We went into the hot pool and I watched to see what the protocol was...people would sit in the hot water for about 10-15 minutes, then head to the cold pool...straight down the steps...no hesitation, no one making faces of sheer shock from the ice cold water. They all just coasted down the stairs & quickly went neck deep & some dunked all the way under.
I sat there in the hot tub telling myself that I could do this without looking like a wimp. After all, while training for the marathon I sat in a bathtub many a time filled with a 20 pound bag of ice cubes. If I could do that, I could do this hot-cold thing.
I watched 2 women get up from the hot pool and enter the cold pool as smoothly and slick as greased butter...with no expression on their faces. So I stood up from the hot pool and methodically went up the stairs and out of that pool, took a few steps, & started my decent into the cold pool My arms were hanging loose at my side. I was playing it cool, as if I was used to doing this every day.
When the water was about thigh high I don't know what happened. My elbows were quickly drawn in close to my sides & my hands went up in the air as if I had puppet strings. My mouth formed a big "O" and my eyes bugged out. I looked up to see the 2 German women who previously had been expressionless, looking at me with big smiles on their faces, amused. Ok ok, so I'm a wimp! One lady started talking to me & told me that very soon it would feel very refreshing & she said that she really loved it and that it was good for circulation. I gave it some time & then agreed. I was hooked! I repeated the back and forth of the hot and cold another 2 or 3 times & it was GREAT! It was my favorite part of this spa.
Another different thing here was that they had a glassed-in area with a bazillion rain shower heads hanging down from the ceiling. You stand under it and it rains in torrents...and the water was salt water. Very different.
Most of the pools here are 2 1/2% salt (the name of the town is Salzulfen..."salz" in German is "salt"). The outdoor pool was great. The cool air outside was very invigorating. It had a big flume so we spent a lot of time in that pool. To enter the entire outdoor pool they had a small area indoors with a small pool. Then you were faced with clear glass doors. You push a button and the doors pull apart and open - the doors are in water, waist high. Then you just continue walking into the outdoor pool. Really slick! all the other spas with indoor/outdoor pools just have the hanging plastic flaps that you push aside to get through....it reminds me of a dog entrance.
The outdoor pool here also was 2 1/2% salt and after 45 minutes in that pool, Dad said he felt like a McDonald's french fry. After an hour he declared that he felt like a smokehouse almond. At that point we got out because I didn't want to hear about what else he might become.
We went inside and sat in the "inhalation" room...an enclosed glass room. It was very warm with a very interesting fountain made of small twigs, stacked perfectly 7-8 feet tall with water trickling down. All of a sudden some steam started rolling out of 5 or 6 containers hanging from the ceiling. I think it was the "inhalation", but I couldn't smell anything like eucalyptus or something. Dad was afraid it was cyanide.
Next we went to the other glass enclosed room...the moist suana...but it was really hot and so we didn't stay very long there.
We went to another pool that was 12% salt - one of those where you try to sit on the ledge in the pool, but you just float up to the surface because of the high salt content. This pool had underwater music and I enjoyed this again...it was very relaxing...but I held onto the little tiled ridge inside the pool...so I stayed in one place (you just lay on your back and float). Dad didn't get hooked up to the ledge or one of the underwater railings...so he floated around and bumped into people because he drifted...so his was not as relaxing. He did really good at the spa yesterday, though, where he took a nice nap floating in the water.
After we finished up we went to our lockers and got our towels. Oh...I haven't told you about the lockers. Most of the spas have these...it's really neat...as you pay to enter the spa, you are given a wrist band with a plastic circle on it. When you get to an open locker you just scan the little disc on your bracelet and the locker opens, then to lock it, you push in using the disc and it locks it. Very efficient.
Got dressed and went to the nice little restaurant here. We got a bowl with a baked potato, a LOT of quark, mixed with some sour cream & chives, a side salad, and strips of chicken breast on top. It was really good...perfect for lunch.
We headed off down the road onto the crazy autobahn. About 2 hours later we arrived in this little village....I thought I knew the name, but the sign said something different. I'll have to find out where we are after dinner. We are heading down now to the restaurant here to have dinner. I'll finish this later.
Wow! This place is amazing! I just happened to find it last night online...it looked like it might be nice but you never know. We just went down to the restaurant here and what a pleasant surprise. For being in such a small village, they have a really cozy, fancy restaurant with amazing food! The hotel and restaurant is run by one family. It has been passed down from their family and it has been operating since 1894. The bedroom is very modern and up to date, but the dining room has the character of the 1800's. Here are a few pictures from the dining room...and then our dinner:
Each table had a bouquet like this...they are real flowers!
Our usual beers:
So I ordered a creamy pumpkin soup. It was amazing! All the recipes here are family recipes and they don't list all ingredients in their food selections (darn!). I'm guessing this has pumpkin, carrots, onions, celery, maybe a little cream??, and then dark bread croutons. I thought the liquid brown on the top was balsalmic...but it didn't taste like it. So I'm not sure what it was.
Here's what I got for dinner...another family recipe that goes way back. It's homemade mashed potatoes topped with bacon bits (and I guarantee you they are NOT from a jar!) and then surrounded by cooked plums...cut in half but not all the way...and I don't think any sugar was added. It was a very interesting blend of flavors, but it was way too much to finish!
Here was Dad's salad...teller salat...with everything marinated...carrots, white radish, red cabbage, green beans. The colors are so pretty!
And then he ordered Jagerschnitzel with a mushroom sauce and potato croquettes. He couldn't finish his dinner either!
This little town is so quaint. We are going to explore around a bit tomorrow before we head to Berlin. I've noticed the German accent is different here...a bit harder to understand...and just when I thought I was doing better with my German!!
Hard to believe we are going to Berlin tomorrow to drop off the car, stay in a hotel, and then fly home on Saturday morning.
That Jagerschnitzel looks amazing. Looking forward to having you guys back in the U.S. of A.
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