Baden-Baden Weekend

Hey Everyone,

My post this week is about the trip I took last weekend. I was sitting in my longest class of the week, Marketing, when my friend Audrey told me that there was a town about an hour away with nice, inexpensive day spas. The city is Baden-baden- in german, the word, "baden" means, "to bathe." The city is known for its location right at the edge of the forest and for its hot springs. Apparently the springs have been known since Roman times- the Romans had bath houses there, and you can still go and see the ruins. Baden-baden has an abundance of spas, several of which are what are known as "day spas." This just means that you don't have to make a previous reservation to enjoy the spa. After learning all of this, we booked a hotel and train tickets, and the next morning we were off! It was an adventure from beginning to end, including our first challenge at the train station. All of the train employees in one union decided to go on strike 10 minutes before our train left!! Luckily we ran into a german friend who explained the situation. He told us that luckily, there was another union, and those employees would be operating some of the major trains in an hour. We sat down for a coffee, and then caught a different train, and we were on our way! The weather wasn't bad, a little cloudy but not too cold! :) We took two different trains, and once we were in Baden-Baden we took a bus to a nearby village, Neuweier, to check into our hotel. However, I had some trouble finding the bus routes online and we weren't sure where to get off of the bus. We got off at one stop to get out our maps and regroup, and across the street was our hotel! We went in and checked in, and took a quick look around the village, then took a bus back into Baden-Baden, about a 20 minute drive, and went to the wonderful Caracalla Spa. The spa is so named after the former Roman emperor, Caracalla, formally known as Lucius Septimus Bassianus, who came to Baden-baden to bathe and find some relief from arthritis pain. It costs a mere 21 euros to spend 4 hours in the spa. My friend and I paid a little extra for a 30-minute massage (my first professional massage, and for those of you who know me well, you know how exciting this was for me! :p), and for one extra hour of spa time. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures inside the spa, so I'll post some from their website:

This was taken at the back of the spa- inside there is a large main pool with many smaller pools inside it, and it connects to the outdoor section, which is similar, except that some of the small pools are cooler, and some have hot water. Inside, the main hot tub is lined by high stone walls, and has a waterfall flowing at the back wall. There were usually 15-20 people in this hot tub, talking and laughing. In the downstairs of the spa, there was also an aroma steam bath, and a saltwater inhalation room. The aroma bath was my favorite feature- it smelled so strongly of mint and herbs that it made my nose tingle. The room had 100 percent humidity, so at first when I stepped inside I felt like I couldn't breathe. But as I just sat there and relaxed, I got used to it. I felt as though the herb-aromas were going inside my lungs and then traveling through my entire body- it was an incredible sensation! The room itself was also very soothing, with lots of small stone sitting booths, soft classical music, and Romanesque statuettes here and there. The ceilings of the booths were dark, speckled with small lights that made them look like a starry night sky. The saltwater room was also nice- they had a tall cylinder filled with small, dark brown sticks from the ocean that had salt water trickling over them- apparently inhaling the brine-air for 10-20 minutes helps to strengthen the immune system and clear your respiratory system of congestion- I had a cold when I went, so this was exactly what I needed. The atmosphere in the downstairs area was relaxing but also fun- this spa is more family-friendly, so there were children and families mixed in with the other spa-goers. Here is another shot, this time of the main pool of the spa- if you like these you should click on the link earlier in this post and check out the virtual tour- it is really remarkable.

While the downstairs of the spa was wonderful, the upstairs area was also equally wonderful, but we faced another challenge there. In Germany, spas have followed Roman tradition, and people generally wear no clothes while they relax in spas and saunas.  This is less frequent in the United States. In Germany, nudity is not only customary but required in every spa except for the one that we chose. However, even in this spa, you can't wear clothes in the sauna. You can bring a towel, which was comforting for my friend and I. We were uncomfortable at the thought of going into the sauna, but we wanted to experience it in order to appreciate and understand the culture. Once we were inside, we laughed at the irony of the situation- we were afraid that people would be staring at us, but we were the only ones staring! To everyone else this was perfectly normal, and we actually looked a little strange because we couldn't stop looking around! Eventually, we got used to it and just relaxed like everyone else. That's what this whole experience is about- accepting cultural differences. My friend and I had such a nice time in the spa, even after 5 hours we didn't want to leave. However, we did, and then we had dinner and went back to our hotel and slept like rocks.

We woke up feeling very refreshed, and went downstairs to a wonderful breakfast prepared by the very kind owner of our hotel. After that we checked out, and took another look at Neuweier. It's a small, peaceful place, with lots of houses, vineyards, and fields. There was so much greenery all around me, it was so nice to see life and nature- it makes me miss North Carolina less :). We took a bus back into Baden-baden, and walked all over the place. The city was bustling with tourists as well as people preparing for Carnevale- Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have a big celebration that begins on November 11th at 11:11am, and ends on Ash Wednesday. They call this period the "fifth season,"
and it includes a series of parades, festivals and costume balls. The biggest celebrations during the next couple of weeks are in Dusseldorf, Mainz, and Köln. There is even a parade this weekend here in Mannheim! Apparently everyone dresses us in all kinds of costumes and there are rides and food and games! Anyways, my next post will tell you all about my experiences with that, so stay tuned!


Back to Baden-baden: we walked all over the city- it is the most beautiful and picturesque place that I've seen in Germany. Apparently it is referred to as the "Orange County" of Germany, as the area has many wealthy inhabitants. There are shops of all types, and my friend and I mused through them, taking pictures and buying souvenirs occasionally- we bought some delicious Easter chocolate from a chocolaterie in town- there are pictures in the photo album above this post! After we saw all of the shops, we walked into the Black forest and hiked for awhile. This is a large mountain range covered in woods that extends through southwestern Germany. It is incredibly lush, with grass so thick it feels like a carpet, and enormous trees with thick red trunks growing everywhere. Here and there, beautiful purple flowers were sprouting in clusters out of the ground- the first sign I've seen of spring! There are also mansions nestled in the hills of the forest of all shapes and sizes. We through and saw many of them, and also discovered a lovely place called the Rosengarten- there were no roses yet, but we met a very kind man walking his dog who told us that it will be blooming with them in a couple of months. He also told us that there is an opera festival in Baden-baden in May, so I'm planning to return then to see the roses and hear beautiful music! :) Anyways, after we finished walking around in the forest, we had lunch and went back to Mannheim. It was such an invigorating, refreshing trip- I wish I could do stuff like this at home! Anways, I hope all of you reading this are well :) enjoy the incoming spring, I know I can't wait!


~Bekah