After church, we had lunch and then decided to go to a Spa in Beuren which is about 30 kilometers away from where we live.
It was a very interesting experience, to say the least! We found the place with no trouble thanks to Julie but we had difficulty finding a parking place. Once again, I forgot to bring my camera so I have scanned and uploaded some photos from their brochure. Since the spa was open until 10pm we had a lot of time even though we never arrived there until about 2pm.
It was definitely a LOT larger than I expected.
(I want to apologize up front for the photos. Since I didn't have my camera, I had to scan them in from the brochure I took with me when we left.)
We paid for our tickets 10 Euro (about $15) for four hours. That would be more than enough time for us. It was very inexpensive compared to the spas in Northern California. The clerk did ask us if we wanted to go into the clothed area or the nude area. What? This was a nude spa? I laughed at her and said, "No way! Thank you anyways!"
After going through a turnstile using our tickets as a key to get in, we were escorted to a locker by a young man who spoke English. The locker room was co-ed but there were male and female showers. The locker had a key that was plastic and attached to a plastic wrist band. We were told to store our things in the locker and take the key with us. In order to get the key out, we had to use our ticket to release the key.
After finding two changing rooms (one for me and one for Ted), we moved toward the bathrooms to shower before going into the spa. I want to describe this changing room because it was so unusual. The changing rooms were in long rows and there were two doors going into a singular, very small changing room. There was a bar that extended the length of the changing room and it was the mechanism by which both doors would lock. It was difficult to get that bar to lock both doors but I wasn't taking any chances that someone might walk in while I was changing into my bathing suit!
Ted and I separated to go to our respective shower rooms. After showering we emerged into a huge area where there were cubes in the walls for towels, sunglasses and tanning lotions. There were flip-flops everywhere! There were three pools inside and three pools outside. A It was an overcast day and it wasn't very hot but we would explore the outdoor pools later.
After looking around and stowing our towels in one of the many cubes on the wall, we realized every interior pool was a different size and had different temperatures. The first one we went into was too cold. So we went to another one that was warmer. We didn't realize it at the time but it was a highly monitored spa and there were tons of people. We stayed there for a bit but decided we wanted to explore more of the spa. I will elaborate on this pool later in the blog. We decided to try to find the sauna.
What struck me the most was the number of people and the different kinds of people there. There were children splashing around in the pools, next to young lovers cuddling. There were elderly people along with middle-aged people and those with infirmities (metal crutches were propped next to the pools). What was even more interesting was that there were women who clearly should not have been wearing bikinis but they were. No one thought this was out of the ordinary and no one laughed or made fun of them. That, was refreshing to see!
After walking outside and into another building, I realized that we were now in a grotto-like cave. There were stalactite on the ceiling and there was an area where people were sitting on rock like benches. In another area of the grotto, I could tell there were showers.
Since we could not read any of the signs (they were in German, of course), we decided to try the different rooms. The first room was what I would call the "salt" room. We walked in and it was cloudy and warm and smelled and tasted very salty. We sat on the bottom row of the three-tiered, ceramic-tiled seating area. There was a clock on the wall and we stayed in there for some 15 minutes or so. My entire body felt salty.
We went onto the next room which was the "real" sauna. It was 60 degrees centigrade which roughly translates into 140 degrees. It was HOT in there. Again we sat on the first tier of the three-tiered, ceramic-tiled seating areas. It was difficult to breathe but we stayed (and sweat) in there for about 15 minutes.
Then we decided we needed to shower off the salt and the heat and went into the shower area, which also was in a grotto-like environment. The shower stalls were positioned in a semi-circular manner with one large one in the middle with a half wall surrounding it. That one was the one to look out for. It spilled HUGE amounts of ice-cold water onto the person who was under it. And while we searched for a warm water shower, we were splashed with that ice cold water on several occasions.
After showering, we decided to check out the outdoor pools. It appeared the first one was not heated. That was not for me, at least not today! We went to the second one and gingerly stepped down stainless steel steps. As soon as we hit the bottom of the steps, we were immediately swept into a current running around the closest end of the pool. There was a circular area that people were hanging on to...after going around the circular area we ended up towards the middle of the pool but it was difficult not being drawn into that current again. We used the stainless steel hand rails to guide us along the edge so we could get to the steps to get out. Even this pool was not hot enough, not to mention having to fight that current.
The next pool was about 42 degrees Celsius which is about 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Now this is more like it! It was spa, of course, but no jets. It was a stainless steel, round pool and could hold about 25 people and there were seats along the perimeter. We sat there and did some people watching. There were people from all nations: USA, France, Turkey, Italy and of course, Germany.
It was time for us to get out and I wanted to go back to the first pool we were in. That pool had jets that we did not get to experience. We realized when we got out the first time we were in there that it was a very controlled pool in that the jets which were for different parts of the body were along the perimeter of the pool. People lined up to the stairs and waited in line. There was a large timer on the wall above the waterfall at the end of the pool that could be seen from anywhere in the pool. How it worked was that the timer was set for 30 seconds. Every time the timer hit zero, the people moved to the next set of jets! Leave it to the Germans to be orderly even when they are in the spa! It worked though and everyone gets a chance to use the various jets. From jets for your feet to jets for your shoulders and backs. It was wonderful. I was totally looking forward to being under the waterfall but for some reason, when I got there, it wouldn't work! I was bummed about that. Oh well. Perhaps next time.
We walked around the spa for a bit and realized they have a cafe, tanning beds, as well as the ability to get massages and a work out area too! This was a terrific place and according Brigit (the woman who is doing the physical therapy on Ted), it's the best place around!
Ted was not all that impressed in that the spas were not hot enough (except the one outside) for him. And what he really didn't like was the number of people who were there! And he thought it was going to be a natural spa, not man made. Oh well! I suppose if one comes on a Sunday they will find a lot of people there. I wonder how many people are there during the week?
We retraced our steps and showered and got our clothes and dressed. We both used the blow dryers to get our hair dry.
Ted lost his ticket and he didn't realize he needed it to leave the locker room. That must be the way they monitor how long one is in the spa! Anyways, I had to go to the counter and ask the clerk to allow him to leave.
The ride home was uneventful. At this point we were very hungry and decided to have pizza at Mama Maria's across the street from where we live.
After eating our pizza, we realized it was time to do the weekly chore of laundry. It's getting increasingly difficult to find the motivation to gather up the clothes and take them to get washed. Add to that, laundry is my very least favorite chore to do and it's even more of a struggle to get the chore done! We will have to get a washer and dryer fairly soon.
By the time we got home, it was time for bed and time to think about the week ahead!
Sunday 08/02/09
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