Along the way, we snapped some shots of the beautiful scenery, but then we passed something that we absolutely HAD to stop for...COWS....WITH BELLS!!! I know, we've all seen cows along the side of the road, but how many times have we really seen cows with bells along the side of the road? We couldn't think of any, so we decided to stop and try to photograph them...
After entertaining ourselves with the cows, we made another detour to the German Clock Museum. This museum sounds really dull, but it was actually pretty interesting (although I think it would have been more interesting if the English translations were actually in the correct order in the guidebook...but hey, we got a game of "Where's Waldo?" out of it to boot...). The museum basically traces the history of clock-making in Germany and other countries from the sundial to the atomic clock. It also featured an extensive collection of not only clocks, but also mechanical music machines which were super impressive! We hopped on the German guided tour of the museum for a bit so that we could watch them being demonstrated...amazing.
After the clock museum, it was back on the road again. Our next stop was Germany's longest waterfall, Triberger Wasserfall. The park was really beautiful, and it was only a short 10 minute walk down to the waterfall itself, so it fit in well with our trip through the forest.
On our way to the waterfall (Kim holding up the tree? Beer...it does a body good).
The waterfall! It doesn't look super big, but it actually tumbles 500 feet in several bounces.
Obligatory self-photo...
With that we were back on our way to our next hotel in Baden-Baden. Shortly after agreeing "No more stops" along the way, we came upon the following sign...
"Rodelbahn!!!"
We had seen a couple of these luges at Neuschwanstein, but we didn't have the opportunity to use them because we were tied up with touring the castles. This time, we decided we couldn't pass it up.
Belted in and ready to GO!
On our way UP!
Getting excited (and high up off the ground!)
After dropping the camera the day before, Matt wasn't permitted to take the camera out in precarious situations. This definitely qualified. Hence, we have no pictures of the ride itself, but this is a picture of the course from the ground.
It was a fast and smooth ride down, well worth the 5 Euros it cost for the both of us! Good times.
With our LAST stop completed, we were on the last leg of our journey through the Black Forest to Baden-Baden. After a couple more hours of driving through the gorgeous countryside, we had arrived. Our hotel in Baden-Baden, Hotel Rathausglockel, is run by a German-American named Oliver who we had the pleasure of meeting upon checking in. He was exceptionally nice and put us up in a lovely room with a rooftop terrace. It is great...makes us wish that we were spending more than one night here, but alas.
After quickly taking our bags to the room, we were off to our real destination for the day, the famous Roman-Irish Baths: Friedrichsbad.
Unfortunately, these are the only three pictures we have of the experience, because the next 3.5 hours were spent in the baths, nude. Cameras weren't permitted for obvious reasons, so we'll do our best to explain. Friedrichsbad basically combines the Roman bathing culture with Irish hot-air baths. It is a tribute to the ruins of the ancient Roman baths, on which it was physically constructed in 1877. In keeping with the traditional Roman bath culture, the baths are completely nude (yes, nude). And mixed sex on certain days (including Tuesdays, the day we were there). After reading lots of reviews online, we actually thought that going on a mixed sex day might be preferable, so that we could do the whole experience together. Unfortunately, they don't turn anyone away at the door, so we saw a lot (a LOT) of naked people of all shapes, sizes, and ages...it was, in a word, an experience. We found that once we were inside, we basically forgot (sort of) about being naked because everyone is naked around you too, so it doesn't seem too shocking.
Tomorrow we are back on the road, heading to Bacharach, a little town along the Rhine River in the northwest of Germany. This will be our last stop before heading to Frankfurt on Friday for our flight home.
Gute nacht!
Love,
Matt and Kim
Fun! No excuses...we have to try out the japanese communal baths in SF once you return! :)
ReplyDeleteOMG- you actually did this?!
ReplyDeletenice work. Brian pointed this out to me, looks like you had a good time in my old home country
ReplyDelete