michael (though if you want to go, book now) - Rock of Cashel - Cliffs of Moher - Connemara National Park - Slieve League cliffs - Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede - Belfast is a pretty great city too and worth a day You could probably wing it for accommodation in December since it'll be off-season, but I don't know how many places close for the winter. I personally would be booking stays in advance but that's just me - I hate the whole "let's find a room when we get there" style of travel.
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Oct 9, 2017 23:38
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Ireland in December is likely to be very, very wet. Don't expect to get a lot of hiking done unless you really love mud.
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Oct 10, 2017 00:01
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I looked up Skellig Michael and it looks like you cant go on the island in Winter . I had it on the list of "cool poo poo to do" but I can always go back. Do you guys think its better to fly into Shannon and leave out of Dublin, Dublin out of Shannon, or just Dublin > Dublin, Shannon > Shannon? The tenative dates are to leave out of IAD on the 14th and leave Ireland before the 24th. The "Plan" is to hopefully do a giant ring around the island.
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Oct 10, 2017 01:19
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Ireland is pretty small so it's probably not hugely important which airport you fly into/out of, in terms of coverage anyway. I don't know how much there is near Shannon airport though.
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Oct 10, 2017 08:33
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FAT CURES MUSCLES posted:I looked up Skellig Michael and it looks like you cant go on the island in Winter If you plan drive in a ring around the island it makes no sense to fly into one and out of the other. Do you not mind getting wet and hiking ina ton of mud? The majority of activities are outdoor and it’s already wet and muddy now. I certainly wouldn’t visit in December. asur fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Oct 10, 2017 |
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Oct 10, 2017 09:15
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Just driving around without reservations is perfect in December. Street addresses are really hard to find sometimes (because either they don't use them at all and instead just give the house a name that the postman has to remember or the road itself changes names every 75 meters) and once it gets dark, which is early in December, street lighting/signage can be difficult to use too. We did a few road trips like that and always had a great time and no problems finding a place. Like you said, just drive until it gets dark and then look for a place that says B&B in the window. The proprietor will like you better for not using an online booking service cos they won't have to give a cut of your rate so I doubt you'll get ripped off. Just check online for average prices before you go and then you can decide to haggle or just go to the next place if you don't like the offer. The whole west coast is pretty freakin amazing and depending on the weather and how much you want to hike, you could have a nice 10 days there easy. So in that case, just fly to Shannon. If you want the full Irish, you'll have to spend a day or two in Dublin but then you'll be spending a lot more time on the road with less time to get out and look around. Or you can arrive in Dublin and just blast off straight north from the airport and leave however many days at the end to see Dublin, if you can get a refund for any days you return the rental car early (don't drive into Dublin, just do cabs or buses). In addition to what webmeister mentioned, the Burren is another cool place to see. greazeball fucked around with this message at 09:40 on Oct 10, 2017 |
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Oct 10, 2017 09:20
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Freaking out a bit more since my Swiss holiday is so close now. Two big questions for now. First is what is the deal with the Bernina Express? The rail website only shows BEX trains from Tirano to St. Moritz and not the other way around. Can I just take a normal Rhaetian train down or will it go a different route? Second is what sort of clothes to wear for hiking around Zermatt. California has not prepared for how to properly layer clothes for walking several hours in a place with actual seasons. I'm also wondering if three days is a good amount of time to spend in Zermatt. I'll have about a week more after.
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Oct 11, 2017 08:24
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When in Provence, what is a good city to use as my base? Do most people stay in one city and drive to others each day or do they hop around staying in different cities?
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Oct 11, 2017 16:31
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ibntumart posted:Freaking out a bit more since my Swiss holiday is so close now. Two big questions for now. You can take any train between Tirano and St Moritz, just the ones that aren't the Bernina Express won't have the 'fancy' panoramic windows, but it's also like 15 francs cheaper. So, depends if you'd rather have marginally bigger windows and a restricted train schedule, or if you'd rather just catch a train whenever and pay less. On a regular train ticket, you can take any train that goes in that direction for the entire day, whereas Bernina Express you bought a ticket for a specific train (and a specific seat). I'm pretty sure you can use a Bernina Express ticket on a regular train, but then you paid extra for no reason. Clothes = depends exactly on the weather when you are going. This weekend it is crazy warm during the day (±60) and slightly chilly at night (±40). If you went this weekend, you'd want a light long-sleeved shirt, light pants, and you'd want to carry a windbreaker for when you sit down after hiking since you'll be sweaty and the wind will make you could really fast. In general, yeah you need to layer since when hiking => you want way less clothes; when stopped to eat or something => you will get miserably cold super fast because of the wind, low temperatures, and body sweat. A week more after where? Not in Zermatt I hope. Even 3 days in Zermatt is quite a lot, but if you're going in the next week or two it looks like you should still get great weather and the fall colors are amazing right now (though basically any trees that lose their leaves will lose them by 1 November if not sooner). It snowed at low-ish elevations in the Swiss Alps couple weeks ago, but it's basically all melted now, so you can easily hike up to 2500m and if you want you could head over to Cervinia using the lifts which would probably be fun if you don't want to hike both days. I don't think there is any safe hiking route from Zermatt to Cervinia for casual hikers, especially not at this time of year... although generally Zermatt is probably the hardest valley in all of Switzerland to hike in if the hike's aim is to cross into another valley.
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Oct 11, 2017 19:04
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birds posted:When in Provence, what is a good city to use as my base? Do most people stay in one city and drive to others each day or do they hop around staying in different cities? Provence is really big. You'd want to change cities even if you have a car and like driving; Marseille to Nice is like 2.5 hours each way on ridiculously expensive autoroutes. Marseille is good for visiting Aix-en-Provence (IMO overrated but what do I know) and Cassis, Nice is good for visiting Cannes (not that there's much in Cannes), Monaco (not much to do but hey new country!), Grasse (so filthy, ironically), and Èze (awesome). The Luberon area is beautiful, especially if you're going now or within the next month with all the fall colors, it'd make you want to drop whatever you're doing and become an impressionist. The Luberon area is impossible to visit without a car, but it sounds like you have one? If so, that would be my #1 recommendation for spending 2-3 days in Provence (e.g. Lacoste, Apt, Roussillon, Menerbes, etc. just drive around).
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Oct 11, 2017 19:14
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Back from my trip - had a great time but flying FCO - MUC - YYZ - MSP wasn't exactly a thrill A bunch of pictures Vienna/Austria https://photos.app.goo.gl/mHDaMmha4xNxW3Ei1 Venice https://photos.app.goo.gl/cJkRlagWdnhOg3Cu2 Florence https://photos.app.goo.gl/oEAgUyF7H4pKI8e02 Rome https://photos.app.goo.gl/N6D34TX4EUfFuAgD2
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Oct 12, 2017 14:12
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Saladman posted:You can take any train between Tirano and St Moritz, just the ones that aren't the Bernina Express won't have the 'fancy' panoramic windows, but it's also like 15 francs cheaper. So, depends if you'd rather have marginally bigger windows and a restricted train schedule, or if you'd rather just catch a train whenever and pay less. On a regular train ticket, you can take any train that goes in that direction for the entire day, whereas Bernina Express you bought a ticket for a specific train (and a specific seat). I'm pretty sure you can use a Bernina Express ticket on a regular train, but then you paid extra for no reason. Thanks, that does help clear things up. I'm getting the sense I can just show up at the train station at my departure and have no trouble getting a ticket on whatever non-fancy panoramic train I want. Saladman posted:Clothes = depends exactly on the weather when you are going. This weekend it is crazy warm during the day (±60) and slightly chilly at night (±40). If you went this weekend, you'd want a light long-sleeved shirt, light pants, and you'd want to carry a windbreaker for when you sit down after hiking since you'll be sweaty and the wind will make you could really fast. In general, yeah you need to layer since when hiking => you want way less clothes; when stopped to eat or something => you will get miserably cold super fast because of the wind, low temperatures, and body sweat. Thanks for the tips! I have to say that 60s does not seem hot at all to me, though I take your point that I'll heat up as I'm gallivanting along. Saladman posted:A week more after where? Not in Zermatt I hope. Right now the plan is a head from Zurich straight to Pontresina, spend a couple of days there, then a couple in Zermatt. I was thinking several days in Geneva and *maybe* venturing to Vienna, Grenbole, or Lyons. Saladman posted:Even 3 days in Zermatt is quite a lot, but if you're going in the next week or two it looks like you should still get great weather and the fall colors are amazing right now (though basically any trees that lose their leaves will lose them by 1 November if not sooner). It snowed at low-ish elevations in the Swiss Alps couple weeks ago, but it's basically all melted now, so you can easily hike up to 2500m and if you want you could head over to Cervinia using the lifts which would probably be fun if you don't want to hike both days. I don't think there is any safe hiking route from Zermatt to Cervinia for casual hikers, especially not at this time of year... although generally Zermatt is probably the hardest valley in all of Switzerland to hike in if the hike's aim is to cross into another valley. I only plan to do easy/beginner level hiking one day, so lifts as opposed to walking from valley to valley is probably better anyway.
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Oct 14, 2017 05:43
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ibntumart posted:Thanks, that does help clear things up. I'm getting the sense I can just show up at the train station at my departure and have no trouble getting a ticket on whatever non-fancy panoramic train I want. Yep. If you book in advance you can get "supersaver" tickets which are cheaper and are locked to a specific train (must be bought >25 hrs in advance and longer in advance bigger sales) but the normal tickets are for any train going on this route for the day you bought the ticket. ibntumart posted:Thanks for the tips! I have to say that 60s does not seem hot at all to me, though I take your point that I'll heat up as I'm gallivanting along. It was 17C at a lift at 1700m yesterday that we passed, and I was drenched in sweat in shorts and a ibntumart posted:Right now the plan is a head from Zurich straight to Pontresina, spend a couple of days there, then a couple in Zermatt. I was thinking several days in Geneva and *maybe* venturing to Vienna, Grenbole, or Lyons. That sounds reasonable except the Geneva link to... Vienna? Grenoble or Lyon. Did you mean Valence and not Vienna? If you have two full days in Zermatt definitely cross over with the lifts to Cervinia... If it's possible and easy to do that in summer. If so, enjoy the ski lift international border crossing.
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Oct 16, 2017 08:19
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Saladman posted:If you have two full days in Zermatt definitely cross over with the lifts to Cervinia... If it's possible and easy to do that in summer. If so, enjoy the ski lift international border crossing. OK now that's a new one! I've crossed international borders on foot, bike, car, train, plane, boat and bus, but I've never crossed an international border on skis! I guess since it's Switzerland they have a full border post?
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Oct 16, 2017 17:09
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webmeister posted:OK now that's a new one! I've crossed international borders on foot, bike, car, train, plane, boat and bus, but I've never crossed an international border on skis! I guess since it's Switzerland they have a full border post? They built a substantial part of the Zermatt-Cervinia lift system after Switzerland joined Schengen in 2008. I have no idea how trans-national ski areas worked with Switzerland before that, although there really aren't so many such areas. The only similar area I can think of is between Chamonix and Courmayeur, and that also way post-dates regular border controls disappearing between Italy and France. Unfortunately it looks like I am kind of wrong; it's possible but doing it in summer is a pain in the rear end / excessively expensive since you would need to rent skis. There's no direct lift connection between Klein Matterhorn (top lift of Zermatt) and Plateau Rosa (top lift of Cervinia). It's not very far, but you can't hike it. I don't know why I thought there was a direct lift connection, I guess I was confusing it with the Courmayeur-Chamonix lift system. If you DO want to ski, skiing from Zermatt to Cervinia and back would be really fun, but it sounds like you're going quite soon, so the snow is going to be pretty awful and limited to the very top.
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Oct 16, 2017 19:57
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Oh right, Switzerland is in Schengen now - should've remembered that since I was there only a month ago and drove across three borders  I've actually got a huge spreadsheet to track this poo poo since every "European" institution is a bit different. EU members vs euro-using countries vs Schengen countries, plus for us we have to keep track of where we can take our dog without problems (both in and out of EU countries), rabies risks etc.
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Oct 16, 2017 20:34
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webmeister posted:Oh right, Switzerland is in Schengen now - should've remembered that since I was there only a month ago and drove across three borders  You're welcome!
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Oct 16, 2017 23:29
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That's outdated. Croatia has been in the EU for more than 4 years.
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Oct 16, 2017 23:48
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