Well,nana, I agree with you. I hadn't encountered hsv before, but he/ she needs to get over him/ her-self.

I wish I could help you, but I can't. Just want you to know not everyone on Fodors is so snarky. Take your ziplock bags and enjoy your trip. As a 75 year old who needs ice for my knees, I sympathize.

Thank you charnees. It really shocked me, the turn that the forum took. I will enjoy my trip.

Nana have a great time in Germany.

I am not quite sure who has to get over themselves. After all I was the first to point out that there are supermarkets that do sell ice, some petrol stations that do and that McDonald's for ice cubes can be a final resort (been there, done it).
If you felt attacked by my "Zimmer" comment, I cannot help you. If you think that "Zimmer" is commonly used to mean "Zimmer frei" you clearly still haven't got the point.

But then Zimmer remains Zimmer when using the plural. No "Zimmers" just "Zimmer". :D. And a train is a "Zug", several trains are "Züge", just like several "Dorf" are "Dörfer".

"Ice" is "Eis" and Eis will be a problem.

You could write:
"Ich habe Diabetes und brauche jeden Tag bzw. jeden Abend Eis um meine Beine zu behandeln. Wissen Sie wo ich hier in der Nähe eine möglichst große Menge kaufen kann? Ich bräuchte mindestens 1 Kilo."

You are all right and I am wrong. I'm sorry I got so defensive, but I definitely felt I was being attacked.

Here is a suggestion. At many medical supply stores, there are light weigt instant ice packs. You 'pop' the bubble inside the package and... instant ice pack. They are small. Approximately the size of a very thin paperback book and disposable, so as you travel you would have more room in your luggage. You can use these directly on your feet or to cool the water you will submerge your feet in.
let the 'zimmer' go.... sounds like nit picking to me.
Have a wonderful trip and feel well. Enjoy your personal odessey, I am very sorry on the loss of your husband

Nana, please ignore the rude posters. They revel in their chance to hurt and make fun of others. I'm sure if they had to post their actual names, it wouldn't happen.

Have a wonderful trip. Very sorry to hear of your loss.

I certainly did not want to attack you. Your original post did not contain a specific question and in an attempt at mockery I picked up on that. I still did try to help.

The "Zimmer" and "Zimmer frei" thing was meant to make things less complicated for any foreigner trying to speak German when plain English would be much more accurate. Poster Cowboy elaborated on the subject at great length. I tried to do it in shorter sentences.
Purely as an FYI, the "Zimmer frei" term is being used as a synonym for a B&B-style private room only by foreigners. It can be explained by them seeing "Zimmer frei" signs displayed in private houses whose owners rent out rooms. Germans don't call such accommodations "Zimmer frei" though, as the term only means "vacant room". Theoretically a 5* hotel could display a sign "Zimmer frei" as the equivalent to "vacancy" signs in the US and elsewhere.
Technically it is impossible to stay in a "Zimmer frei" because the room would not be vacant if one were staying there.
Germans, as other nations, appreciate any attempt of foreigners to try to speak at least a few words of their language. As such the common "Zimmer frei" attempt is a good natured attempt at the use of the local language, but unfortunately doesn't have any meaning to a local. It's a bit like saying "yesterday on the Autobahn I went in the direction of Ausfahrt" picking up on the numerous signs "Ausfahrt" on German Autobahns that merely mean "Exit".
I hope you will find lots of ice in Germany (good supermarkets, better petrol stations and McDonald's should be of help), find nice vacant rooms with hospitable owners and have a good trip.

You can buy empty plastic ice cube sacks in local grocery stores and ask your hotel to fill them with water put them in the freezer. That should do the trick. In fact, to make sure you have them, you might want to bring them from your home country.

Your request is quite reasonable and easy to solve.

Enjoy Germany!

Before you leave, buy a few of those gel packs that can be frozen and re-used. Ask the manager/owner of your accommodations if they can be put into the freezer (or use the in-room fridge) if you have one. Pop those into the cold water and it should be a reasonable approximation of ice.

As an ice alternative, pick up a bag of frozen peas at a late night store and put your feet on the bag or put the bag in the water. As soon as you arrive at a location, however, you'll have to find out if there's a late-night store, where it is, and whether it carries any frozen veg (some do, some don't).

Your question was worded a bit vaguely, but didn't merit the derision and mockery you got in response. (Also, having had a soft-tissue inflammation in my foot that was greatly relieved by ice, I do sympathise. And chamomile tea/valerian would have been completely useless "therapy" for that condition)

Purely as an FYI, the "Zimmer frei" term is being used as a synonym for a B&B-style private room only by foreigners. It can be explained by them seeing "Zimmer frei" signs displayed in private houses whose owners rent out rooms. Germans don't call such accommodations "Zimmer frei" though, as the term only means "vacant room". >>

so what do germans call it then?

As you might expect, the German words are longer ;-)

The technical term would be "Privatunterkunft" (private accomodation) or Privatvermieter (private landlord/renter).
If you emailed or asked a tourist information you would write/say "Ich suche eine Privatunterkunft in Oberammergau".

If you check, for example, the website for the Oberammergau region, you will see on the left hand side a search box for accomodation.
http://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/en/index.html
The German-language version calls the infamous "Zimmer frei" type of accomodation "Privatvermieter", when you switch to English that type is called "Bed & Breakfast".

Many other phrases like "Ferienwohnung = holiday rental" or "Fremdenzimmer" are ambiguous. The "Fremdenzimmer" term could be used by a B&B as well as by an inn/pension. It's a rather antiquated term and hardly used in spoken language anymore.

nanaof4

I have a friend who suffers from neuropathy in her feet (a diabetic complication). I have seen how painful this condition is and how it can debilitate completely. It is a pity tears don't cure it because so many have been shed.

My friend, now in her 70s carries crushed ice in a thermos flask. That may not help you because of your busy itinerary and location changes but it is the only suggestion I can come up with.

I wish you the very best and hope your trip to Germany is all you want it to be.

Bill

Germans also call them Privatzimmer.

Yeah, one question still remains. When you stay in a "room vacant", then you'll occupy that room, right? Is it still a "room vacant" or does it become a "room occupied"? Can anybody ever stay in a "room vacant"?
One of the mysteries of life...

logos999, i thought more of you than that.

cowboy - danke. I thought that my german was pretty good but I'd never considered this particular problem. I have always just asked "Haben Sie bitte eine Zimmer frei?" or "ich suche eine Zimmer" - relying upon the sign in the window. Who knew that this was a linguistic solecism?

Good luck with your trip, Nana!

annhig.. you did perfectly fine, when you inquired directly at that place which posted "Zimmer frei" outside.
You would ask there, as you would with at any B&B or hotel, "I'm looking for a room", or similar.

But exactly as in English, it would make no sense to walk into a tourist information, either in Oberammergau or Oxford, ask same question and expect the people there to guess that you were looking for a room in a B&B. You'd probably get asked if you were looking for a room in a hotel or motel or pension or B&B etc etc.

The term itself is just too generic to imply a certain type of establishment, unless you knock at the door of the place you want to stay.

As many private homes in tourist regions have those "Zimmer frei" signs outside, it probably led the foreigner to believe that it was some kind of significant phrase that had a specific meaning, which it does not.
It would be similar to the "vacancy" signs you see outside almost every US motel. As a foreigner, I could get the impression that "vacancy" equals motel-type establishments. Yet, asking for "vacancies" and expecting an American to know that I was specifically talking about motels would be a similar error.

I hope that settles it.