Smokers in Slovenia

Group of smokers outside the Hotel reception

One thing you really notice here in Slovenia is how many people still smoke. Public squares are full of smokers but at least people no longer smoke inside.

In Germany the number of smokers appears to have decreased rapidly over the last couple of years and I am told smoking is no longer 'cool'.  German railway stations have yellow 'smokers squares' painted on the platforms and they used to be crowded. Not any more. 

Cigarettes

After living in a country where cigarettes must be kept under the counter it is a bit of a shock to find baskets of cigarette packages placed right next to the checkout in Hamburg Aldi stores

Aldi checkout with cigarettes

Friends tell me that a lot of people have stopped smoking here but you wouldn't know it by looking at the outdoor cafes.

Smoker at an inner city Cafe in Hamburg

Wikipedia says 26% of Germans smoke. In most other European countries over 30% of the population smokes (in Greece 43%) so perhaps the peak has passed.  The lists of side effects is long (and includes erectile dysfunction) which makes you wonder how many brown paper bags are passed from cigarette companies to law makers. Those lists of side effects  (the link is to the German Wiki site has more info than the English version ) make me pleased I have a weakness for chocolate not cigarettes.

Tide turning for smokers

Germans are, as a nation, very concerned about health so it is surprising that so many of them smoke. Things seem to be changing though, judging by railway station etiquette. Areas for smokers on train platforms are now marked with thick yellow lines and on the stations I visited, smokers were using them.

Platform at Munich Ostbahnhof

On Austrian railway stations passive smoking is the norm as smokers still spread themselves right along the platform and it is impossible to find an unpolluted spot. . There were no smokers in the Graz station hall, but almost every patron at the Lavazza coffee shop in the station building was smoking so I bought a takeaway and sat outside the shop to drink it.
The Polish woman at breakfast told me that in Poland smoking in enclosed spaces and on station platforms is forbidden and that not so many young people smoke.