How well named a town! Jon’s chorus would be rehearsing with the Baden-Baden Orchestra, bussing there and back, thus taking a full day for a 4-hour rehearsal. Room on the bus meant I could tag along to see the town. What is Baden-Baden famous for? Baths, of course. Their old Friedrichsbad is the most traditional of all. http://www.carasana.de/en/friedrichsbad/home/
Some doctor figured out a system of bathing, with showers and saunas and plunges, each for a certain number of minutes at a specific degree for the perfect bathing experience. 17 steps! I had to do something while Jon was singing. So I ‘took the baths’. And they left me super clean and relaxed and invigorated. Three hours of watering my body. Plus a few minutes of being soaped up and scrubbed and ‘creamed’, a lotion application by a masseuse, definitely not a massage, but still pleasant. The building itself is wonderful, very ‘Belle Époque’ luxury. Soaking in fully-tiled rooms with domed ceilings, arched entries, and the occasional painting or Greek-style statue, I felt the experience was more about the ambience than the water!
The timing for the rehearsal was also fortunate as Baden-Baden’s Christkindlmarkt was in full swing right outside the rehearsal hall.
Buildings decorated for Christmas
Outdoor light displays are generally less elaborate than in the US, so this Lowenbrau Weihnachtsgarten is exceptional.
Santas aplenty
Miniature houses at a Christkindlmarkt booth.
We found a very special Christmas gift for friends and tasted the German version of Gluhwein and Heisen Met (mulled wine and hot mead).
Frescoes in the porch of the Baden-Baden Trinkhalle which was built to serve the local waters to tourists, now also serves coffee, cakes and tourist information.
Jon rehearsed in this side hall of the Casino.