Spas of Baden-Baden

  • October 29, 2009 1:20 PM

Note: I wrote this post after a trip I took last May, but I forgot to post it until recently, when a friend mentioned she’s planning a trip there.

This weekend, Thomas went on a company retreat to the South of Spain – spouses were not invited – so instead, I spent the weekend pampering myself at the spa in Baden-Baden. Baden-Baden, meaning “bath bath,” is a small town tucked away in the Black Forest of Germany. There are natural springs there that release hot thermal mineral water, which is used at the local spas.

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Panoramic View of the Two Spas

One of the new experiences for me in my trip was that some of the spas promoted public nudity, even when men and women were together. Europeans seem much more open with the human body than Americans – all people have body parts under their clothes, some with hair, some that sag, and even some with flabby parts. There, it didn’t seem unnatural – there was no reason to gawk.

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Walking Path Along the River

There are 2 spas – Friedrichsbad and Caracalla. You can see what Friedrichsbad is like in Rick Steve’s video, but I went to Caracalla, the less structured of the two.

Caracalla has 2 levels – downstairs is swimsuit required and upstairs is nudity required – just leave your swimsuit at the door. Note: You don’t have to go upstairs if it doesn’t suit your fancy, but it’s an interesting experience, and honestly, you’re never going to see those people again. :)

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Dandelion Field

Caracalla is best described as a playground of pools, showers, jets, streams, waterfalls and saunas. You can try them all or just pick out the ones you like, spending as much time as you want at each. For 3-hours, it cost about $20.  By the end of my time there, I tried them all, upstairs and down. My favorites were the hot pool and the icy grottos – hopping from one to the other takes your breath away.

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Snail at the Rose Garden

I also got to try more types of saunas than I knew existed – aromatherapy, menthol, crystal, steam, fire-burning, and glass. My favorite was the fire-burning which was outdoors. It felt a little weird to walk outdoors without clothes on, take an icy shower, and then step into the sauna with others sitting in there, but the surrounding heat and crackling fire was very relaxing.

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Flower-lined Bridge over River

Speaking of relaxing, there were also a few places to take a nap – under heat lamps, on a rooftop garden, in the nature filled bamboo room, and in the blue space. The blue space (also upstairs) was a little trippy – it was lit with blue lights and playing peaceful new age music. you just spread out on white pots for a rest.

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Wildflowers in the Hills

Overall, the spa was a great experience – fun, relaxing and culturally different. I also enjoyed a gorgeous hike in the nearby Natur Park Schwarzwald. The views were amazing of nearby towns and the fields were covered in wildflowers. Baden-Baden is a beautiful town – flowers everywhere, a babbling river, gorgeous architecture that reminded me of a mini-Rome. I can’t wait until I can take Thomas back there and explore more of it. There’s also a casino, castle, and monastery all within bicycling distance – plenty to do for a long weekend.

If you’d like to see more of my photos from the trip, I’ve posted them on Flickr.  And no, there are no photos from within the Spa – cameras are not allowed.

25 Differences in Belgium and the US

  • October 28, 2009 1:39 PM
Three Legged Buddha in front of Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie

Three-legged Buddha at the Royal Theater

Today, I was interviewed by some Belgian college students for an assignment where they asked me about being an American living in Belgium.  One of the questions I really liked was how is Belgium different from the US.  Here’s some of my thoughts…

  1. Grocery stores do not give you bags.  You are expected to bring your own, or must purchase one.
  2. Refrigerators are much smaller with barely any freezer space, encouraging multiple trips to the grocery store or market within a single week.
  3. Drink glasses are tiny and drinks are not served with ice.
  4. Tap water is not served at restaurants.
  5. Tables are much closer to your neighbor in restaurants.
  6. One waiter will serve an entire restaurant, and he will not check up on you throughout your meal.  If you want the check, you have to ask him specifically.
  7. Some restaurants, bakeries, etc. will not accept credit cards or bank cards.  Always carry some cash on you.
  8. It is perfectly acceptable to drink a glass of wine or beer at lunch.
  9. Scarves are worn by folding them in half, and then sticking the ends through the loop.  They are worn year round with any outfit.
  10. Men can wear capris pants, white pants, and very tight pants – maybe even a combination of all of those.
  11. Facial piercings, such as a single stud near the lips is common with the young generation.
  12. It is acceptable to bring your dog on trams, in stores, and to restaurants.
  13. Motorcycles are allowed to pass between cars.  The motorcycle drivers will kick out their leg to say thanks if you let them pass.
  14. Traffic from the right has the right-away.  Unless otherwise posted, yield to traffic turning onto your street from the right.
  15. It’s acceptable to bump into another car while you’re parallel parking.  They don’t have alarms that go off with slight touches.
  16. If someone is parked in front of your garage, honk (and disturb the neighbors) until the driver comes out and move his car.
  17. Hole punches have 2 holes; printer paper is 8.3in x 11.6in, and general notebooks contain graph paper.
  18. Speak quietly, especially on the tram/bus or in restaurants.  Your neighbors shouldn’t be able to hear you.  This applies when you’re on a cell phone too.
  19. Shops close around 6:30PM, groceries around 8PM, and none are open on Sundays.
  20. Washer/dryers are smaller and more eco-friendly, but a single load could take several hours to wash and dry.
  21. Most houses have the toilet in a different room from the bathtub.
  22. Many restaurants will charge about 30-cents to use the bathroom.  Pay the woman sitting outside the stalls.
  23. Tipping is not expected in restaurants.
  24. Schools have a half day on Wednesdays for children to go to extracurricular activities.
  25. Only International schools have school buses and they are white vans.

This question was particularly hard because I have to remember to not confuse living in Belgium with living in Brussels.  One of the biggest changes for us is moving from a quiet suburb to a big city, and of course there are lots of differences in that, but they may be there too if we were to live in downtown Atlanta, or New York City.

New French Phrases

  • October 27, 2009 10:19 AM
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Birthday Orchid

The month of October has been very educational, teaching me several new French phrases:

  • Quand mon objectif de la caméra est entièrement zoomée, il ne se concentre pas.
    When my camera lens is fully zoomed, it does not focus.
  • La lentille optique sur mon appareil est débranché.
    The optical lens on my camera is disconnected.
  • L’objectif n’est pas en garantie et doit être réparé.
    The lens is not in warranty and needs to be repaired.
  • Vous avez laissé tomber ma lentille et maintenant elle est brisée.
    You dropped my lens and now it is shattered.
  • Mon vélo a été volé dans mon garage.
    My bicycle was stolen from my garage.
  • Le vélo n’était pas verrouillée.
    The bike was not locked.
  • La nouvelle porte de garage reste ouvert pendant une minute quand quelqu’un entre ou sort.
    The new garage door stays open for one minute when someone enters or leaves.

We’ve had a frustrating time with a broken camera lens (18-200mm), a stolen bicycle, and also a small fender bender (but that’s Thomas’ story to tell).  Luckily, everyone has been very patient with our poor French, but sometimes, it makes things so much harder.  For example, I took my camera lens in to a shop because the full zoom was not focusing and the glass had become unattached.  Though I told this to the man in the store…in French, he did not understand me and had picked up the lens before I could react…the unattached glass shattering on the floor.

I think we’ve got everything sorted out now.  The broken lens has been sent in for repairs.  We bought a new lens so we’d have one for our trip to Morocco (photos coming soon).  If the old lens can be repaired for a reasonable price, we’ll sell it.  We reported the stolen bike to the police and our insurance should be covering it.  And Thomas’ insurance is taking care of the fender bender.

It really hit home this month on how important it is for us to learn French.  In Brussels, you often find people that speak English, but outside the city, it’s less common.  I feel horrible each time I ask someone, “Parlez-vous anglais?” even though, their English is often better than my French.  In the US, even in Spanish-speaking areas, no one ever asked me if I could speak Spanish to them instead of English.  Guess I need to put a little more time into studying for my French class.

Birding in Champagne

  • October 8, 2009 4:57 PM
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Lapwing in Flight

A few weekends ago, Thomas and I went to Champagne, France.  It wasn’t the typical trip to Champagne, filled with fancy hotels and fizzy drinks, but instead, we were there to do some bird-watching.  Just outside of Champagne, in an area called Chantecoq, there are some lakes (Lac du Der and Lac d’Orient) where cranes stop during their annual southern migration and we tried to catch a peek.

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Riding through the countryside

Birding trips are interesting.  They involve early mornings (the best time to see birds is sunrise and sunset), carrying lots of gear (camera with a 500mm lens, binoculars, a birding scope, and two tripods), traveling to remote areas, and lots of sitting still.  We knew we were in the right place when we stumbled upon some other birders with huge scopes, heavy enough that they towed them in a children’s wagon.

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Birds at the lake

Though we saw many birds through our binoculars and scopes, we weren’t able to capture many with our cameras — they were just too far away.  We saw lots of Northern Lapwings, Eurasian Widgeon, White Wagtails, and a few Common Cranes and Black Storks.  We also saw some muskrats, a pack of wild hogs, deer, lizards, and frogs.

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Thomas in a field

It was a fun trip, and we did squeeze in a quick tour at the Mercier Champagne House, but I think we were a little early for the birding migration.  I think we would have seen more if we waited until mid-October…maybe next year.

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Misty Lake View

Below are some links to the places we did our bird-watching and the rest of our trip photos on Flickr:

Largest Pumpkin Contest

  • October 4, 2009 4:23 PM

Wow, it’s October! The temperatures have dropped, the skies have turned gray, I celebrated another birthday, and pumpkins are ripe.

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You don’t see pumpkins here often, and no jack-o-lanterns since they don’t celebrate Halloween here. Our grocery has a few halved pumpkins in the produce area, but no canned pumpkins for pumpkin pie or casserole. But yesterday, Ali (and her baby, Reagan) and I went to Duisburg, about 30 minutes away, to see the Largest Pumpkin Contest.

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People brought their biggest pumpkins, hauled in trailers, to be weighed at this annual competition. We posed by a few pumpkins and then headed inside. There were tables packed with beer-sipping locals as they waited to hear who had the next heaviest pumpkin. We poked around – tried some pumpkin liqueur, bought some pumpkin butter, and checked out some of the fancy chickens and doves on display.

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By the time we left, the largest pumpkin so far was 303kg (about 660lbs).

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Afterward, we headed back and went to a little cafe near my house for some hot chocolate. I’ve been there before and it seems to be the hangout for the retired crowd. As soon as Ali pulled Reagan out of her carrier, they all gathered around to pat her hands, tickle her chin, and coo at her. It was really funny how gah-gah they went over a random baby, but she is a cutie!
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If you’d like to see more photos from our outing, I’ve posted them on Flickr: