Baden Baden

[randomness]

Yesterday, I decided to take it relatively easy, and took a twenty-minute train ride down to Baden Baden. As the name implies, it's a spa town. There were a disproportionate number of older people in fur coats sightseeing on a grey afternoon. Flurries fell from time to time, and the wind was cold. I felt like I should have worn a layer or two more than I had.

Nonetheless I had a great time. I'm fond of architecture from the late nineteenth century, with its ornate decoration, and much of the city center dates from the generation or so before the First World War. It's all very pretty.

One thing that was remarkable was that a number of shops were actually open on a Sunday, in the colonnade near the casino. I didn't think that was legal in Germany, but they clearly have some kind of dispensation. Given the kind of stores they were--expensive clothing stores and jewelers--I'd think it was a "things so expensive no normal person could buy them" exception, but I'm guessing it was something else.

I stopped in and got some information on the various spas. I decided I would wait for bedfull_o_books before actually taking a dip. Much more fun that way.

There's a pretty little Russian Orthodox church at one end of town. I don't know if there's a connection, but a number of businesses have signs saying they speak Russian. I even saw a Chinese restaurant with a Russian language menu on display.

I passed a sign advertising Karlovy Vary, one of the famous spa towns in the Czech Republic, better known by its German name, Karlsbad. It occurred to me that a very pleasant world spa tour could be organized, where one went from spa town to spa town, taking the waters and sightseeing, enjoying life in a leisurely way.

There are over a hundred towns listed on Wikipedia's spa town page, including places like Rotorua, New Zealand; Bath, England; and of course, Spa, Belgium. If you spent a week getting to and staying in each and every one of them, you'd be at it for a year. It'd be a nice year.

Add that to my list of things to do.

Comments

[donnad.livejournal.com]

Neat, I have a whole bunch of pictures from Baden from WWII. Yes, some of them are pictures of German Military officers at the Baden Spas.

I have two German photo albums from WWII that were found in the basement of my Grandparents house when they cleaned it out after my Grandmother died. My Grandfather was in Germany during the war, he must have gotten them then, I have no idea who they belonged to. I found them in the trash at my parents house one day, my aunts and parents were throwing them out. I took them and have had the text translated. There is one Kriegs album (war album) and one vacation album. The war album has pictures of African POW's and German soldiers and officers, and pictures of downed war planes and troops. It's really quite impressive.

I will likely be scanning some of the pictures in the future since I now have a spiffy new scanner.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely be interested in seeing that.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

Next time you are local, you and E should come over for dinner or tea or something, I would love to show them off.

[dobrovolets.livejournal.com]

There's a pretty little Russian Orthodox church at one end of town. I don't know if there's a connection, but a number of businesses have signs saying they speak Russian. I even saw a Chinese restaurant with a Russian language menu on display.

I read somewhere that Baden-Baden is extremely popular with the Russian nouveau riche, apparently in an attempt to emulate the lifestyle of the 19th century Tsarist aristocracy, for whom the town was a must-see back in the day.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

That would be consistent with what I observed.

Thanks!

[adamhmorse.livejournal.com]

Just thinking about what I know of Germany's federal system and the subsidiarity principle (let laws be handled at the lowest capable level), blue laws seem like the sort of thing that are probably regulated at the Land level, not the federal level. I wouldn't be surprised if that were part of the difference.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

So, that's certainly plausible, but Karlsruhe is in the same Land, Baden-Württemberg, and the corresponding shops are all closed here on Sundays.

[adamhmorse.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. Then I'm just back to the obvious "must have made an exception because they figured they'd lose too much money." It's one thing to tell local residents that they have to plan their shopping around blue laws; quite another to screw up the tourism industry.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

As it turns out, you're exactly right with the obvious answer. I asked a friend who lives here. He said there's a special exception for certain tourist areas.

Blue laws are one thing, separating tourists from their money is something else entirely.

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

I just like saying, "Baden-Baden"!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Fun, isn't it?

The city website I referred to actually says "Baden-Baden - so good they named it twice".

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

It also helps if you say it in a variety of cartoon voices.

yay word doubling

[gravitrue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as soon as I saw the post, I thought "wouldn't it be cool if
there was a "Pizza Pizza" in Baden Baden!" It would make me very very happy happy.
Well, ok, at least somewhat somewhat amused amused.

[evilbunnymayhem.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, drawing, painting and soakin in spas for a year.
I could do that.
Damn, now I wish I was a professor so I could go on "sebatical" for a year.
Hopping from vista to spa to vista. Oooh.
(pardon the sp, I'm lazy today)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sounds nice, doesn't it?