Yesterday we un-hooked Bumble Bee and headed into Baden Baden on an exploratory visit. As we pulled into town, we were surprised to find a parking space at curbside and right across the street to the entrance of the town. This is too good… what we found was, the longest we could stay was only one hour. This wouldn’t do, but we also didn’t want to over-stay the hour and pick up a parking ticket with it. We headed over to the Information Center and asked about a parking lot that we could fit into, but all she could come up with was one that was back out of town about a mile. After visiting with her and having a bite to eat, we pulled up stakes and headed out to find the “camper parking” lot. After a couple of “turn arounds”, we finally found what we were looking for. Now we know and tomorrow we will use… Heading back to the campground, we stopped by a Walmart store and grabbed something to barbeque. This store was a mess, but it still was doing a business. Back at the campground we set up again and started the barbecue to cook our pork loin. We had a new neighbor and they were from The Netherlands. I kid you not, I would guess that over 40 percent of the people at the campgrounds are from The Netherlands…they love to travel and camp !!! We had a nice visit and they have invited us to come by and stay with them next time we are in Holland… It is really nice of them and the other couples that we have met since we have been on the road…if we had the chance, we could stay with enough families to start another 2 year tour and not stay with the same family twice.
This morning we un-plugged “Bumble Bee” again, and headed into Baden Baden. Our parking location was already set and our first destination was also set. Today was the day for our excursion into the Roman-Irish Baths of Friedrichsbad. We had been reading about the different baths that are available here, and Friedrichsbad is the one we chose. This bath has been operating for over 125 years. It is not bathing suit optional. No clothing allowed... We experienced the “ultimate in Roman Bathing culture combined with Irish Hot-Air-Baths”. We had the bathing pleasure of 16 different stages, and water and steam temperatures from 48 degrees C to 18 degrees C. We also had all our tension ebbed away as we had a rub down with soap and then massaged with a brush. This exfoliates the skin and was a great start for the rest of the 3 hours we spent there. The first 6 areas we were separated, and then we were brought together for the next 4. What a great way to while away the afternoon !!! In getting back to camp, we decided to have dinner at the restaurant here on the grounds. Louise had Snitzel and I had a fish dinner…both were real good and more than enough to fill us. Arriving back at “Bumble Bee”, we again found new neighbors, but this time it is a young couple from Canada. Aaron, was originally from the Tacoma area and now they live in Edmonton. They are making a 3 month trip in Europe and have already been through Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. We are the beneficiaries of 2, 2005 Rick Steves travel books from them…Spain and Portugal…Thanks, and we will use them !!!