Baden-Baden and the Friedrichsbad (2/22/09):

I had been dreaming and scheming all week. I was getting over a nasty cold, and some rejuvenation was long overdue. I had heard that there was famous hot springs in Baden-Baden, just a little over an hours train ride from Strasbourg. When I saw that they were open on Sunday that clinched it. Since nothing else is open on Sunday, it not only gave me something to do, but also gave me Friday and Saturday to catch up on work. I convinced three other music students, Jill, Sarah, and Julia to come with me. It also happened to be Jill’s birthday so what’s a better way to celebrate?

I met everyone at the Strasbourg train station at about 10:15 am to catch our 10:53 train. We had to change trains in Appenwier, which is the funniest most convoluted train station I have ever seen. Luckily I had been to this station when I went to visit Andrew, but it is easy to find yourself confused. There is no main station and the platforms jump from 1-5 then 9. I don’t know where 4-9 are hidden, but the fact that they are missing doesn’t seem to bother the Germans. We arrived at platform 3, and then had to walk down a path, under an overpass, over a bridge and finally there was platform 9. We arrived in Baden-Baden, and went to the ticket/information counter to buy our bus tickets to the center of town. The agent was very helpful, communicating very clearly even though he spoke only “a little English”. We got off the bus at “Leopoldplatz” and began to walk towards the spas.

Baden-Baden is a very pretty little city. It is quite wealthy, and mostly retired people live there. So consequently, the shops are designer and quite pricey, but the buildings are ornate and beautiful. We came to the spas and saw that we could either go to the Caracalla Spa or the Friedrichsbad. I had done a little research and saw that the Friedrischsbad was a 3 hour 17 step process of different pools, saunas etc. Mark Twain was quoted saying “In 10 minutes you loose track of time, in 20 you loose track of the world.” Because of all this, the cool German sounding name, and the pretty pictures online we decided to check this one out.

As we were standing in line waiting to buy our tickets, Julia asked, “Sarah, is it a stupid question to ask if we are allowed to wear swimsuits here?” Sarah answered, “Yes Julia, that definitely falls under the stupid question category. They have swimsuits all over the brochures. Its just an option, and quite common here in Europe to go without clothing.” We paid our 21 Euro entry fee and excitedly made our way to the locker room.

Sure enough however, as we emerged from the changing stalls and started putting our stuff in the lockers, a spa worker approached Jill and I and said something in German. We gave her the “deer in the headlights” look, and she then informed us in English that clothing wasn’t allowed. “No, Naked” she said. She repeated the same thing when Sarah and Julia came out and was slightly amused at our dropped jaws and looks of utter confusion. She imitated us trying to cover ourselves up and then pointed us towards the entrance. Sarah tried to explain why we were confused saying, “We had no idea, this isn’t normal where we come from.” As she walked away, we looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and Jill commented “Well, were going to get REAL comfortable with each other, and REALLY get to know each other.” Apparently we had looked at the wrong brochure, to top it off, we had come on the only day of the week in which the entire bathing process was mixed.

We were quite the amusing sight, walking to the entrance of the baths hunched over with our sheets tightly wrapped around ourselves. We were also the recipients of quizzical looks from locals who were casually walking around completely nude with their sheet under their arms. The first station was the shower. We were given flip-flops and then told to put our sheets on the shelves. We took a deep breath, counted to three and ran towards the huge kohler-like luxury showers like we were horses with blinders on. Being music students, none of us had ever experienced the public showering phenomena that is common in sports teams. Public nudity (at least physically) is not a normal occurrence in orchestra rehearsals.

However, after getting over the initial shell shock, it was really quite a pleasant experience. The same worker who informed us of the norm in the locker room always seemed to be around the next corner pointing us in the right direction and explaining what to do. The showers were the first station, and they were divine. It felt like a warm cascading waterfall. The next two stations were two saunas, (the second one quite a bit hotter). The rooms were filled with wooden chairs and wooden “beach” recliners, and the walls were covered with beautiful mosaic tile. The next station was a steam room, warmed naturally by the hot springs and smelling of beautiful essential oils. After that began the succession of pools. I felt like I was in ancient Rome. The ceilings were high, and beautifully painted or covered in tiles. The first pool was lukewarm, but comfortable. You could feel the water gently brush over you like a soft piece of liquid silk. The non-chlorinated water made your skin feel enriched not bleached. The next pool was slightly colder, and was three feet deep with jets coming out of the side. The next pool was probably the most picturesque, with a beautiful high dome, with maroon red and blue tiles, but was a bit chilly, so we couldn’t stay in for too long. Two more cold pools were to follow, the last being a cold plunge into lake superior. We repeated this sequence again, but selecting our favorites-the saunas, steam room and the lukewarm pool before going to the drying stations. We were wrapped in towels and sat on the bench for a few minutes, just utterly relaxed. After that they took our towels again, and pointed us to the lotion station, where we were instructed to rub beautifully smelling lotion all over our skin. Then was the nap station. The room was large, calm, dark, and filled with little beds. We were wrapped like cocoons in warm sheets and blankets on the most comfortable, slightly heated mattresses. After relaxing for a few minutes, we headed out to the last station, which was a “relaxing” room, to drink water, and sit in the lounge chairs. We decided to skip this station however, due to the time, and headed back into the locker room to change.

The rest of our time in Baden-Baden was filled with jokes and cultural reflections. None of us had expected to spend most of the day in a sort of obligatory nudist colony, but we nonetheless loved our new European bath experience. It was rejuvenating, and quite eye-opening. If this would have happened in the United States, we would have been more on guard. However, no one thought twice about it in Europe, it was not a house for sketchy characters, but normal people-mostly couples or single travelers purely interested in rejuvenation. No one glanced twice at you, and it was interesting to experience it as a normal part of European life. Perhaps a more lackadaisical attitude would help Americans have a healthier body image overall. Besides, who wouldn’t want to bathe naked with strangers?