That’s right: I’m a donought! After eyeing the Amerikaners over the past couple of weeks, I decided yesterday to take the plunge and actually purchase one just to see what it tasted like.Kinda bland: vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. It could’ve used a spritz of lemon or some other flavor. Now I wonder what the Berliners taste like….
Spent yesterday afternoon at the super luxerious bath here in Wiesbaden, but as with everything that’s supposed to be relaxing, it came with an equal measure of stress. The naked people didn’t bother me. In fact, it is always refreshing to be one of the most fit and most attractive people in a room full of naked people. And I was definitely lowering the average age of the bathers. But knowing neither the specialized vocabulary of public baths nor how anything really worked, I ended up going back and forth from the Russian suana to the cold pool. I couldn’t remember the order of the recommended bath experience: was it 5-10 minutes in the 45 degree room with 25% humidity before or after the pool of 22 degree water for 20 minutes? And where did the hot foot bath fit in? It wasn’t that I was shy and couldn’t bring myself to ask questions; I just couldn’t find any attendants who knew the answers. And after my severe farmer tan from the bicycle tour of Barcelona, I wanted to spend a few minutes in the solarium soaking in some UVA and UVB rays. But I stayed there only about 3 minutes because the bed turned off and I couldn’t figure out how to add more time. Oh, and the most stressful: slipping on the wet floor in bare feet about 2 feet from the top of the marble staircase. I wonder where my body would’ve ended up: here’s this dead naked guy with a farmer’s tan and no forms of identification. I’m sure the Germans have a recycling bin out back for that as well. (But don’t forget to segregate the bones from the flesh; and gristle goes in a different bin!)
This afternoon I head to Koln for a much needed stay in a large city with some culture and nightlife.