Since we got up late that Sunday morning, so we had our church services in our Plieningen apartment. We listened to worship music and three messages: two by our old pastor at Calvary Chapel and one by a pastor from a church in Vacaville, California. Afterward, we prayed for our country, friends, and family.
After church, we had lunch and then went to a spa in Beuren, which was about thirty kilometers away from where we lived.
It was a unique and interesting experience. We found the place with no trouble thanks to Julie (our English GPS) 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 (I want to apologize up front for them). 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.
We paid for our tickets 10 Euro (about $15) for four hours for both of us. That would be more than enough time for us. It was very inexpensive compared to the spas in Northern California. The clerk asked us if we wanted to go into the clothed area or the nude area. What? It was a nude spa? I laughed and said, “No way! Thank you anyway.”
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 it.
After finding two changing rooms (one for me and one for my husband), we moved toward the bathrooms to shower before going into the spa. I want to describe that changing room because it was so unusual. They were in long rows and there were two doors going into a singular, tiny cubicle. 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!
We separated to go to our respective shower rooms, then 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. It was an overcast day, and it wasn’t 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, 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 find the sauna.
What struck me the most was the number of people and the different kinds of people. There were children splashing around in the pools, next to young lovers cuddling. There were the elderly along with middle-aged, 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, we were now in a grotto-like cave. There were stalactites on the ceiling and there was an area where people were sitting on rock like benches. In another area of the grotto, 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 fifteen 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 fifteen 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 on that day. We went to the second one and gingerly stepped down on the 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 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 handrails 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 that was more like it. It was spa, of course, but no jets. It was a stainless steel, round pool and could hold about twenty-five people 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 back. 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, a work- out area and you could get a massage. It was a terrific place, and according to Brigit (the woman who was doing physical therapy on my husband), it’s the best place around.
My husband was not all that impressed because 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. He thought it was going to be a natural spa, not man made. I suppose if one goes on a Sunday, it is expected there will be tons of people. I had to wonder how many people went during the week?
We retraced our steps, showered, and got dressed.
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. Anyway, I went to the counter and begged the clerk to allow him to leave.
The ride home was uneventful. At that point we were very hungry and decided to have pizza at Mama Maria’s across the street from where we lived.
After eating, we realized it was time to do the weekly chore of laundry. It was getting increasingly difficult to find the motivation to gather up the clothes and take them to get washed on base. Add to that, laundry is my very least favorite chore to do, and it’s even more of a struggle when we have to lug the laundry to and fro. We had to get a washer and dryer fairly soon.
Have you ever been to a spa such as this? I will never forget it, that’s for sure.