I have not had surgery in Germany. However, I spent almost two weeks in Bavaria (southern Germany, where the Alphaklinik is located) in 2002. I had a lot of preconceived notions as to what Germany would be like, and I was very surprised at how different it was from my expectations. Almost everyone spoke some English. People sometimes seemed to eavesdrop when we spoke English in public and would sort of ask permission to join our conversation, especially if we were trying to figure out something that they knew the answer to. People were reserved, but friendly once a conversation took place. The food was delicious, lots of pork and potatoes, and wonderful bakery items. Breakfast was strange, but we solved that by having bakery items and coffee or hot chocolate for breakfast (yes, we both gained about two pounds). Public transportation was excellent and almost all restrooms (one exception was the subway restroom in Munich) were much cleaner and nicer than in the U.S. Bavaria was very clean and orderly. Windows were shiny and even the firewood was stacked neatly. Munich is a big city, but there are lots of small towns which are very picturesque. As for prices, right now the Euro is expensive, but when we went the Euro and the dollar were about equal. Food and lodging were cheaper, but manufactured items were more expensive. One day we bought a box of bandaids and the box cost more than $4.
I am considering having surgery at the Alphaklinik and one of the pluses is going back to Germany.
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