Well, last night, Mary Ellen had a terrible shock when she was eating a bun and the front tooth in her lower denture popped out. What to do? Who do we get help from? We finally reached our Medical Insurance Co and discovered that it is not covered, so we thought that the obvious choice would be to visit an Apotheke (Pharmacy) in Cottbus when we arrive on the train at 3 in the afternoon. If necessary, we'll stay a few days until it is fixed. Apothekes are always our best resource for anything medical when travelling in Europe. So, we got up early and rode to the train station - we were the first people on the train in Erfurt, which is very important as our tandem and trailer are very large. It is always a concern to arrive late as the conductor has the discretion to turn you away if the bike area is full. The train to Leipzig had 3 large bike cars and was very comfortable. We had a layover of 2 hours in Leipzig station which passed quite quickly. There is a 3 storey shopping area which entertained us, as well as the great people watching. Getting on the train in Leipzig was a challenge. There wig and one of them requires a 90 degree narrow turn at the entrance. Our tandem was the complete length of the biggest bike section. People arrived at the last minute with several bikes and Barry had to put our bike basically in the middle of the narrow aisle. The conductor was very kind and didn't mind. The other problem was that the train was very late arriving, so we only had a few minutes to hop on. Suffice it to say, we were very lucky. It took so long to get our bike on that as the train was scheduled to leave, Mary Ellen was running down the platform trying to get the trailer on in the next car. We made it just in the nick of time
Today is another big day of travel by train. After taking two trains,we will be in Cottbus by the end of the day, which gets us very close to Poland. This photo shows the route of the first train from Erfurt to Leipzig.
Leipzig Hautbahnhof (Train Station) is like Franfkfurt - being very user friendly with all of the platforms on the same level - no need to carry our bike up and down flights of stairs! Leipzig is a busy hub for travel.
Apothekes (Drug Stores) in Germany are extraordinary. When you go in, a pharmacist dedicates their attention and service to you and whatever you need to purchase. We always get great advice. Cornelia Dallmann went well beyond her job description in phoning a number of dentists before finding a Dental Technician who was willing to take on my denture problem. I am so grateful to Cornelia for her perseverance and dedication to serving patients who come in the door.
Getting off the train in Cottbus, we looked for an Apotheke and luckily we found one directly across the road. It is a bit hard to explain how extraordinary they are unless you have experienced the quality of attention and service that one gets in a European Apotheke, but trust us, it is outstanding. The Pharmacist who helped Mary Ellen had to persevere until she found someone who would help Mary Ellen fix her denture. We are both very grateful to Cornelia for her caring and hard work.
And here is the second guardian angel who came to my rescue today: Grit Wunsche whose business is Dental Labor. She was phoned by Cornelia and when she heard about my problem, she dropped everything to come to the Apotheke, take me to her lab, fix it and then drive me to the dentist for the final examination and then drove me to the Canoe Club where Barry would be waiting for me with camp set up.
How do I describe how wonderful Grit is? Not only did she cheerfully take on my problem in the midst of a busy work day, she discovered another loose tooth and fixed that as well. Her professionalism and great sense of humour were greatly appreciated. We laughed and talked like old friends. It is my hope that she will visit us one day on Saltspring Island and try our golf course. In all, she spent 3 hours fixing my denture, driving me to the dentist for an appt and then drove me to the Canoe Club where we would be camping. Meanwhile, Barry will have navigated to the Canoe Club without a stoker, set up the tent and figured out dinner. All in all, I feel pretty lucky with the way that things have worked out. The other lucky thing in my view, is that the problem I was dealing with was fixing a denture and not dealing with my soft, painful "real" teeth. That would be so much worse.
