I actually had to work on Thanksgiving day (half day followed by a staff meeting--for all you teachers out there, I KNOW! Who does that???). After the very "productive" meeting, I headed to the train station with Emily, Lizzie, and Allie. We were off on our six hour journey to Baden-Baden, Germany. As coined by former president Bill Clinton, Baden-Baden is a place so nice, they named it twice. While I don 't always agree with Mr. Clinton, he was definitely right about Baden-Baden.
Baden-Baden is located in the Black Forest of Germany near the French boarder. It's name means baths...like what you bathe in. Since the 19th century, Baden-Baden has been a resort for royalty, famous people, etc. because of its healing natural springs. The natural springs are precisely the reason we travelled to Baden-Baden because they have two fabulous, and relatively cheap, spas that use the water.
We arrived in Baden-Baden on Thanksgiving evening. We stayed in a very nice hotel. After dropping our things off we headed to dinner at the NY Times recommended restaurant, Lowenbrau. This is a traditional Bavarian restaurant...costumes and everything. We enjoyed some amazing hefeweizen beer (Mom, that's a really good wheat beer they make in Germany) and an interesting Bavarian feast. We decided to go all out because it was Thanksgiving and that's what you do. Before eating we even went around the table and said what we were thankful for. We were all really missing home, but misery loves company so we were able to enjoy our meal...kind of.
Per our waiters recommendation, I order the game pie. I was thinking it was like a meat pie, which I was excited about. INSTEAD, so weird pate looking thing showed up. Fortunately, the servings were large so everyone shared their dishes of normal food--chicken, beef, sausage--with me. Never trust a German when it comes to "game pie." Something definitely gets lost in translation. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and promptly feel asleep after our long day of travelling.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast. I discovered that the Germans really like pickled things--fish, eggs, vegetables. Fortunately, the hotel had many other options for breakfast, so we were well fed. After breakfast Lizzie and I took a walk around the town before we headed out to the spas, the reason we came to Baden-Baden. Here are a few pictures from our walk:
A pretty Bavarian church
Traditional Bavarian architecture...the town was so quaint!
Standing in the rain on one of the main streets
There were two spas to choose from, Friedrichsbad or Caracalla. The Friedrichsbad is the traditional spa where people have been going to become healthy and rejuvenated since the 1800s. This includes the royalty of Europe and great Americans like Mark Twain. It is designed like a traditional Roman/Irish bath, so the focus is not spa treatments like we are used to in the US, but bathing in the healing waters of the natural spring. The other spa, Caracalla, is the much more modern spa, more like what we have in the States. We opted for the Friedrichsbad, because when in Rome...
Like I said, the Friedrichsbad focuses on bathing. In fact, there are 17 stages of bathing you go through. These include showers, two different saunas, a steam room, different temperature pools (including a freezing pool), getting scrubbed down my large German women--they let you know you are finished by spanking you on your behind...really), more showers, lotion, nap time in a cocoon of warm blankets, and then relaxing in a solarium. It was absolutely amazing and my skin never felt softer. Oh, one more thing about Friedrichsbad, it is totally nude the entire time with a mix of both sexes. This made it very interesting, but I have never felt so good about my body as I did that day :). The nude thing was a little nerve-wracking at first, especially because I was with people I work with, but eventually you get over it...then the guys enter the picture and you try not to look. It was weird, but like I said, you never feel as good about your body as after seeing naked and old German men and women. Here is a before picture from the spa:
And the after picture
After our naked spa adventure, we decided to find some lunch. While walking down a street we happened to notice an alpaca. We thought this was hilarious, so I thought I'd share :).
Another funny thing about Germany, or at least Baden-Baden, is that all the pharmacies have gesundheit written on their signs. As I learned, gesundheit means health, and when someone says it to you they are wishing you good health. I tried to take a picture, but it is hard to see. Anyway, there is a fun fact for the day.
After lunch we headed back to our hotel and got our things together to travel to the next place on our journey, Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is in the much disputed Alsace region of France. The area has belonged to both Germany and France, switching back and forth several times over the centuries. The reason we decided to go to Strasbourg was because Emily, one of the girls I was travelling with, spent a semester in college studying there and told us about its amazing Christmas market. We had to see this for ourselves, especially because it is the oldest Christmas market in Europe...it has been going on since the 1500s.
We arrived in Strasbourg (about and hour and a half from Baden-Baden) in the evening. After dropping our things off at the Holiday Inn (yes, the Holiday Inn) we went to find something to eat. We made our way through the amazingly lit and decorated streets of the city to Chez Yvonne. The restaurant serves traditional Alsatian food which is a mix of French and German cuisine. We also had a very nice bottle of Pinot Gris made in the Alsace region, a place famous for its white wines. Here are a few pictures from that evening:
The next morning we headed to the Christmas market. We were there on the opening weekend of the market, so it was packed, but absolutely wonderful. We began our walk through the market with a glass of vin chaud, or mulled wine. The way they make it is amazing and throughout the day we enjoyed several glasses. There are all types of goods at the market--ornaments, food, decorations, leather, candles, woodwork, etc. It seemed that every way you turned there was something new you wanted to buy. I satisfied this urge by doing my Christmas shopping. Here is a picture of the market, or a small part of it. The market was throughout the entire city.
Now, shopping at the market is not the only thing to do in Strasbourg. There is also an amazing cathedral called Notre Dame in the center of the city. The detail in the architecture is so intricate. It was really amazing.
One of our favorite parts of the market was the Marche Des Bredle. Bredle is Christmas cookies and sweets. There was an entire tent where you could walk through and taste the sweets (and buy them of course). It was heaven!
Outside the Marche Des Bredle was this beautifully carved creche.
After gorging ourselves on cookies, we made our way back to our hotel to rest before going out in the evening. Here are a few pictures from our walk back:
This is the Protestant Cathedral in the city--almost as amazing as the Catholic cathedral
After a rest in our hotel, we headed our for the evening to hear a Christmas concert in the Cathedral. The music was beautiful and the whole concert really put us in the Christmas spirit. Unfortunately, they don't heat cathedrals, so we almost froze to death during the concert. After the concert we walked around the city and came upon the lit Christmas tree. It was an absolutely perfect way to end the day.
The next morning we walked back to the market to kill some time before our 1pm train. We came upon this beautiful tree on our walk.
I can't say enough wonderful things about Baden-Baden and Strasbourg. For anyone looking for unique places to go in Europe, I highly recommend these two cities. While I would have loved to have been with my family on Thanksgiving, I am very thankful for the opportunity I had to travel to such amazing places.
Buon Natale!!
