Baden-Baden and Triberg

The road trip to Baden-Baden and Triberg was everything I had hoped for. A beautiful drive on country roads under a canopy of yellow, red, orange and magenta leaves, an occasional farm house with smoke coming from a chimney, soft but steady rain added to the quietness and peacefulness. I really can't describe the beauty or the feeling that it evoked, but at times it seemed surreal.

We got to our first destination, Friedrichsbad, the Roman-Irish Bath in just 2 hours. I thought the building resembled an Embassy or something, very large, ornate. The bath opened in 1877 and has been maintained in its original beauty and is considered to be one of the most beautiful bath houses in Europe. When you enter, you immediately get a sense of the history, culture and atmosphere of over 130 years of bathing tradition. You are guided through by numbers posted by doorways and it's important that you follow the sequence exactly (we were reminded on more than one occasion) because the temperature change is deliberately coordinated to be beneficial. The Soap Brush Massage was station 5 (there were 17 altogether)and it was an amazing experience having all of your old dead skin scrubbed away. The motto of the bath is "The most beautiful way to oneself." You leave the bath with a feeling of complete relaxation but also reinvigorated. If anyone who reads this comes to visit, this is an absolute MUST experience.

Baden-Baden, a village of 50,000 has absolutely incredible architecture and we probably could have just stayed there for the weekend, but we were on a "journey." We got to Triberg about 2 hours later and found the Hotel, unpacked and went Cuckoo Shopping.

The internet posting for our hotel advertised "two rooms available". I guess theoretically that was true, but we a little taken back to realize that we were the only 2 guests. Still, our service was superb and the dinner fantastic. It was very quiet despite the busy decor and Zenobia was spooked by all the dolls.

The hike at the waterfall wasn't treacherous at all but it was a long way to the top. I had forgotten how loud water is, especially roaring water, and how powerful it can seem. The waterfall is the largest in Germany, 700-1000 meters, and at Christmas, there is a market at each landing and it is all lit up with white lights. I probably won't go this year, but it would be worth the trip at some point in time. Our time at the waterfall was just incredible. Again, the beauty indescribable.

The GPS took us through France on the way home, a completely different route with different terrain and visual delights. It was simply a wonderful weekend. I loved driving the little Cooper through all the back roads that winded this way and that and we had not a single mishap. I didn't think about my contract or lack there-of one time. Not once.