On The Road
Our fairy godmother gave us meeting times each morning. This was not a vacation for sleeping in! We were often up early to have breakfast and be ready for the bus. When we were traveling on the bus, Tara made sure to give us stops every couple of hours. The rest stops in Europe put American rest stops to shame. They are fabulous. Okay, so sometimes you have to pay for the WC (bathroom), but the quality of the places certainly makes up for that! Rebecca adored the fresh fruit at the stops. Who knew that a strawberry could be so ripe, delicious, and red the whole way through?
The High Life in Baden-Baden
Our first stop in Baden-Baden was the casino. A guide led us through the rooms, which were as opulent as many palaces. It made us wish we could be a fly on the wall when all the rich and famous come to gamble their money.
Baden-Baden
Tara then led us to downtown Baden-Baden. She showed us where to find places to eat and things to do, as we had the rest of the afternoon and evening free.
One option for the afternoon was to join Tara in going up the mountain to see the view of Baden-Baden and the Black Forest. Another was going to the clothing optional spa...
One option for the afternoon was to join Tara in going up the mountain to see the view of Baden-Baden and the Black Forest. Another was going to the clothing optional spa...
Views of the Black Forest
We decided to join Tara and several others from our group to ride the funicular up the hillside of Baden-Baden. The ride was fun and the view was lovely, although because of the heat, it was a bit hazy. Tara led some from the group in a hike down the mountain. We, however, decided to have a cool drink at the cafe, and then ride the funicular back down. Baden-Baden is known for its baths, and while we decided not to indulge in the baths and saunas, we did quite a bit of sweating on the bus ride back into town, as the weather had turned very warm.
When in Germany...
After strolling through the quaint city of Baden-Baden and finding some fun souvenirs and trying different flavors of gummy bears (who knew there were champagne flavored gummies?), we decided to enjoy a fun dinner at the beer garden. We acted like locals as we lingered over our beers, Sprite and dinner. Although we have to admit we were a bit surprised when Donna's weisswurst arrived in a HUGE white soup tureen. Sadly, I did not get a photo of her face as she looked at her white sausage floating in hot water.
Is that a 3 or an 8?
The sun was setting, but the air wasn't cooling off. As Rick warns, our hotel did not have air conditioning for all the rooms. We had heard some in our group talk about turning on their A/C in their rooms. We were in a non-air-conditioned room, which at first, we will admit, seemed a bit unfair. (In the morning, we found that even those with A/C were a bit warm too.) Because our room was so warm, we decided to wander the hotel, and found a charming courtyard with a table, perfect for a night of cards. We played cards until we couldn't see the numbers in the dark! We turned what could have been a miserable, warm, sweaty night into one that was still warm and sweaty, but filled with fun memories! We went back to our room, opened the windows wide (and hoped that no critters would come in), and enjoyed the fresh air while we slept.