It is my understanding that you can't buy ice at the corner markets in little towns.Does anyone know if this is true, and if so, where can you get ice? Besides big hotels.Or not?

Buy ice in Europe? You must be jesting. I've never seen an ice machine in Europe. If you want ice, you will have to bring it with you and figure out how to keep it frozen. <BR> <BR>The reason, as explained to me (yes, I did ask) was that energy costs are very high in Europe beause they have to import their oil and they wouldn't dream of "wasting" energy to make ice. <BR> <BR>When I lived in Germany, they turned the heat down to 60 every night from 10:00PM to 6:00AM and turned it off completely from May 1 to October 1 to conserve energy. There was no option to pay more because there was only so much energy and it would not be fair to all for one to get more than his share. That was one cold winter and I froze. I had to sleep in a sweat suit and drank a lot of hot tea.

Speaking only for Britain, the large hotels do have ice in the bars/pubs and they have enough Americans/Canadians and Australians that like ice that they do their best to please us. In small hotels and B&Bs our experience has been that they use little ice trays for the freezer and may have only a dozen pieces of ice for everyone. We have been in hotels and literally used their entire supply of ice for the whole night, five or six pieces. We choose lager to drink or wine. We are from Arizona and use tons of ice but certainly understand their climate and they do not require or like ice as we do.

Hey Nickie, <BR>What's ice?

My german friends wonder at my strange <BR>desire for stale, frozen water...

Hey, top. Any good german will tell you , you don't need ice to drink a beer.

This reminded me of a favorite memory: one hot evening in Paris my friend and I traipsed up the hill toward Montmartre to dine at a restaurant. The waiters in their tuxes hovered at the door; the white tablecloths awaited us. As soon as we were seated, two young waiters came over , presented us with two tall glasses of ice water AND put an ice bucket on the table. Then all the waiters grinned and laughed for quite a while at the delight they had brought us. My friend and I are both 50 yr.old women who speak no French other than Bonjour, Merci, Au revoir and Ou est __? These waiters were wonderful ambassadors of France, and I still smile when I think of them. The French unfriendly? I beg to differ...oops, I got off the subject. Sorry. <BR>

Nickie, <BR>hint : everything above is true, but you can ALWAYS get ice in your drink in a bar -I mean, as much ice as you drink here, ie half the glass... <BR>hint #2 : Campings with stores usually provide ice, for the campers need to keep the food cold for a while. So if you can't find ice in little markets, asks for the nearest camping ! <BR>Personnaly, I have always believed there could be a relationship between the amount of ice americans drink and the large size of many of them. Could be wrong, doctors only talk about fat/cholesterol, but I'm not sure it's good to always drink ice. But I'm getting frenchy-critic, and oops ! I differ, just like Judy...

Again speaking only for Britain you can usually buy ice in a freezer shop and in the summer in the best supermarkets. If you are staying somewhere with a freezer or even a small freezer compartment in a fridge, you can buy ice bags on a roll (like food bags), fill them with water and freeze them yourself. <BR> <BR>Never say die!

Try McDonalds or Burger King - when I need an ice fix I always stop there. Otherwise, get used to drinking everything room temp. Even refrigerated drinks are not what Americans would call cold.

I was desperate for ice for my tennessee whiskey in Norway and was pleased to find a meat market with an ice machine. The owner was very understanding and would not take any payment for a bag of ice. That was the first time I ever poured my Jack Daniels down the drain, it seems the ice had been used previously in the fish counter! <BR>

. . . remember when in rome, . . . <BR>Have ice-less drinks. After all you are going to Europe to see/do/experience new & different things???

Any update on where to purchase ice in Germany?
I know what you’re thinking, another F!@#in
American asking where to buy ice. I going in
early October. What can I say,
I like ice with my cocktails.

No ice anywhere we went, so I made it myself....
Got a ziplock bag put water in it sealed and froze it.
Later got the little bag hammered against the counter and it's ready to use in a drink. That's what I did wherever I had a freezer after my failed attempts of buying ice in Europe.

Lived in Germany for a year, our freezer never got cold enough to make even 1 batch of ice cubes. I like warm diet coke now!

Topping an eleven year old thread . . . .?

Okaaaay - if you could buy ice -- where would you store it? Where were you planning on buying cocktails? Big international hotel bars will have ice.

Yes I'm topping an eleven year old thread. I wasn't planning on storing it. I want it, so I can enjoy a cocktail in my hotel room. Thanks for the info!

Sincerely,

Your favorite drunk

Many gas stations have ice (nowadays). My (mid-sized) supermarket got ice. But only the huge bags you also know from the US.
If you just need a few cubes, bring a ziplock bag and ask at the hotel bar. It does not have to be a big Hilton. Every hotel with a bar got ice.

festivus01,

www.rewe.de

one of the big chains. At least in Munich, they sell ice, even when nobody buys it. Progress?

We were able to find ice at some of the Esso gas stations. (Esso has the contract for American gov't subsidised gas, so that makes sense.) Otherwise, the big Rewe or Aldi near camping grounds would be a good try.