21st March 2006 - Day 155

Today is the last day of my lab module. I also received my lab report done on Friday. No corrections needed!

I had lunch one last time with my group members. They were fun people to work with, even though we might have some comunication problems due to the language. But hey, things still got done, and while it was done, we enjoyed ourselves.

Martina K. passed her organic chemistry exams. Her friend did not. That is a problem because her friend is already in his 9th semester, and this exam is a Vordiplom exam. The Vordiplom should not take more than 7 semesters. That could possibly mean that the friend will be ex-matriculated.

That aside, I finally went down to Baden-baden in the afternoon to take a look at its' Friedrichsbad. This bathhouse is first opened in 1877 and combines the ultimate in Roman bathing culture with Irish hot air baths, so says the brochure I took.

This is the first time I visited a bathhouse. As such, I cannot make any comparisions with other places. But I certainly did enjoy the session.

There are 16 stages altogether as listed below.

1. 5 minutes shower
2. 15 minutes warm air bath, 54 degrees Celcius
3. 5 mintues hot air bath, 68 degrees Celcius
4. 1 minute shower
5. Soap and brush massage
6. 1 minute shower
7. 15 minutes thermal steam bath, 45 degrees Celcius
8. 5 minutes thermal steam bath, 48 degrees Celcius
9. 10 minutes thermal full bath, 36 degrees Celcius
10. 15 minutes thermal whirlpool bath, 34 degrees Celcius
11. 5 minutes thermal kinotherapeutic bath, 28 degrees Celcius
12. 8 minutes shower
13. A few seconds cold water bath, 18 degrees Celcius
14. 4 minutes drying off
15. Application of moisturising cream
16. Resting area for the remaining time

All these procedures took about 3 hours (take in walking time from point to point). At stage 2, I striked up a conversation with an old gentleman, who brought me around and explained to me what each step was for. He has been coming here once a week for the past 15 years.

Stage 2 and 3 were just warm air, so all I did was to lie down and start sweating. At the soap and brush massage, the man massaged with quite a lot of force, so it wasn't as ticklish as I imagined.

The thermal steam baths were really hot with all the water vapour in the air. I had difficulty breathing as my nose hurts while I breathed in. My spectacles fogged and I couldn't see anything. I didn't know if I was sweating or was it water that condensed off me, I was just dripping wet (of course, this is a bath).

The rest of the pools were quite relaxing. Except for the cold water pools where I was shivering. Now I know how cold water is at 28 and at 18 degrees Celcius.

After showering and applying moisturising cream, I followed the old gentleman to the Ruheraum where I was wrapped up in blanket and just fell asleep.

It's really quite convenient to come here for a bath. I don't even need to bring anything since no clothings is allowed. The lady at the reception had to remind me that in case I didn't know. Except for Mondays and Thursdays, men and women use stages 7 to 11 together.

It does feel a bit awkward at first going in naked. But after a while, it feels quite normal. After all, I don't think anyone wears clothes when they shower.

If you are thinking I might have saw something interesting, rest assured. At this funny time I chose, only retired old men and old ladies will come. I must be the youngest customer for this time slot.

I made my way back to the Rechenzentrum in the evening to buy my train ticket from Karlsruhe to Nürnberg. It's funny, but I can only find this particular train connection online. It's not listed in the Automat. After which, I went to buy some biscuits for the long train trip tomorrow.

Please do not bother to check this website for at least a week from tomorrow onwards. thelonetraveller will not update anything during this period.

So, till next week!